ND Teacher Shortage: Students Teachers To Be "Teachers of Record"

[SweetSue92]

I cannot begin to explain to anyone who has not taught how valuable classroom time is compared to university instruction. The best educations schools get education majors in the field long before student teaching, but it's far from universal to do so.

At any rate, because of the ongoing and blistering teacher shortage, North Dakota is going to take "teachers" in their Senior year of college, during student teaching, and just...make them teachers. Oh, but if they have issues, they can ask the teacher down the hall.

Worse to come, I'm sure. Shortages all over the nation, still.

North Dakota's teacher shortage creating 'imminent peril' as board seeks emergency rule

In a move to ease an "urgent" teacher shortage, some student teachers would not have a collaborative teacher in the classroom under a request made to Gov. Doug Burgum.

www.inforum.com

 

[Dekster]

Doesn't sound like anybody will really qualify though. I mean how many people have finished all their coursework but are still in college?

 

[SweetSue92]

Doesn't sound like anybody will really qualify though. I mean how many people have finished all their coursework but are still in college?

You finish your coursework, and then, as part of your teacher preparation, you student teach, usually your last semester of college. Always, you are a student teacher WITH a "cooperating teacher" in the room--an actual employed teacher of some experience and standing.

Put another way: college coursework, student teaching, THEN graduate college with degree and certification.

So you can see the problem: they're going to put wholly inexperienced college students, not having student taught or graduated, maybe 21 years old, into the classroom.

 

[1srelluc]

Years ago I asked why there aren't federal grants that a teacher in a underserved/poor area apply for that would bring their pay up to some agreed upon median salary for the area in which they apply? ND would not need a NYC salary.

The fact of the matter is poor counties with a low property tax base can't afford to pay what a large, more affluent population center can pay.

I was told at the time it was because because the NEA would fight it tooth and nail because if that were the case the NEA would lose their power. Maybe the NEA does not want happy teachers.

It would seem to me that given the money the feds piss away on "studies" of shrimp on treadmills and the like it would be a good use of tax-payer money. I would certainly support it given proper qualifications.

That and as the grant money would be applied for on a individual basis it would not get in the way of state's rights and the teacher would still be subject to the state's marching orders.

 

[Blaster]

Doesn't sound like anybody will really qualify though. I mean how many people have finished all their coursework but are still in college?

College is a waste of time for many students. Quite a few never use their degree to find work in their chosen field and wind up in low paying jobs. They would be better off going to a technical school to learn a skill.

 

[SweetSue92]

Years ago I asked why there aren't federal grants that a teacher in a underserved/poor area apply for that would bring their pay up to some agreed upon median salary for the area in which they apply? ND would not need a NYC salary.

The fact of the matter is poor counties with a low property tax base can't afford to pay what a large, more affluent population center can pay.

I was told at the time it was because because the NEA would fight it tooth and nail because if that were the case the NEA would lose their power. Maybe the NEA does not want happy teachers.

It would seem to me that given the money the feds piss away on "studies" of shrimp on treadmills and the like it would be a good use of tax-payer money. I would certainly support it given proper qualifications.

That and as the grant money would be applied for on a individual basis it would not get in the way of state's rights and the teacher would still be subject to the state's marching orders.

I haven't belonged to the NEA for years and endorse very little of what they do, that's first.

Second--they are really going to have to implement some of these programs to bring in teachers, but I fear they won't.

I fear instead the attrition will continue apace, and things will get worse and worse, driving the good teachers out and worse, making sure that very few young people go into the profession. Eventually, and not in a long time either, the decline is inevitable.

 

[SweetSue92]

College is a waste of time for many students. Quite a few never use their degree to find work in their chosen field and wind up in low paying jobs. They would be better off going to a technical school to learn a skill.

I don't disagree in general but we're talking about placing teachers in classrooms. Not college in general.

 

[Blaster]

I don't disagree in general but we're talking about placing teachers in classrooms. Not college in general.

The teachers union has dumbed down education.

 

[1srelluc]

College is a waste of time for many students. Quite a few never use their degree to find work in their chosen field and wind up in low paying jobs. They would be better off going to a technical school to learn a skill.

LOL....My dad barely schlepped through HS but taught a class for years at the local community college on nuisance trapping.

 

[SweetSue92]

The teachers union has dumbed down education.

Are you just going to blast out soundbites having nothing to do with the OP or what?

 

[SweetSue92]

LOL....My dad barely schlepped through HS but taught a class for years at the local community college on nuisance trapping.

In many instances this is what community college is for. People teach in their area of expertise. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Zincwarrior]

Are you just going to blast out soundbites having nothing to do with the OP or what?

Are there special issues in North Dakota vs. other areas of the US that are aggravating this shortage?

 

[Dekster]

You finish your coursework, and then, as part of your teacher preparation, you student teach, usually your last semester of college. Always, you are a student teacher WITH a "cooperating teacher" in the room--an actual employed teacher of some experience and standing.

Put another way: college coursework, student teaching, THEN graduate college with degree and certification.

So you can see the problem: they're going to put wholly inexperienced college students, not having student taught or graduated, maybe 21 years old, into the classroom.

Seems like student teaching experience would be a requirement they have to meet before they did this since that would be part of the coursework they would have to have finished. Either way, I am not sure that it is fundamentally always a bad idea, but time will tell. I mean they let third year law students practice law without having graduated or passed any bar exam under some pro bono circumstances so it isn't that far afield.

I personally don't think the teacher shortage is as much about the pay as some do though. I think it is because students have gotten so unruly as many youtubes floating around out there can attest to. Teachers seemingly need a law enforcement double major or minor in a lot of places. Our city schools have gotten pretty bad. It is why we pay for two of ours to go to school elsewhere. #1 is about to fly the coop to get his woke degree in lesbian basket weaving or whatever it is they teach now. A coworkers daughter had to quit teaching after a couple years because she was having such bad panic attacks she was ending up in the ER. Hasn't had one since she quit the profession.

 

[SweetSue92]

Are there special issues in North Dakota vs. other areas of the US that are aggravating this shortage?

It's all over.

Northwest Florida

Northwest Florida school districts persevere amid national teacher shortage

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- School districts are still facing staffing issues as teacher shortages continue nationwide.Despite the teacher shortage, Northwest florida se

weartv.com

DeKalb Co (who addresses the national shortage)

DCSD Addresses Teacher Shortages

Thanks for all you do for our students, families, stakeholders, community partners, and each other! Know that we value your commitment and dedication to the DeKalb County School District. The first day of school is just around the corner. As such, we anticipate more than 93,000 fresh faces will...

www.dekalbschoolsga.org

Univ of Wyoming addresses the national problem:

Schools across the United States are struggling to fill vacancies as teachers quit at higher rates and fewer students aspire to become teachers. The teacher shortage is even more acute in rural areas. The University of Wyoming (UW), an ACE member, has a plan to not only alleviate this problem but convert a dearth of teachers into a surplus.​

University of Wyoming Tackles Rural Teacher Shortage with Personalized Professional Development

Schools across the United States are struggling to fill vacancies as teachers quit at higher rates and fewer students aspire to become teachers.

www.acenet.edu

 

[Seymour Flops]

Texas has a pretty good alternative certification program. You have to have finished college already to enroll in a program. But you can applly to teach as an "intern" for one year while you finish it the courses in the alternative certification program.

I waited until I finished the coursework, because I wasn't unemployed. When I got hired, there was no student teaching, I was just put in to sink or swim. I was almost forty, and I'd had plenty of sink-or-swim jobs, including part time private school, so no biggie. I was asked so many times how "overwhelmed" I was that I finally started humoring them.

One thing that dissappointed me about the alternative cert is that they never told me "OK, this is how you teach." That part I had to figure out. Any aspring teachers out there, I recommend you read Harry Wong to learn how to manage a classroom, and "The Fundamental 5" to learn how to teach any subject.

 

[Seymour Flops]

Anyway, point being, even with our decent program to get into teaching, and the fact that I teach at a really good suburban district, my junior high is about to start the year with our "auxiliary teacher," which is basically a student working her way through college as a permanent substitute, starting off teaching a 7th grade science class due to no qualified candidates.

Last year, I got stuck with a special ed teacher in my department who has taught eight or nine different districts in less than twenty years. I tried my best to mentor her along, but she would literally cry about fearing losing her job, and then go into a co-teach class and shop on her iPad.

At the end of the year, I found out that I would have one more teacher and one less para, so I said "screw it," and poached a couple of proven teachers from schools in the district.

 

[DGS49]

It seems to me that there are a couple big problems with solving the teacher shortage problem.

First, while there are a lot of mid-career "professionals" who would like to try teaching, there are insurmountable obstacles to this switch. In most states, such a person would have to go an entire year with NO PAY, while they take "Education" classes and do a semester of student teaching. At the end of that process, they might be able to teach, but they would be at the bottom of the payscale.

Resolving these problems would be most beneficial in the area of math and science teachers.

 

[John Edgar Slow Horses]

The teachers union has dumbed down education.

It's not the union putting students in the classroom as teachers.

 

[Unkotare]

Seems like student teaching experience would be a requirement they have to meet before they did this since that would be part of the coursework they would have to have finished. Either way, I am not sure that it is fundamentally always a bad idea, but time will tell. I mean they let third year law students practice law without having graduated or passed any bar exam under some pro bono circumstances so it isn't that far afield.

I personally don't think the teacher shortage is as much about the pay as some do though. I think it is because students have gotten so unruly as many youtubes floating around out there can attest to. Teachers seemingly need a law enforcement double major or minor in a lot of places. Our city schools have gotten pretty bad. It is why we pay for two of ours to go to school elsewhere. #1 is about to fly the coop to get his woke degree in lesbian basket weaving or whatever it is they teach now. A coworkers daughter had to quit teaching after a couple years because she was having such bad panic attacks she was ending up in the ER. Hasn't had one since she quit the profession.

It's not for everyone.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Are there special issues in North Dakota vs. other areas of the US that are aggravating this shortage?

Yes-it's a big, overwhelmingly-rural state. The largest city (Fargo) has only 125,000 people, and THE REST OF THE STATE has about the same number of people as

It seems to me that there are a couple big problems with solving the teacher shortage problem.

First, while there are a lot of mid-career "professionals" who would like to try teaching, there are insurmountable obstacles to this switch. In most states, such a person would have to go an entire year with NO PAY, while they take "Education" classes and do a semester of student teaching. At the end of that process, they might be able to teach, but they would be at the bottom of the payscale.

Resolving these problems would be most beneficial in the area of math and science teachers.

Spot on. Heck, my sister couldn't teach middle or high school science.

(My sister has a master's degree in chemistry.)

Allowing congressmen to decide who goes to college and who doesent is a crazy idea

Not even in Joey's top 10 crazy ideas.