Fee-Based Instruction for Teaching Personnel, Essay Example

Most school districts in the United States have to comply with raising teaching standards so that the children enrolled in their schools can achieve high marks when given annual tests.  The major complaint is that students are unprepared and no matter how much education they receive from their respective teachers, they simply can’t post the expected high grades at test time.

Some school districts blame the children. Other school officials blame the lack of discipline. Others blame the parents saying their kids are generally unsupervised and without parental supervision, don’t spend adequate time on homework and school activities which will raise student performance. In reality, the problems are not with the children, nor are they with the parents. The problems come from unprepared teachers. In many public school districts around the country as many as one-third of the instructional staff changes professions within five years of beginning as teachers. Another 15% return to school for advanced degrees aimed at keeping them in the profession but removing them from the classroom. These numbers reflect that approximately 52% of the original teaching force remain as teachers, but within this number they completed their own education in a range of five to 20 years ago (r=15).

The licensing requirements of various states require that teachers take approximately 15 credit hours annually to renew their instructional licenses. These teachers generally return to school on their own time, furthering their education on weekends. Sometimes they put the needs of their own family above the needs of their profession.  When these teachers return to school they often takes classes of personal interest and choice instead of classes that will ensure higher grades for their students.

In order to ensure that students in their respective state achieve high marks on the annual standardized exams the director of the state school board has allowed certain persons to begin businesses aimed at helping teachers learn to teach toward the standardized exams, giving them the same credit as what they would receive in the college classes of their choice. The state’s education department has a special license for educators who are now teaching other teachers. Likewise, school principals can analyze the shortcomings of their teachers and by setting up professional days, the teachers can work both separately and as a team to ensure that their students are better trained for passing the annual state tests. It’s a win:win situation. Teachers attend a fee-based training session where they receive credits for their own licensure renewal and the principal, through personal observation, can check-up on teachers, making sure they use the processes they were taught.