August 28, 2013
Do Teachers Need to Have Experience?
Introduction
Michael Stravato for The New York Times Tyler Dowdy just started his third year of teaching English at YES Prep West, a charter school in Houston, Texas.The conventional wisdom has always been that schools and students need experienced teachers committed to a career in education. But many charter networks are depending on young, inexperienced teachers who quit after only two to five years. Officials of the schools believe the young teachers remain motivated and energetic, unlike more experienced teachers at many public schools who might stay on even after they’ve burned out. Are they onto something?
Read the Discussion »Debaters
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Years on the Job Make You Better
Officials in many charter schools believe that if you hand a teacher a formulaic, scripted way to act in the classroom, kids will learn. Such a view is administrative arrogance.
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Give It Five Years
I support the charter school movement, but it took five years and three different schools before I could consider myself a good teacher.
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Focus Simply on Finding the Best
Traditional schools and charter schools alike need to get better at figuring out which teachers to keep and which ones to let go.
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Create Stability for Communities, With Unions’ Help
When teachers stay for decades, they are saying, 'We are vested in your children. We believe in your hopes and dreams.'
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Even Charters Must Value Experience
Rather than accepting that teachers would leave, my school offered professional support and worked to keep teachers.
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Find Ways to Retain Excellence
We need to offer teachers higher pay and provide them with time to relax and reflect by replacing the summer break with more extended breaks throughout the year.
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