I think that non-tenured teachers, especially those without recent experience, should be assigned to classrooms that are scattered throughout the district, instead of concentrating them in certain buildings and grade levels. Why?
1. The principle of a school can do a better job of supervising a few non-tenured teachers then a dozens of non-tenured teachers. 2. The learning curve for teachers is generally (or can be) fairly steep in some areas during their first five years of teaching, including classroom management, assessment and planning skills, and the ability to quickly develop a more or less harmonious relationship with their assigned students. Some of the differences in average test scores and overall classroom climate between schools can be attributed to the overexposure of students to new teachers. This is a bad scene for students and teachers alike. 3. In any school where a large proportion of the teachers are non-tenured, it is likely that the school will be run like a banana republic. Non-tenured teachers may not appeal a decision to terminate their contract at the end of the school year and therefore have few if any rights that the administration must respect. I think that, in general, the best way to assign teachers is through the kind of bidding system described in the current union contract. However, I think that temporary teacher in training positions should be created in schools where new teachers are infrequently (or never) assigned. And there should be some incentives for teachers to stay at or bid into the 'bad schools' (and not only combat pay). In addition, the district should phase out "low-ability" curriculum tracks and phase-in a college-bound curriculum for the general student population. What we currently have in Minneapolis is a system of curriculum differentiation through ability-grouping within and between classrooms (known as curriculum tracking or 'tracking') that starts as early as Kindergarten or grade one in most schools. A few of the district's schools (Barton and the Montessori programs) and entire public school districts in Minnesota obtain excellent results with instruction based on a college bound curriculum for the general student population. The non-tracking schools can do a good job of education all students, including the high achievers due to a stronger emphasis on individualized educational planning and student centered cooperative learning strategies. A Thematic Integrative Curriculum is used in Montessori programs and in the Arts for Academic Achievement program (with good results in the Minneapolis Public Schools) and is recommended by the Education Trust as part of a plan to phase-out curriculum tracking. -Doug Mann, King Field Soon to publish a pamphlet entitled "Flight from Equality: School reform in the US since 1983" REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
