Another piece of evidence that "certification" may not produce excellent teachers

Joanne Jacobs reports on a study by CALDER. In Teach for America makes the grade Joanne starts off with:

"Despite minimal training, novice Teach for America high school teachers are more effective, especially in math and science, than traditionally trained teachers, a new study by CALDER, a research center at the Urban Institute in Washington, concludes."

You could make the claim that more training reduced the effectiveness of teachers. By having less time in some school of education, those selected by Teach for America are free to be better teachers.

I think the best response is that Teach for America is picking people who know the subject material and are strongly motivated to make a difference, but they don't want to put up with the bureaucracy of getting a certificate.

Humm...sounds like homeschooling parents. They know their children, they are strongly motivated, and they typically are fed up with the bureaucracy.


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