A Teacher's Journal: Learning from Dobyns

Over the past five years, I've enjoyed reading the somewhat regular columns written by West Johnston High School Kenneth Dobyns that have appeared in the Q section of the News and Observer. This week's column was no different, celebrating the completion of Dobyns' fifth year in the classroom.

While it may seem strange to celebrate five years in a profession, teaching is different because reaching five years in the classroom is a rare occurrence. Here in North Carolina, the percentage of teachers who successfully complete their first five years sits at just over 45%.

Those numbers are even more alarming in schools serving high percentages of students living in poverty---and they greatly impact the ability of a community to deliver a consistent program to the children in their care. After all, teaching is dependent on human capital. When teachers walk out the door, so does hard-won know-how developed only through experience.

Particularly interesting in Dobyns' piece was his description of the challenges that drive educators from the classroom. He writes:

"I still work three jobs to make ends meet, alternating my nonteaching hours between grading SAT essays and doing forest entomology research at N.C. State. I still watch as unmotivated teachers who are simply going through the motions get their checks as regularly as I do. I still encounter testy parents...[and] groan as well-meaning administrators ignore teacher input and institute ill-fated reforms."

While I have experienced each of these challenges during my fourteen-year career, the issue of teaching salaries was what resonated the strongest with me this morning. You see, even after earning a Master's degree and National Board Certification, I too work two or three part time jobs to make ends meet---and those efforts leave me personally and professionally exhausted.

Dobyn's second sentence---I still watch as unmotivated teachers who are simply going through the motions get their checks as regularly as I do.---highlights a central challenge that education must address in order to raise the likelihood that accomplished educators remain in the classroom. Current salary structures provide no incentive for teachers to excel. While determination and commitment leads to tangible monetary gains in other professions, our best teachers are not rewarded regardless of how effective they are or how hard they work.

Part of solving this challenge rests in defining what "accomplished teaching" looks like. How important are tangible results like standardized test scores in teacher evaluation? Are they more important than intangible results like developing a child's confidence or character? Can we tease out the impact of a range of educators on one child's growth? Do social factors like poverty and parental support outweigh contributions of committed educators?

Difficult questions, huh?

And questions that we've avoided answering for too long. Instead of wrestling with the traits that define accomplishment, we reward everyone equally. This simplistic solution ignores something that we all inherently know---that some educators are more effective than others.

Perhaps the Milken Foundation---a group that advocates for alternative forms of teacher compensation---says it best. One of their repeated taglines is, "Teachers are fairly compensated. It's just that poor teachers are overcompensated and good teachers are undercompensated." Retaining our best educators will require that we make a committed effort to redefining teacher compensation.

Posted by William Ferriter at 08:35 AM on June 10, 2007 | Leave Feedback

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