tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post111523413095272409..comments2024-03-13T21:26:03.011-07:00Comments on Right on the Left Coast: Views From a Conservative Teacher: Governor Schwarzenegger's Merit Pay and Tenure ProposalsDarrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15730642770935985796noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-1117864172225566752005-06-03T22:49:00.000-07:002005-06-03T22:49:00.000-07:00If you had been educated in California you still w...If you had been educated in California you still would have been required to take the CBEST. All California educators are now reqired to take subject matter competency, and elementary educators are required to be tested on literacy training competency as well. Furthermore, the district I work in keeps you on a temporary status for one to three years, and tenure cannot be reached until you obtain probationary status for three years. The time to reach tenure while working through temporary to probationary status can easily be five years to tenure.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-1115942850516226492005-05-12T17:07:00.000-07:002005-05-12T17:07:00.000-07:00My recommendation, as I said when I posted, is to ...My recommendation, as I said when I posted, is to get rid of the *excessive* barriers to removing an obviously poor teacher, even if that teacher has tenure. Don't give one person the power to hold the Sword of Damocles over another person's head for so long. There's too much opportunity for abuse.Darrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15730642770935985796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-1115839631617143882005-05-11T12:27:00.000-07:002005-05-11T12:27:00.000-07:00Back to the original topic, my wife (having advanc...Back to the original topic, my wife (having advanced through the ranks with being a teacher for 10 years before becoming a principal, then asst supe for inst, and finally supe) frequently bemoans the fact that tenure decisions have to be made within three years. Four years or even five years would be much better. (1) People change, and not always for the better. (2) Principals tend to err on the side of leniency (not my wife, though)instead of acting as the gatekeepers to the profession. It is simply difficult to tell someone that the four years of college and three years of learning a new profession have been wasted. This really applies to the marginal teachers, though, and not the ones obvously unqualified. Some marginal teachers get better, but others get worse. Frequently, a marginal teacher will have the tenure decision extended for another year if the state laws provide for such an extension. Making the initial decision at the 4 or 5 year mark would eliminate the need for this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-1115594438935280522005-05-08T16:20:00.000-07:002005-05-08T16:20:00.000-07:00I don't recall seeing an epsilon-delta proof until...I don't recall seeing an epsilon-delta proof until advanced calculus, the course where you prove everything that you accepted back in differential and integral calculus. Then again, the state standards weren't in place in California at that time, and I got my degree in New York.<BR/><BR/>I'll probably hear from my school's calculus teachers tomorrow.Darrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15730642770935985796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-1115572711167208792005-05-08T10:18:00.000-07:002005-05-08T10:18:00.000-07:00http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/2nd one on the list...http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/<BR/><BR/>2nd one on the list is a link to the Math content standards in both html and pdf formats. Free this way; you could order the pamphlet (and read it in less than an hour) from the CDE for a few dollars if you're so inclined.<BR/><BR/>Since the AP Calc kids came in to CAL doing not-so-well, check out the Calc standards and see if you can compare them to the AP Calc curriculum. I'll forward your comment on to the two AP calc teachers at my school and see what they think.<BR/><BR/>Is it possible that your students took AP Calc but didn't do so well on the AP tests?Darrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15730642770935985796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-1115511011619460352005-05-07T17:10:00.000-07:002005-05-07T17:10:00.000-07:00Synthetic division isn't good for much except quic...Synthetic division isn't good for much except quickly determining if a number is a root of an equation, or perhaps evaluating a polynomial for a specific value. However, I teach to the state standards, and other teachers are coming along in that department. <BR/><BR/>In this age of Accountability of the Teacher, we don't really have a choice but to teach to the standards, and I'm ok with that. I teach a pre-calculus course, though, and often check with the AP Calc teacher to see what areas *he* would like me to focus on (or not).<BR/><BR/>There is little accountability for administrators, except they run the risk of being reassigned if their schools continue not to make adequate yearly progress. I'm lucky in that the administrator that evaluates me is a former math teacher, so he knows what quality instruction looks like. I doubt there are many math teachers or science teachers across the country who have that luxury.<BR/><BR/>Do *most* teachers have a BS in math? I don't know, but I'd assume not. I know some who have BA's in math (what the heck *is* that, anyway???) and several who have minors in it. Then there are those with supplementary credentials here in California, but NCLB will move those by the wayside. And someone with a Multiple Subject credential (elementary school) can teach up through Algebra I, since some schools are still K-8 and Algebra I is an 8th grade topic.Darrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15730642770935985796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-1115342532951312272005-05-05T18:22:00.000-07:002005-05-05T18:22:00.000-07:00If someone isn't competent in their subject area, ...If someone isn't competent in their subject area, it would probably be difficult to fake such competence. And administrators should be competent enough to know the difference between the truly competent and the incompetent. If an administrator can't figure it out in 2 years, how can they do it in 5?<BR/><BR/>Again, I don't see how raising tenure time from 2 to 5 years helps anything. In fact, because of law relating to "temporary" and "probationary" employees, this proposal makes it *more* likely, or at least easier, for an administrator to dismiss someone whom they merely don't want around. I don't like giving anyone that much authority over someone else. If you're worried about getting rid of dead wood, get rid of the "undue" process that we currently grant to tenured teachers and make the "due process" procedures more realistic and less cumbersome. That makes eminently more sense to me.Darrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15730642770935985796noreply@blogger.com