Posted on 09/25/2008 7:14:49 PM PDT by ZGuy
A recent California Court of Appeals decision ruled that parents who want to home-school their children must be certified teachers in that state. The home-schooling community across the country has reacted to this decision with outrage, insisting they are entitled and equipped to educate their own children, and that certification ensures neither better teaching skills nor better-educated children. But many others applaud the decision, believing that certification is necessary to ensure a consistent, standards-based education and keep students from falling behind.
YES
from experts in the field:
Marty Hittelman, a Los Angeles community college math teacher, is president of the California Federation of Teachers (www.cft.org).
All parents have a right to be involved in the education of their own children, as they believe best meets their needs. All students deserve to have a quality education.
Home-schoolers should be required to deliver quality instruction, and their efforts should not result in students falling behind. Parents who decide to home-school their children take on a huge responsibility.
We believe there should be standards for all teachers. It shouldn’t matter whether they teach in a home school, public or private school. The current certification process does not necessarily guarantee a good teacher, but we are assured certificated teachers have had training in subjects, in teaching and in a body of knowledge that has been developed, critiqued and revised based on many decades of research.
A certificated public school teacher is evaluated during his or her preparation program and spends two more years improving with a support provider or mentor teacher before being granted permanent status. A home-school teacher may be a natural teacher but lack necessary training and supervision.
Parents serving as home-school teachers need to teach to the California or other state curriculum standards and should be qualified in the subjects they teach their children. They owe that to their children.
Home-schoolers can contract with a public school, under the direction of a credentialed teacher, to offer instruction through independent study. There are other additional venues to help home-schoolers meet high standards. They can also create their own home-based private school, subject to regulation by the local education agency.
We believe the best education comes about when parents are involved in their children’s public school education. We’d prefer that home-schooling parents work with their local public schools so that all students are assured of a standards-based education.
NO
from experts in the field:
Michael Smith is the president of the Home School Legal Defense Association (www.hslda.org).
The recent Court of Appeals decision in California was a throwback to the 1980s and early ’90s, when teacher certification was a sacred cow in many states and home-schoolers were regularly prosecuted for truancy. Since then, more than 30 states have addressed home schooling and not one legislative body requires teacher certification as a teacher qualification, and most states impose no minimum education level for home-school teachers.
The main reason states have moved toward home-school freedom is because research shows that home-schoolers on average score 20 to 30 percentile points above the national average on standardized achievement tests. Research also demonstrates that home-schooled children score higher on college scholastic aptitude tests. These results have been achieved despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of these students are taught by parents who are not teacher certified.
Another consideration is whether teacher certification is justified for public school teachers. The state should be required to prove that its licensing or credentialing requirements are valid and a good use of taxpayer funds.
Research in the last decade casts serious doubt on the relationship of teacher certification to a student’s academic achievement. In a 2007 article in Education Next, several economist/ educators studied teacher certification in New York City. The title of their article says it all: “Photo finish: certification doesn’t guarantee a winner.” The report concluded that teacher certification status matters little for student learning.
Additionally, California’s public schools are failing to measure up to national standards. On the most recent national assessment of educational progress conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, only 30 percent of California public school fourth graders were proficient in math, an astonishing 47 percent of California fourth graders were not at the level of basic skills in reading and 77 percent were below the level of proficiency.
The bottom line is that there is no evidence to support the requirement for teacher certification in either home schools or public schools.
What do you think? Click to vote here.
Hopefully these results will make your day.
(Of course Marty Hittelman interprets these results as indicating that 97% of the people are morons who desperately need his wisdom)
Absolutely not
Big fat NO for requirement for certification, however, I think having the option of being certified may be helpful for the kids when they try to get into college or a regular school. It also may help homeschool parents network together and know who they can trust as being knowledgeable.
I would like the opportunity to personally certify any teacher that would like to influence my child.
Conservatives at an early age learn to consider the source:
“Marty Hittelman, a Los Angeles community college math teacher, is president of the California Federation of Teachers UNION”
Nuff said.
Homeschooling works fine in Virginia with no certification. My kids test out in the top of their percentiles. I think it is a testament to the house of cards and fantasy that our education system is build on when people without teaching degrees can perform just as a well teaching their kids for a fraction of the cost.
Neighbors helping neighbors without the government taking a piece is no more.
My wife has had parents before ask what degrees she had or her experience. She appreciates their concern, there are so many teachers who just have a two year certification with no expertise in their field.
Not saying government certification, private organizations could provide certification services as an option. What I was suggesting isn’t like licensing, it would be more like, for example, my PMP (Project Management Professional Certification.) You don’t have to have the certification to be a PM, but it does help employers know you have demonstrated expertise in the field.
PING - See results at #1
*ping* — you can still vote.
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Research also shows that in the failing public schools, all teachers are "certified."
State teacher "certification" is merely certification to a process. The research cited by the report is based on outcomes-based learning performance of students, as indicated by their higher scores on achievement tests and on SAT's.
The learning performance of children should be the primary criteria by which teachers are evaluated.
I teach at a community college - a full 40% of our incoming freshman require one or more remedial math and/or English courses. These are students with a HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA!
Lest you simply think I’m in a particularly dumb county, studies have shown that nationwide, the average is 30%. See:
http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9015418&nav=menu1406_1
This is why my non-teacher-certified wife homeschools our two children (whom I’d match up against any similarly-aged public school child any day of the week!).
Certified by whom? The same people doing a wonderful job with the public schools?
When this maroon can prove that the certified public school teachers are 100% qualified in the subjects they teach, then maybe he has a point for discussion.
In the meantime our daughter (who has a Master's Degree) is doing just fine homeschooling her 5 children. One thing about the environment our grandchildren are learning in is the lack of metal detectors, violence and drugs. That's what parents owe to their children.
Well, isn't that big of him?/her? to give parents permission to be involved in our kids education.
1) The more kids that are in public schools, the more money those public schools get from the state. So, maybe the thought is that a majority of parents will put their kids into public school rather than get the certification.
2) When homeschooled kids preform better than kids in public schools it makes the so called professionals look bad.
I completely believe you. I am in the education business (corporate training) and I’ve seen for the longest time adults hitting the workforce are just as bad.
My suggestion was a way your wife could, through a private enterprise, receive a certification telling future colleges, for example, that your kids have a leg-up based on being taught by someone who had demonstrated expertise in xx field.
I’m not talking about the useless teaching certification a lot of folks hold..
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