SWA

Jonny Leon

English 102-111

March 14, 2012

SWA

Sam Register, et al. "Why We Can't Get Rid Of Failing Teachers." Newsweek 155.11 (2010): 24-27. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Mar. 2012.

Teachers’ unions are allowing ineffective teachers to stay teaching. These teachers in elementary and secondary education are having a large influence on low academic achievement in these schools. Most states have very strong teachers’ unions which give teachers almost lifetime tenure after teaching for only two or three years of teaching. This is contributing to America’s low education standards and academic scores. The United States used to be one of the top achieving academic systems in the world and is now below most of Europe. It has been seemingly overlooked until now but the greatest influence on academic achievement is not quality or type of learning environment but the quality of the teachers. The government is instituting new programs to try and break up the power of the teachers’ unions and also give more credit to the more deserving teachers.

Granger, David A. "No Child Left Behind And The Spectacle Of Failing Schools: The Mythology Of Contemporary School Reform." Educational Studies 43.3 (2008): 206-228. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Mar. 2012.

This article discusses the failures of the current ways that teachers are evaluated and how the current evaluations techniques make it almost impossible to determine if a teacher is actually good. The teaching system is flawed because it is too curriculum based and it makes the profession of teaching something almost anyone could do, therefore lowering its value. It makes teachers feel demeaned and underappreciated. The current ways of testing for teachers only are there to ease the minds of the public and have no real purpose in determining a teacher’s competency.