Clarifying the Myths on Myths

Responding to the DOE statements on REPA.....the public comment site is no closed with one public hearing left, this Monday, 10am at the Indiana State Library--Be there!

October 29, 2009 REPA Myths and ISTA Clarifications The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) issued an e-statement to educators to dispel what it termed as “myths” being voiced concerning the proposed revisions to Indiana’s teacher preparation and licensure rules (also known as REPA-Revisions for Educator Preparation and Accountability). ISTA offers the following information to clarify these issues and continues to advocate for solutions to the establishment for fair teacher preparation and licensing rules-ensuring that Indiana’s public schools continue to be staffed with highly qualified, dedicated professionals. IDOE MYTH 1: REPA will NOT require current teachers to take instructional or content-area exams to continue teaching or to renew their licenses. Only first-time teacher applicants would be required to prove content knowledge through content-area exams. ISTA CLARIFICATION: REPA would allow the advisory board to require that certain teachers in elementary school settings who seek relicensure (not just initial teachers) first demonstrate proficiency in reading comprehension through the successful completion of a written examination approved by the board. The advisory board could implement this without any further hearings or public comment. IDOE MYTH 2: REPA will NOT cause any teacher to lose his/her license or job. All currently licensed educators will be licensed to teach the same grade levels and content areas under the REPA. All license endorsements for current teachers will transfer to their new licenses. ISTA CLARIFICATION: REPA particularly puts in jeopardy the teaching positions of middle school teachers who hold a general elementary license (grades 1-6, 7/8 non-departmentalized) issued under Rules 46-47. How? Under the REPA guidelines, these teachers would be restricted to teaching K-5 absent going back to school for content-area emphasis and/or passing a content-area test. These teachers should be permitted to retain grade-level and subject-matter licenses (including minors and endorsements) that have been granted according to prior rules without the imposition of additional college courses or testing mandates as they have been deemed to be “highly qualified” under federal standards and have been evaluated as successful teachers by their principals. IDOE MYTH 3: REPA will NOT eliminate IDOE licensing for psychologists, counselors, social workers and speech-language-hearing clinicians. ISTA CLARIFICATION: The IDOE will continue to issue licenses for school psychologists, counselors, social workers and speech-language-hearing clinicians. The main changes in REPA concerning these disciplines are that: (1) an individual with a master’s degree in “a related field” may also qualify for one of these licenses; and (2) there are no other standards-based pre-requisites required to be recognized. IDOE MYTH 4: Current teachers will have greater flexibility under REPA. REPA will allow teachers to add endorsements to their licenses by proving proficiency by passing the PRAXIS II exam in each endorsement area. ISTA CLARIFICATION: The IDOE statements are accurate. IDOE MYTH 5: REPA will save teachers thousands of dollars in license renewal. REPA will allow teachers to use professional development and in-service credits to renew their licenses, saving teachers thousands of dollars in tuition costs. Teachers would still have the option to renew their licenses every five years by obtaining six credit hours from colleges or universities. ISTA CLARIFICATION: Under the existing relicensure rules, teachers have had the option of using professional development and in-service activities towards relicensure. However, participation in in-service workshops has been limited to 50 percent of the license renewal requirements (45 hours) with participation in professional conferences or workshops also limited to 50 percent of the license renewal requirements (45 hours). REPA would allow a teacher to participate in in-service and professional workshops for 100 percent (90 hours) of the license renewal professional development requirements. Teachers would only have to pay for graduate courses if they chose to. IDOE MYTH 6: REPA will renew Accomplished Practitioner licenses for 10 years instead of five years, as the current licensing system mandates. ISTA CLARIFICATION: Accomplished practitioner licenses would be valid for 10 years as stipulated, however, the renewal requirements must be completed in the last five years of the 10-year license term period in order to qualify. IDOE MYTH 7: REPA will NOT eliminate pedagogy or student teaching requirements for future teachers. REPA aims to capture the most essential pedagogical concepts and strike a more even balance between content knowledge and pedagogy-particularly for middle and secondary educators. Under REPA, all new teachers will be required to complete nine weeks of student teaching before receiving licensure. ISTA CLARIFICATION: REPA caps the number of professional education and pedagogy semester credit hours (30 semester hours for education majors and 18 semester hours for education minors) and specifically adds online programs as approved programs. IDOE MYTH 8: REPA will NOT require every teacher to obtain a bachelor's degree in a subject area. Current teachers will not be affected at all by a degree requirement. Future elementary teachers may still receive a traditional elementary education major. Only future secondary teachers would be required to receive degrees with content-area majors with minors in education. Moreover, by requiring secondary teachers (6-12) to receive content-area majors in the subjects they teach, Indiana's teachers will meet the mandated requirements of the Highly Qualified Teacher provision within the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act. ISTA CLARIFICATION: Indiana’s teachers already have been deemed to be highly qualified under federal guidelines. Indiana’s current licensure system includes many paths to a teacher license-from the traditional route, through transition to teaching, through emergency licensure. IDOE MYTH 9: REPA will NOT allow a new teacher to obtain a license by completing an online program, such as the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE). REPA does not approve any new alternative programs, including ABCTE, at this time. It does, however, allow for review of such programs at a later date to determine whether they are suitable for use in Indiana. ISTA CLARIFICATION: Under certain circumstances REPA does appear to include online programs as approved programs as approved by the board without further public hearings.

Hijacking the message about teacher education

Hijacking the message about teacher education from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

Bennett

Duncan

To comment

On the Web

: Go to www.doe.in.gov/repacommentto comment no later than Friday.

In person

: Attend the DOE public hearing at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Rochester High School or at 10 a.m. Nov. 2 at the Indiana State Library, 315 W. Ohio St., Indianapolis.

State Superintendent Tony Bennett borrowed 30 words from U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan this week to build a case for his flawed plan to amend Indiana’s teacher-licensing rules.

But Duncan’s 5,033-word address at Columbia University’s Teachers College was much more than an endorsement of content knowledge over pedagogy.

In fact, the Obama administration’s chief school officer built a strong case against rules that would fill Indiana schools with teachers who know math but don’t know how to teach it.

“In our new era of accountability, it is not enough for a teacher to say, ‘I taught it – but the students didn’t learn it,’ ” Duncan said, calling for changes in the way schools of education train future teachers. His plea was for changes that would not just produce more teachers, but produce teachers who can effectively reach students from poverty, students learning English as a second language, students in inner-city schools and rural communities and students with disabilities.

“Today teachers are asked to achieve significant academic growth for all students at the same time that they instruct students with ever-more diverse needs,” Duncan said.

In spite of Bennett’s effort to spin the message, the rule changes proposed by the Indiana Department of Education are precisely the opposite course Duncan prescribes. Bennett’s proposed rules wouldreduce the number of course hours future teachers would be required to have in a content area, and they would decrease the likelihood that prospective teachers earn hands-on classroom experience before they are hired. Duncan noted the value of that experience.

“I’ve had hundreds of conversations with great young teachers,” Duncan said. “(T)hey say two things about their training in ed school. First, most of them say they did not get the hands-on practical teacher training about managing the classroom that they needed, especially for high-needs students. And second, they say there were not taught how to use data to differentiate and improve instruction and boost student learning.”

Under Indiana’s proposed changes, prospective elementary-school teachers would beprohibited from taking more than 30 credit hours in courses that train them in teaching methods – the very skills they need to differentiate and improve instruction.

Duncan criticized states with licensing exams that “typically measure basic skills and subject matter knowledge with paper-and-pencil tests without any real-world assessment of classroom readiness.”

Under Indiana’s proposed changes, any college graduate passing a certification test administered by the American Board of Certification for Teacher Excellence could become a secondary teacher – no classroom experience required.

Educators have been united in their opposition to the proposal. Complaints have come from classroom teachers, administrators and the state’s schools of education. Chris McGrew, president of the Indiana Council for the Social Studies, said the problem is that the proposed changes were developed without input from the education community. If approved, they would have a particularly worrisome effect on social studies instruction, McGrew said, likely resulting in teachers losing jobs at the secondary level. In elementary schools, where the new rules would require teachers to concentrate on math, science or language arts instruction, social studies would likely lose its place in the curriculum.

“One of the strengths of our elementary school programs is that the teachers are generalists,” McGrew said. ”

Duncan’s message praised the handful of “high-quality alternative certificate” programs, but noted that most teachers will come through universities. He said he’s seeing encouraging improvements from them.

“In the end, I don’t think the ingredients of a good teacher preparation are much of a mystery anymore. Our best programs are coherent, up-to-date, research-based and provide students with subject mastery,” Duncan said. “They have a strong and substantial field-based program in local public schools that drives much of the coursework in classroom management and student learning and prepares students to teach diverse pupils in high-needs settings.”

A hearing is set for Tuesday in Rochester to gather public comment on the teacher-licensing rules.

Bennett wasn’t listening to the secretary of Education; he needs to hear from Hoosiers that lowering teacher standards is not the best course for Indiana students.

          yeah!  let's call it what it is!!

From the Rochester Hearings on REPA

Rochester Public Hearing

Several of IACTE members were in attendance.  I counted 11 institutions represented.  There were approximately 200 individuals in attendance, and 84 individuals signed up to make comments.  All stakeholders were well represented.  The most prominent themes to the comments that I noted included:

-       Opposition to principals being in the position to signoff/approve professional growth plans and teachers’ re-licensure.

-       Calls to slow down the process and initiate a collaborative process including representatives of all stakeholders for the review of rules

-       Opposition to limits on pedagogy, including field experiences

REPA on the ropes

REPA on the ropes
By Karen Francisco
The Journal Gazette

I just returned from Rochester High School, where the Indiana Department of Education held the first of three public hearings on the proposed teacher licensing changes. I counted about 200 people in attendance -- almost 100 had signed up to speak.

I heard 35 speakers before the panel took a 40-minute recess. While there were a handful of speakers who praised single elements of the proposal, there was not a single speaker who favored the rule changes overall.

There was testimony from teachers, superintendents, education students, librarians, a school counselor, psychologist and faculty members from multiple schools of education.

One of the most articulate speakers was Calvin Bellamy, a Schererville attorney and former CEO and chairman of Bank Calumet. He addressed the rules' emphasis on content over pedagogy by noting that he has taught and lectured (at Northwestern and the DePaul University College of Law, according to his bio) but that he recognized the distinction between providing professional expertise and teaching.

"We would be very foolish to think there is nothing special about the science of teaching," Bellamy said.

Rep. Vernon Smith, a Gary Democrat who teaches educational leadership courses at IU Northwest, questioned what research was behind the proposed changes.

Tony Lux, the superintendent of Merrillville Community School Corp., told the hearing officers that the comments they had heard shouldn't be construed as complaints from education groups against education reform, but simply complaints about rules that are "short-sighted, illogical."

Pat Mapes, one of the hearing officers, told me during the break that DOE had received 534 online comments about the REPA rules as of Oct. 19.

"We haven't heard anything here today that we hadn't already heard in those comments," Mapes said.

DOE's Risa Regnier said it was difficult to compare the volume of response to the proposed changes to previous departmental revisions because the proposal is so broad. The rules changes would affect virtually every aspect of Indiana public education -- from the state's schools of education to individual teachers.

The one thread to all of the comments: Slow down. Listen to those who will be affected.

Will it happen?

"I want to stress the department's openness in this rule-changing process," state Superintendent Tony Bennett said in a news release sent today. "We will continue to listen to and address meaningful concerns."

The state has little choice but to listen, given the rules promulgation requirements. The real question is what the administration will concede as "meaningful concerns." My guess is -- not much.

The IDOE REPA website www.doe.in.gov/repacomment will remain open until October 30. We encourage you to submit your comments if you have not yet done so.

There are also two additional public hearings scheduled: one tomorrow at Scottsburg Middle School and one on November 2 at the Indianapolis State Library. Both are scheduled to start at 10:00 am.

Bennett Spins Lowering Teacher Standards

is was sent out yesterday on REPA.....the problem is that 1) the proposal as it sits doesn't say this; and 2) based on how this has been handled up to this point (i.e. rushing the process, vague details, and making it almost impossible for parents and teachers' voices to be heard), it's hard to believe him.  Are we just supposed to take his word that he's made some kind of deal??  We think not.

Also, note that the DOE took the time to put this email together but forgot to put the link for public comment.....hmmm??   We only have a couple of days to post comments to the REPA Comment site

 [ http://mustang.doe.state.in.us/dg/repa/Eval.cfm ] and this is our only recourse against this dangerous policy from a poor policy maker.

On the Rush to "Reform"

more from the social studies community on Bennett's disastrous plans for education....from the Indy Star
Harm done in rush to reform social studies education


Posted: October 25, 2009

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett and the Indiana Department of Education have failed social studies. In the rush to reform K-12 social studies education, the department is harming students and teachers. The proposed changes to the way Indiana social studies teachers receive and renew their licenses will mean that excellent secondary social studies teachers will lose their jobs. This is not the way to reform K-12 education.


The state implemented an inferior ISTEP social studies test this past spring. Because of the poor quality of the test, we do not know if 40 percent of the students failed the test or if the test failed 100 percent of our students. The test is harming the very students the reform efforts are supposed to be helping.

Finally, the Department of Education is not communicating with schools about the changes in testing and licensure. This failure to communicate is demoralizing public education. Bennett fired most of the area consultants who worked directly with teachers. This means no one is left at the department to work with teachers in the field. Instead, Bennett hired Carol D'Amico to work 16 hours per week for nearly $10,000 per month to "provide a liaison with education stakeholders who contact the superintendent's office regarding the issues areas."

Apparently this doesn't include teachers. Is this a good use of our tax dollars? Is the goal of K-12 educational reform to improve public education or destroy it? We must hold Bennett and the Department of Education accountable for the damage being done to our schools.

Chris McGrew
President, Indiana Council for the Social Studies, Lafayette IN

Petition on Teacher Licensure--Please Sign & Distribute

[PETITION TO BE DISTRIBUTED]

Dear Indiana Citizen–
Below is a petition in which individuals can voice that they DO NOT SUPPORT THE CURRENT PROPOSED RULES FOR EDUCATOR PREPARATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY (REPA).  We encourage you to send your own response AND to forward this electronic petition to individuals throughout your local and professional community.  To voice that individuals DO NOT SUPPORT REPA, all they need to do is send an e-mail to repapetition@yahoo.com .    
RESPONSES MUST BE SENT NO LATER THAN MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2009.

Please click on (or cut & paste) the email address repapetition@yahoo.com, copy the following sentence into the email body; indicate whether you are a parent, concerned citizen, student, teacher, school administrator, etc. and enter in the subject line “REPA Petition”.
I HAVE READ THE PETITION FROM THE REPA COALITION OF EDUCATION GROUPS AND I DO NOT SUPPORT ADOPTION OF THE EDUCATOR PREPARATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY RULES (REPA) AS PROPOSED.   

PETITION IN RESPONSE TO
REPA – RULES FOR EDUCATOR PREPARATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY
(DOCUMENT CREATED BY THE STAFF OF THE INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND
APPROVED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT BY THE PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS ADVISORY BOARD ON SEPTEMBER 3, 2009)

REPA COALITION OF EDUCATION GROUPS

The proposed Rules for Educator Preparation and Accountability (REPA) include, but are not limited to, the following:

1)        New teachers will have to know their content well, BUT the amount of coursework in their content area they would be required to take may be reduced and their study and knowledge about children and learning AND their classroom experiences will be extremely limited.

2)        Teacher preparation programs and new teachers WILL NOT BE HELD to ANY rigorous state or national standards.

3)        Individuals could become new teachers by ONLY participating in an on-line program, passing a test, AND having no experience with kids or in classrooms.

4)        Current licenses will be eliminated.  Senior teachers may be required to take exams to renew their licenses.  Some current teachers may NOT be able to renew their existing licenses and to keep their current classrooms/positions.

5)        Individuals with no classroom experience could be licensed to become school superintendents to run school corporations.
I DO NOT SUPPORT THE MAJORITY OF THE CURRENT PROPOSED RULES, given that THE PROPOSED CHANGES ARE NOT ROOTED IN BEST PRACTICES OR NATIONALLY-RECOGNIZED RESEARCH.  The General Assembly should appoint a Legislative Commission entitled Educator Preparation, Licensing and Accountability to align with national standards.

Speak Now or....

All,

   Not much time remains for public comment on the disastrous policies of Tony Bennett and Mitch Daniels.  At every step they've tried to use the process to keep the citizens out of the process (meetings during the workday, limited online comments only, and misinformation).  Luckily, by law you do have the right to make comments on the proposal but only a short to do so.  They are counting on our silence.

Public Comment: http://mustang.doe.state.in.us/dg/repa/Eval.cfm

October 27 - Rochester

October 29 - Scottsburg

November 2 - Indianapolis

Citizen Concerns from Social Studies Folks

Area educators unhappy with state


Dr. Tony Bennett and the Indiana Department of Education have failed social studies. In the rush to reform K-12 social studies education, the IDOE is harming students and teachers. The proposed changes to the way Indiana social studies teachers receive and renew their licenses will mean that excellent secondary social studies teachers will lose their jobs. This is not the way to reform K-12 education.

Currently, statistics show a 50 percent turnover rate for first-year teachers within the first five years in public schools. The proposed changes will only continue to increase the numbers of highly qualified educators leaving the profession.

In addition to changes in licensure, the IDOE implemented an inferior ISTEP+ social studies test this past spring and published the results without consideration of the test as a first-year pilot program that may have contained flaws imbedded in the questions. Because of the poor quality of the test, we do not know if 40 percent of the students failed the test or if the test failed 100 percent of our students. The test is harming the very students the reform efforts are supposed to be helping.
Finally, the IDOE refuses to communicate with schools about the changes in testing and licensure. This failure to communicate is demoralizing public education. Is the goal of K-12 educational reform to improve public education or destroy it?

We must hold Dr. Bennett and the IDOE accountable for the damage being done to our schools.

— Chris McGrew, president, Indiana Council for the Social Studies, Fort Wayne; and Todd M. Read, board member,Indiana Council for the Social Studies Teacher, Clarksville Community School Corp.

Reflecting the Complete Picture

Teacher education rules must reflect complete picture

"FOR the past two months, I have been immersed in the new proposed rules for teacher education and licensing from the Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett.

The Rules for Educator Preparation and Accountability represent significant changes to teacher preparation and the licensing of teachers and administrators.

Bennett has said teachers need to know more content. He further implies that if teachers know more content and/or know it better, then students will perform better in school, at least on standardized tests.


Here are a few of my reflections on that premise:

• First, there is no question that teachers must know and understand content well. They must be able to explain concepts and issues to students from a variety of perspectives and must be able to assist each, individual student with her/his understanding.
  
  
• Yet, I remind myself about the rapidity with which content/knowledge is changing. It will not be enough for any teacher to know only his/ her content well. It will be equally important that each teacher knows how to learn, where to find new information and how to analyze critically new information, in a way to share it with students, and be able to instill those skills in students.

• Also, it is vital that each teacher knows how individual kids learn, what gets them excited about learning and how to channel their energy and excitement productively into understanding and being able to use new information.

• A final point is that each teacher needs to have the skills to work with students in our rapidly changing classrooms.
  

As a teacher-educator and school board member, I worry that the new proposals swing the pendulum too far in one direction without considering the more complete picture about “content,” the importance of teachers’ understanding kids and how they learn and the reality that our classrooms are changing at a great rate."

Jill Shedd is president of Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. Board. Comment on REPA  Read this commentary in its entirety here.

Fairy Tales, Lies, and Myths - Shame on you Indy Star

I read with interest Andy Gammill's article in the Indy Star Sunday (click here to read it) and have a few questions that I would like to ask him. In the first paragraph, where did Stephanie Parido learn to push her 12 year olds to make complex analyses?

Further down in the sixth paragraph, it asks, "Is it a good thing that more of Indiana's children are being taught by educators who have not undergone traditional training? Generally, education leaders think it is." Who exactly are these leaders that Mr. Gammill aludes to? He goes onto say that the non-traditional teacher "offers a boost of enthusiasm". I had the opportunity to speak to a graduating senior from an education program after her first day of student teaching this week. The sparkle in her eyes, the enthusiasm in her voice, the glow in her cheeks was unbelievable. She was walking on air with excitement and passion.

Mr. Gammill goes on to state, "Some research..." without citing any sources, which I find a bit troubling for an educational article . Later, he comments, "Other educators..." which is again problematic for credibility's sake.


"What is clear is that political support for these programs has never been stronger. Both Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, and President Barack Obama, a Democrat are pushing for more opportunities for those without education degrees to become educators." This is emphatically false. Yes, Mitch Daniels is. No, President Obama is not. I ran a search for all of the educational comments by President Obama and not one even suggests this supposed point of view.

"The studies do give some weight to the idea that alternatively certified teachers can do more harm than good in reading, but the programs think they can fix that," is also stated in Mr. Gammill's article. Wow! I thought the whole point of education was to have a literate society that can make decisions based on democratic principles. Pretty difficult without the ability to read... As to "fix that", wouldn't one assume that this had been already addressed when sending out non-traditionally certified teachers by the hundreds of thousands?

There is much more that is troubling in this article, but I will stop now due to the amount I have already shared. The rest of the article is more of the same, half-truths, mythical thinking, and fairy tales.

A Teacher Speaks Out

I cannot help but to think of the latest Ken Burn’s documentary about our National Parks when I reflect upon the current changes to teacher certification proposed by the Indiana Department of Education.  The documentary focuses on the heroic efforts of John Muir as he tried desperately to conserve America’s frontier from the dangers of industrialization and greed.  While I in no way equate myself to Muir, I do see the struggle facing Indiana Education today on par with the one in which Muir engaged.  Make no mistake that the changes proposed would have lasting effects, changing the landscape of Indiana education for generations to come.  I wonder if those who have proposed these changes truly have the foresight to see how dangerous they are.  The cynic in me says that they have, but they simply do not care.  Their motivations cannot be about helping all students succeed and therefore must be driven by politics and ideology.  While this is pure speculation on my part, what is true is that the changes they propose are not motivated by facts and research for the reasons they give are unfounded and weak.  Just as Muir feared for all that he held sacred, I fear for the children of Indiana.

            My own experience speaks very well to the changes being put forth.  I was a person who came to teaching later in life.  I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Theatre and when I graduated, teaching high school was the furthest thing from my mind.  However, in the often-bent path that life can sometimes take, I found myself wanting to teach.  In order to do so I had to go back to school to receive my teaching license.  The process would take two years because there were not any expedited programs in the field of my choice, theatre.  In the beginning, I questioned the validity of such an undertaking.  I felt that I had all the knowledge I needed to teach.  As my graduate level education classes started, I soon learned that I was ignorant of so much.  Classes ranged from the extremely practical, such as a technology course on how to use it effectively in the classroom, to those who’s practicality was not apparent at first, but who’s worth was found as I started teaching.  Those classes have stayed with me to this day.  My Secondary Curriculum professor had a profound influence on how I saw and continue to see education.  Through his class I was able to see teaching past the context of the content of my major and through a larger lens.  It was here that I first realized I was teaching students about so much more than theatre; I was preparing them for the rest of their lives. 

            My first day of teaching was eye opening to say the least.  Because I was eager to start and because the school that hired me was desperate to fill their need, I started midway through the year without any formal student teaching experience.  My first day of class was my first day of student teaching.  After two days I was openly questioning whether or not I had made a good choice.  In those first weeks I leaned heavily on my content knowledge and it was failing me.  My students didn’t seem to care about my extensive education within theatre.  It was then that I reached out to Kipchoge Kirkland, my Secondary Curriculum professor.  He came to my classes, and with his help I was able to effectively use those things I had learned in my education classes but had abandoned.  I found my passion to teach.  That passion sustained me for five more years and fueled my desire to pursue a higher degree in education so that I might instill that same passion in others.

            The passion that I found in those education classes will die under these new proposals.  Why would we want passionless teachers?  Why would we want ineffectual teachers?  I am not here to say that teacher certification in the state of Indiana should not be evaluated and changed but not in the way that others are proposing.  I am past the point of being equitable in my critique of these changes.  I am past the point of trying to show them real data that clearly refutes their ideas.  They are not listening.  These people are wrong.  Superintendent Bennett is wrong.  Governor Daniels is wrong.  They are wrong, and the changes they propose will devastate the future of this state.  Imagine a place where there aren’t any places of higher learning dedicated to improve teaching and education.  A place where teachers are ill-equipped to face the challenges that students with disabilities and students from low income families present.  Imagine a place where teachers teach the same for each student without regard to their needs or abilities.  A place where teachers are not life long learners themselves thereby losing out on the newest techniques and innovations that educational research has to offer.  A place where teachers become frustrated because they do not have the tools to reach their students effectively and they leave the profession at a higher rate than they do now.  Imagine an education system so broken that it is beyond repair.  When we find ourselves in that place, we will wonder why we didn’t do more to stop these proposed changes. 

It is a reoccurring nightmare for me.  It is one that I fear, not only for all children of Indiana, but my own daughter.  Will she have the teachers she deserves?  Will they be teachers with strong content knowledge AND an extensive background in how to teach?  Will they be properly equipped to inspire her?  Will they be able to tailor their teaching to her needs? Or will my daughter find herself in the broken education system I fear?   As John Muir feared what men might do to his beloved trees, I fear what these men will do to the future of our children.                         

The Business of Teacher Training

Finally, some decent reporting on the DOE's proposal for changing teacher qualifications--why the Indy Star can't see beyond the political BS & double-talk is beyond me.....
Key Points:

• Bennett's proposal markedly lowers standards in content for teachers (regardless of what he says);
• Bennett's proposal would hurt all of the teacher preparation programs in Indiana (even private programs like Butler and Marion);
• Bennett's proposal would allow taking a test to substitute for license renewal & becoming an administrator (so much for professionalism and life-long learners, eh?);
• Bennett hates Schools of Education.....what's he afraid of??  Folks that have dedicated their lives to studying what works in education?  or is he just afraid of real data?
• Bennett's proposal is gambling with Indiana's children as there is no data that suggests these programs will work (the story here is about one teacher....how many don't make it a year?)
• and finally, you might not read about in the Star but there's been a lot of improvement in Indiana, why such radical reform?  It makes you wonder that this about something else.... passing the costs on to someone else?  deregulation? privatization? Sounds like Mitch, hmm?

Overhaul of teacher training threatens college budgets

J.K. Wall

October 3, 2009

KEYWORDS

EDUCATION & WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, GOVERNMENT & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, K-12, STATE GOVERNMENT, TEACHERS

...A survey by the Indiana Association of Colleges for Teacher Education found that secondary education majors take as many or more courses in English, biology, chemistry, U.S. history and Spanish than their peers majoring in those subjects.  “This isn’t a race to the top in these rules; it’s a race to the bottom,” said Ena Shelley, dean of Butler’s College of Education.

Education deans also fault Bennett’s rules for moving back to an old model of strict credit-hour requirements, undercutting 10 years of efforts to tie teacher-training to specific standards, measured by tests taken by teachers and by students.  That was the goal of the current rule system for teacher licensing, called Rules 2002. And some credit the system with the general improvement in Indiana students’ scores on the ISTEP and SAT tests.

“Indiana has gotten better, not worse, since 2002,” said John Jacobson, dean of the Ball State University Teachers College. “That’s an indicator that maybe the standards-based system is working.” ....

Read More: http://www.ibj.com/educators-divided/PARAMS/article/7378

Public Hearings Set on Lowering Teacher Standards

Posted in the Indy Star today.....we now have less than 30 days to post Public Comment on a disastrous policy for Indiana's children.  I honestly believe that the powers that be are counting on our silence as they move to dismantle public education.  Remember that Dr. Bennett specifically denied requests for the hearings to be in the evening so that working parents, teachers, and administrators could attend--so much for democracy.

 Indiana Citizens is worried.....are you?

Public hearings set on plans for teacher licensing

Posted: October 3, 2009

The state Department of Education has scheduled three public hearings on a contentious proposal to revamp Indiana's teacher licensing requirements.

The meetings are a chance for teachers and others to voice opinions about the changes being considered by the Indiana Professional Standards Board.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett wants to eliminate some requirements, saying teachers spend too much time learning teaching methods and not enough time on subject matter. Opponents worry that the changes would weaken standards without improving teacher quality.

The hearings are scheduled for Oct. 27 in Rochester, Oct. 29 in Scottsburg and Nov. 2 in Indianapolis.

Comments also may be submitted online at www.doe.in.gov/ repacomment until Oct. 30.

Public Comment on Teacher Standards

Here is the  link for submission of written testimony re: REPA, Rules for Educator Preparation and Accountability http://mustang.doe.state.in.us/dg/repa/welcome.cfm
The site will be available through October 30 and the Board is required to take these comments into consideration.

Individuals are encouraged to provide comments/concerns/questions about REPA.  PLEASE be sure that comments are made to the most recent version of REPA, available at http://www.doe.in.gov/news/2009/07-July/09-481_Proposed_Rule.pdf. 


We really do need comments, questions, and concerns here as (in our view), the powers that be are counting on the apathy of Indiana citizens--let's prove them wrong!