The Elusive Quality of Effectiveness

There have been many, MANY discussions in the traditional and home education worlds about the value and validity of teacher certification. What is the purpose of certification? What does it hope to ensure?

Valeria Moon at Home Education Magazine makes some good points about the purpose of certification in her post “Mr. Lessenberry’s main complaint is echoed elsewhere”.

I assume the idea that parents must ‘qualify’ to ‘teach’ comes from the general requirement that people who want to teach other peoples’ children at public expense are to be ‘qualified’ in some way. The points usually left out of discussions about requiring qualification of homeschooling parents are that the qualifications required of public school teachers are because they:

* teach other peoples’ children
* do so at public expense

In other occupations, if someone wants to do certain work for ‘other people,’ perhaps cutting hair, filing fingernails, or serving food, that person or facility must have some kind of certificate such as a beautician’s license or a food handler certificate. For a family member to do the same thing for other family members does not require certification…

My other point, public expense, is (to my mind) the reason for ‘accountability.’ When other peoples’ money is used to fund a venture, then those people deserve an accounting of how the money has been spent, and if the method of the spending worked or not, and if not, what to do about it.

Elsie Deluxe has a great post about the disparity between what home educators and classroom teachers must accomplish-

On the one hand, there are the teachers who believe that their degree has prepared them for the work they’re doing. It’s hard for them to see that someone could do a good job of what they imagine to be the same work without a similar credential.

On the other hand, there are the parents who stay home with their school-age children, who have daily evidence that they are doing a good job, and that it can be done without a background in educational theory…

The two sides feel understandably threatened by each other. I am here to tell you that both sides are confused. They think they’re doing the same thing: teaching kids the stuff they need to learn how to do. They are wrong. The two jobs are so dissimilar as to be just barely related.

The Abell Foundation published a report called Teacher Certification Reconsidered: Stumbling for Quality, that “focuses on the deficiencies that characterize the work advocating teacher certification, the historical problems associated with teacher certification, the stereotypical and discriminatory nature of teacher certification, and many other factors we would like you to consider.”

From page iv:

Certification deems substandard all uncertified candidates, no matter what other attributes they possess, including those attributes that research correlates with effective teaching.

There is a scientifically sound body of research, conducted primarily by economists and social scientists, revealing the attributes of an effective teacher, defined as a teacher who has a positive impact on student achievement. This research does not show that certified teachers are more effective teachers than uncertified teachers. In fact, the backgrounds and attributes characterizing effective teachers are more likely to be found outside the domain of schools of education.

The teacher attribute found consistently to be most related to raising student achievement is verbal ability.

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Reduced to its essence, teacher certification currently consists of
no more than counting the course titles taken by teacher candidates. It is incapable of providing any insight into to an individual’s ability, intellectual curiosity, creativity, affinity for children, and instructional skills. (p.13)

From The Final Report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel

Overall, findings about the relationship between teacher certification (i.e., licensure) and student achievement in mathematics have been mixed, even among the most rigorous and highest-quality studies. Research in this area has not provided consistent or convincing evidence that students of teachers who are certified to teach mathematics gain more than those whose teachers are not. The relationship between teacher certification status, the most inexact proxy for teachers’ content knowledge, and students’ mathematics achievement remains ambiguous. (p.35-36)

There is much, much more that can be said about this subject, but one thing is clear- the specific qualities that make a teacher or home educator effective and play a part in student success continue to evade us. We intuitively understand that responding to a student’s individual needs is a primary factor. It makes sense that communication skills are essential, and that an affinity for children would be important.

We are left with how to quantify and certify those characteristics that appear to be the most contributive to teacher quality and the student’s ability to understand and master the material presented. I think the free market system could provide some answers.

Opening up the system to allow for competition in the instructor’s arena would be a great start. I believe there is a wealth of experience and passion in our senior citizens that has yet to be tapped. There are many with expertise gained by years of practical application of their skills that would love to mentor the younger generation, but are held back by the certification requirements that would do nothing to add to their pool of knowledge or ability to communicate information. Teacher’s unions that protect the jobs of inept teachers instead of assuring parents that the best and brightest are working in our schools should be abolished. A return of primary control to communities and local school boards would offer more appropriate responses to the needs of the families in their own neck of the woods.

The need for and validity of standardized testing is related to this discussion. Personally, I believe that precise measurements are important for things like baking bread and launching rockets. Children can’t be measured, weighed, boxed, and labeled like Corn Flakes. Please read The Case Against Standardized Tests by Chris Carter for some interesting information on this topic.

Home education is a different pursuit altogether. For one, it tends to be self-regulating. Parents will give homeschooling a try for various reasons, but will realize within the first couple of years whether or not it is a beneficial choice for their family. Then they either decide to utilize the public school system or they invest in a private or charter school.

Am I assuming that most parents want what is in the best interests of their children? Yeah, that’s what I am doing. And a valid assumption it is, thank you. To assume otherwise ignores a basic characteristic of human nature. Besides, we, as a free society, must acknowledge the fundamental right of families to privacy and to determine the direction and dynamic of their lives.

For the home educator, responding to the individual needs of their children is instinctive. The motivation to find the best resources and the most effective methods is natural. Intellectual curiosity is assured in that homeschooling does not appeal to those who have no desire to learn or teach. Communicating with and having an affinity for one’s own children? Like, duh.

How is it that one family can enjoy Charlotte Mason, while another family thrives on John Holt’s Unschooling methods? Why can this family homeschool on the road, while others with special needs children find home education is the perfect solution for them? What do all these folks have in common that provides their children with a superior education? Could it be because humans have an infinite capacity for variety and creativity? That there really is no One Right Way to accomplish the task of providing academic instruction to children?

So- while we can’t find the magic wand to wave, granting us the elusive quality of effectiveness, we have some ideas about what works and what impedes the process. We know that certification has value, but only if it is truly measuring traits that are significant factors in providing a quality education, and if it is applied to those who are performing a public service. We understand that certification for a home educator is like fitting an elephant for a tuxedo- what would be the point?

Hopefully, as the many people who are concerned about the education of our nation’s children raise their voices, they will realize that they don’t all need to sound the same note- harmony can be achieved even when folks are singing different parts.