Out of field teachers and notifications

[wrobert]

Being a retired teacher I understand in field/out of field reporting. Substitute teachers are not considered full-time employees therefore they do not have to be reported as in field/out of field under the No Child Left Behind Act. As a veteran teacher I can tell you that a teacher that has developed good teaching techniques can teach any subject once they have studied the content. Without strong techniques, in field/out of field, substitute, or full-time employee knowing the content doesn't matter. I think your concerns are unfounded and that probably comes from the fact that you don't have an education background, perhaps you should trust the professional educators that are making the decisions it seems to be working. It is my understanding that your opponent is a life-long educator.

That she is. But my concern, for my child, actually came up when I was contacted by an educator that said I needed to be aware of the situation as it relates to my child.

Are we now going to go back to the discussion of just because it is legal, that makes it right? If any school district wants to reach out to parents, I believe it is better to go out of the way to let them know what is going on with their children. Not hiding behind rather or not the action is legally required.

And as far as working I see where Walton County, which was ranked 12th in the State of Florida in percent of students passing the 10th grade math standards in 2006/2007 appears to have fallen to the rank of 31st in 2007/2008. Not being a life long educator myself, maybe what they are doing is working. I am just not seeing it. And since you mentioned No Child Left Behind, Walton High School has failed to meet the standard of Adequate Yearly Progress since the standard was instituted from what I am reading. This recently resulted in the change of the Principal.

So yes, as a parent, I have a concern. Most of it was have been handled if they would have just let me know what was going on as it happened.

 

[beachmouse]

School board chairman tells me that we get 35 qualified applicants for each opening in Walton County.

Which doesn't really say much because you can easily be getting 100+ applicants for a middle school English position, and 5 applications for the higher level math position. And those five calculus teachers are probably getting a lot of hits from prospective employers elsewhere.

My Mom used to do a little on the hiring side of a mid-sized urban district. Even though they paid well, they were always having problems getting enough special education, bilingual, physics, and calculus/trig teachers. English and history were the ones where they'd get enough applications that they could be extremely picky; those hard to fill positions much less so. If you had the right bilingual endorsement on your degree and spoke passable Vietnamese, you'd get hired on the spot and pretty much never be fired no matter how horrible of a teacher you were because they knew the odds were against them when it came to finding another certified ESL Vietnamese-speaking teacher.

 

[30ARosie]

That she is. But my concern, for my child, actually came up when I was contacted by an educator that said I needed to be aware of the situation as it relates to my child.

Are we now going to go back to the discussion of just because it is legal, that makes it right? If any school district wants to reach out to parents, I believe it is better to go out of the way to let them know what is going on with their children. Not hiding behind rather or not the action is legally required.

And as far as working I see where Walton County, which was ranked 12th in the State of Florida in percent of students passing the 10th grade math standards in 2006/2007 appears to have fallen to the rank of 31st in 2007/2008. Not being a life long educator myself, maybe what they are doing is working. I am just not seeing it. And since you mentioned No Child Left Behind, Walton High School has failed to meet the standard of Adequate Yearly Progress since the standard was instituted from what I am reading. This recently resulted in the change of the Principal.

So yes, as a parent, I have a concern. Most of it was have been handled if they would have just let me know what was going on as it happened.

31st? Wow that means they are in the middle for the number of counties in the state, I am sure there are always ways to improve and no one said they were perfect. I am sure you are concerned about your child's education and the education that he/she is receiving at a Walton County School, but if you don't like it you can always check into homeschooling.

 

[scooterbug44]

I thought there was a time limit for how long a class could be taught by an uncertified (in that subject) teacher.

For example, a one day to one week sub didn't have to be certified in that subject, but anyone taking over the class or teaching it for longer than that did.

Or am I confusing Scooterbugland w/ reality again? ;-)

 

[wrobert]

31st? Wow that means they are in the middle for the number of counties in the state, I am sure there are always ways to improve and no one said they were perfect. I am sure you are concerned about your child's education and the education that he/she is receiving at a Walton County School, but if you don't like it you can always check into homeschooling.

Touche'. No need to try to make the system better. I should just pay my taxes and learn to like it or go somewhere else.

 

[wrobert]

I thought there was a time limit for how long a class could be taught by an uncertified (in that subject) teacher.

For example, a one day to one week sub didn't have to be certified in that subject, but anyone taking over the class or teaching it for longer than that did.

Or am I confusing Scooterbugland w/ reality again? ;-)

Yep. I am afraid you are. I would like to see something similar to your thoughts implemented. That way the parents would be more involved. At least you would hope so.

 

[scooterbug44]

What is the point of certifying a teacher in a subject if they can teach a class for months w/o being certified?
A certification in the subject you are teaching seems like a pretty low/basic standard, so it concerns me.

 

[wrobert]

What is the point of certifying a teacher in a subject if they can teach a class for months w/o being certified?
A certification in the subject you are teaching seems like a pretty low/basic standard, so it concerns me.

The problem here is long term substitute teachers. The sub program has some loopholes from what I gather. Normally you are notified of regular ed out of field teachers at the beginning of each year. The teachers just have to work on getting the training needed to get into field. I think the best approach would be for us to give teachers monetary incentives to get in field. One of the biggest out of field problems has always been lack of English as a Second Language certification. So if this is something that is required from everyone, pay those that have it more, and the rest will surely want to get it.

 

[paradiseat30a]

Touche'. No need to try to make the system better. I should just pay my taxes and learn to like it or go somewhere else.

Do you know if there have been any formal parent organizations formed out at SW High to address the above discussed issues here?

 

[Jdarg]

Do you know if there have been any formal parent organizations formed out at SW High to address the above discussed issues here?

I haven't heard of any sub problems at SWHS, but I also don't think we currently have a long term sub that is teaching out of area.

To me this is an issue that needs to be addressed at the school board level.