A Boston Herald Op-Ed takes the gloves off:
The Board of Education proposed to make teacher certification easier in Massachusetts, and that's fine. But what's really needed is a complete overhaul that junks most of the requirements that do little for the profession.
The research is clear: The best predictor of success in teaching is the brainpower of the teacher. Demonstration of intellectual ability ought to be the only requirement for a probationary license. One criterion could a minimum score on the SAT or ACT college admission tests, or the Graduate Record Examinations. Candidates not meeting the threshold would have to present an acceptable college transcript.
Demonstration of competence in the classroom, as judged by visits to the classroom in the probationary year, might be even better.
Emphasis mine. I eagerly await the stream of snitty letters to the Herald insisting that "love of teaching" and "caring" should be the primary qualifications for teaching, and that those who "love kids" shouldn't be held to objective standards, much less those assessed via (horrors!) standardized tests.
Posted by kswygert at November 30, 2004 01:05 PM