An article from the Huffington Post yesterday touches on an issue that affects teachers earning graduate degrees, revealing that there is no proven correlation between completing graduate classes and being a highly effective teacher. There has been recent hype claiming that a graduate degree is not beneficial and there is no guarantee students’ test scores will rise if their teacher holds a masters degree. Not only is there claim that graduate degrees are a waste of resources as expressed in the article, but it also uses standardized test scores as a means of blaming teacher effectiveness.
John Deasy, LAUSD Superintendent boldly stated, “I actually don’t want qualified teachers [ones with graduate degrees] in the classroom. I want highly effective teachers [test score manipulators] in the classroom.”
To comment first on Deasy’s statement, I think it is imperative that all teachers need to be highly effective but some of the best teachers that I have had throughout my education and that I have observed or encountered here in the city of Baltimore hold an advanced degree (master or doctorate). Therefore how do you weed out the qualified teachers who have a graduate degree from a highly effective teacher who is also qualified that also holds a graduate degree?
To quickly discuss a graduate program for teachers, I think the role of a teacher is pivotal and while taking master level classes better equip us with the knowledge both in theory and practicality, it significantly supports a continuous learning pathway. As a teacher what’s more important, growth or proficient/advanced on a piece of paper? Initially, test scores were not designed to evaluate teachers however standardized test scores are now measuring teacher quality and determining if a teacher is highly effective or not. Once again, we can have a debate on the factors into high stakes test scores but to involve graduate degrees as an element that blames poor test scores seems like a low blow to educational reform.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-d-slekar/deforming-the-graduate-degree_b_881918.html
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I think there is a flaw in the logic that studies correlations between graduate studies and teacher effectiveness. Such logic would seem to indicate that we actually believe earning a degree should magically make someone proficient at applying their studies and succeeding in a career field. This is certainly not the case. Just because I take classes does not mean I actually practice what those classes preach. It takes an especially talented and motivated individual to continuously apply lessons learned in school to their own work and to do so successfully. For instance, I learned about literature circles in every single one of my classes this year. Did I start using literature circles? Nope. Even though I wanted to, I never got up the energy to put that together and figure out how that strategy would look in my classroom. Education does not and could not possibly make someone an automatic success at anything.
At the same time, I am so thankful that I was taking classes during this first year because I had no clue what I was doing at the start. Classes were a crucial sounding board for issues and a valuable place for resource and strategy sharing. This year, I worked harder than I've ever worked before, but all my energy and motivation would not have mattered if I didn't have research-proven strategies to try.
An effective teacher can implement new strategies that will benefit her students the most. To do so requires education, motivation and talent.
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