Expectations, goals, and working in a school of need

Back in October, after a New York Time feature piece on Teach For America, I wondered if different types of teacher preparation programs yielded new teachers with different sets of expectations about their teaching career.  I also wondered,

Is someone asking teacher preparation candidates questions like,
- Why do you want to be a teacher?
- How long do you intend to stay in teaching?

Yes! Via Joanne Jacobs, a new study from Public Agenda and the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality offers some fascinating insights, especially on the first question.

Comparing traditionally prepared teachers to teachers from three alternative certification programs* (both teaching in high-needs schools), the study found that alt cert teachers were far more likely to say that the very big goal of “putting underprivileged kids on the path to success” was one of the most important factors in entering teaching (71% of alt cert vs. 44% of traditionally prepared).  On the other hand, alt cert teachers were less likely than traditionally prepared teachers to say that “teaching a subject you love and getting kids excited about it” was a major factor (33% of alt cert vs. 43% of traditionally prepared).

I’m intrigued by this contrast, especially because the two groups experienced life in school very differently. Alt cert teachers were much more likely to feel that the school had assigned them to teach the toughest students (64% vs. 41%) and much more likely to cite lack of support from administrators as a major drawback (54% vs. 20%).  They were twice as likely to rate their administration’s instructional leadership and guidance as fair or poor, and much more likely to rate the assistance received from their colleagues as fair or poor.

To me, it feels like the next set of questions that need to be asked would deal with how people judge their own success or failure and how they judge those around them. Questions like:

- Is it easy for you to see small successes, even when perhaps your larger goal wasn’t accomplished or things didn’t turn out as you had hoped or expected?
- How important is it to you to feel that colleagues share your outlook on the world? Does it negatively impact you when others respond to your optimism with negativity?

There are several relevant TEN discussions right now, as Golden Apple Scholars and others struggle with the realities of working in schools of need.  Please visit them (HERE, HERE, and HERE) and provide your perspective, or leave a comment here!

* The study looked at Teach for America, Troops to Teachers, and the New Teacher Project.

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Two aspects of this study are very interesting to me, as a 5th year teacher who was trained in an alt cert program:  1) the programs’ expectations of teachers entering the profession as alternative certification candidates and 2) the need that was addressed by both traditional and alt cert trained teachers for a supportive environment in order to be happy at a school.  To address point 1), I understand that the mission of Teach for America is partially to expose the United States’ “best and brightest” to education for a 2 year stint, but I wonder if part of other alternative certification programs’ applications is/could be “How long do you intend to stay in the classroom?”, just as Sarah suggested, but also, as far as I know, the Teach for America candidates are required to take the first position that is offered to them.  Would it be better to offer the candidates more choice in finding a school that matches their professional needs?  Maybe that would encourage some of them to stay in the profession for more than 2 years?  And second, it seems like everyone (including many presidential candidates) talks about the need to increase salaries and that will “solve” the education dilemma.  But it seems to me that if we were more intentional about creating supportive professional environments, then teachers would be more likely to thrive?  Maybe we should be looking more critically at the school environments that are created by the administrators and how that is related to teachers’ success.