Grade Inflation for Education Majors and Low Standards for Teachers

[thundley4]

Students who take education classes at universities receive significantly higher grades than students who take classes in every other academic discipline. The higher grades cannot be explained by observable differences in student quality between education majors and other students, nor can they be explained by the fact that education classes are typically smaller than classes in other academic departments. The remaining reasonable explanation is that the higher grades in education classes are the result of low grading standards. These low grading standards likely will negatively affect the accumulation of skills for prospective teachers during university training. More generally, they contribute to a larger culture of low standards for educators.

Key points in this Outlook:

Grades awarded in university education departments are consistently higher than grades in other disciplines.
Similarly, teachers in K-12 schools receive overwhelmingly positive evaluations.
Grade inflation in education departments should be addressed through administrative directives or external accountability in K-12 schools.

A 2009 report from the New Teacher Project shows that teachers in K-12 schools receive overwhelmingly positive performance evaluations.1 The report has brought much-needed attention to the low evaluation standards for K-12 teachers. This Outlook examines the standards by which prospective teachers are evaluated during university training. Grading standards in education departments at universities, where much of the teaching workforce is trained, are also strikingly low. In addition to documenting the low grading standards in education departments, I consider some of the likely consequences and discuss possible solutions.

Link

[zeitgeist]

Link

Then you have the double majors of  Phs. Ed and Education.  Sadly, they usually teach history and civics courses .   

[Erasmus]

Otherwise known as the "Mrs." degree.  Sexist and a bit of a generalization, but true in SOOOO many cases.  Lots of the "education" majors there had no problem admitting that they were there trolling for a husband.

Frankly, it's BS.  If you like math and want to teach kids, you should get a math degree.  If you like history and want to teach, you should get a history degree.  Etc., etc.

Otherwise you get someone teaching algebra that can't factor a simple quadratic equation in front of a room full of students.  Or a coach teaching civics and not even covering the US Constitution.

[Doc]

Otherwise known as the "Mrs." degree.  Sexist and a bit of a generalization, but true in SOOOO many cases.  Lots of the "education" majors there had no problem admitting that they were there trolling for a husband.

Frankly, it's BS.  If you like math and want to teach kids, you should get a math degree.  If you like history and want to teach, you should get a history degree.  Etc., etc.

Otherwise you get someone teaching algebra that can't factor a simple quadratic equation in front of a room full of students.  Or a coach teaching civics and not even covering the US Constitution.

Had forgotten that one.  

The rest of your thesis is also spot on.  I knew a guy who bombed out of engineering school, got a teaching degree and spent the rest of his life a bitter math teacher.  He hated teaching and it showed.  And he hated kids.

The coach that taught civics was an easy grader so no one ever complained besides you had to take civics. He still had his 'college' notes ( or sombody's ) that he refered to when he got lost in the teacher's edition or got asked a 'tough one'.  

[RonBush]

I agree it is a huge problem, especially in math and science.  People who are good at math and science would almost always rather work in the field than teach,  and can make more money that way.   The school systems here in Georgia have had to make major compromises in quality to get enough math teachers.  I don't know of any good solution. 

[Karin]

Even if we could come up with good solutions, such as that you have to at least minor in the area of study to teach it above 6th grade, or better yet, major in it and take "education" classes as an afterthought, the teacher's unions would put up a huge stink.

I started college as an education major (don't laugh) with an eye toward teaching accounting to high school students.  All those dumb education classes were a load of balloon juice, and very easy A's.  I ditched it to study accounting fulltime. 

[RonBush]

Even if we could come up with good solutions, such as that you have to at least minor in the area of study to teach it above 6th grade, or better yet, major in it and take "education" classes as an afterthought, the teacher's unions would put up a huge stink.

I started college as an education major (don't laugh) with an eye toward teaching accounting to high school students.  All those dumb education classes were a load of balloon juice, and very easy A's.  I ditched it to study accounting fulltime. 

Did you end up teaching or working as an accountant?

[NHSparky]

And in other (depressing) news, the idiots who run the local school system want to do away with the "stigmatizing" grades of D and F:

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110820/GJNEWS_01/708209908

ROCHESTER— School Board members and school officials debated the decision to remove an F from the grade book as part of Spaulding High School's new competency-based grading system Thursday night at a meeting of the Policy Committee, with some School Board members questioning whether this change in semantics is too confusing.

The competency-based grading system, which will be implemented at the start of the school year this fall, includes grades of A (advanced), B (beyond competent), and C (competent), but instead of a grade of F uses the terms Not Yet Competent (NYC) and Insufficient Work Shown (IWS).

========================================

And they still wonder why they have some of the lowest scores in the state.

[Kryder]

I personally think they should abolish Education degrees and require prospective teachers to have degrees in a science if they want to be science teachers, math (or a something that requires good math ability) for someone who wants to be a math teacher, etc.  A BS in Education's curriculum is like "Curriculum Management" and "Special Needs Children" and a lot of other classes that only provide the knowledge on how to make kids busy, and how to babysit essentially.  They need to stop assuming that K-12 courses are common sense enough for anyone to be able to teach with a BS in Education. 

I ultimately blame the "accept mediocrity" of the "No Child Left behind" act.  I know this won't be a popular assertion, but until we stop focusing on ensuring that "no one is left not feeling special" and actually help our truly brilliant kids excel in their abilities, we will continue the downward trend in the level of education in comparison to countries in Europe and Japan. 

[CG6468]

And in other (depressing) news, the idiots who run the local school system want to do away with the "stigmatizing" grades of D and F:

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110820/GJNEWS_01/708209908

ROCHESTER— School Board members and school officials debated the decision to remove an F from the grade book as part of Spaulding High School's new competency-based grading system Thursday night at a meeting of the Policy Committee, with some School Board members questioning whether this change in semantics is too confusing.

The competency-based grading system, which will be implemented at the start of the school year this fall, includes grades of A (advanced), B (beyond competent), and C (competent), but instead of a grade of F uses the terms Not Yet Competent (NYC) and Insufficient Work Shown (IWS).

========================================

And they still wonder why they have some of the lowest scores in the state.

How about the grade of AAL (Almost A Liberal)?

[NHSparky]

I ultimately blame the "accept mediocrity" of the "No Child Left behind" act.  I know this won't be a popular assertion, but until we stop focusing on ensuring that "no one is left not feeling special" and actually help our truly brilliant kids excel in their abilities, we will continue the downward trend in the level of education in comparison to countries in Europe and Japan. 

Sorry, dear boy, but the "accept mediocrity" was around long before NCLB.

[zeitgeist]

Sorry, dear boy, but the "accept mediocrity" was around long before NCLB.

My computer with all the good Ed crap blew up but suffice to say, we have been "A Nation At Risk" for quite some time*.  It is time for the DOE to go.  Away. 

*  http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0422/p13s02-lepr.html

[thundley4]

My computer with all the good Ed crap blew up but suffice to say, we have been "A Nation At Risk" for quite some time*.  It is time for the DOE to go.  Away. 

*  http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0422/p13s02-lepr.html

Question:  By DOE, do you mean Department of Education or Department of Energy?

Answer: Yes, while education is the thread topic, both departments are wastes of time and money.

[Kryder]

Sorry, dear boy, but the "accept mediocrity" was around long before NCLB.

Lol.. You're right, but NCLB doesn't help this mantra.  The premise behind it was to loosen restrictions to become a teacher so that increased access to education would enable children who were "being left behind" would have the ability (more teachers) to help them.  They also coupled this with reductions in standards for acceptable grades on the state requirements to pass kids who are having difficulty.  What they should have done was take the money for NCLB and put it into programs to cultivate the intelligence of the gifted kids.

I totally agree though that the "accept mediocrity" perception has been around for much longer than just NCLB.  I'm 27, so yes "boy" doesn't offend me, however when I was in little league they awarded the kids who won first with the same trophy that they gave the kids in last place.  Why would a kid work hard to become better if they're going to be awarded for that sub level performance? It's actually more of a societal issue.