Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
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Monday, September 18, 2006
Teaching: What really makes it great?
So over the past several days, I’ve posted data about local teachers here at Get on the Bus.
But here’s a question — does any of this stuff matter?
So far, I posted data for:
Let’s take attendance out of the question, since teachers in our area come to work at a high rate across the board anyway.
But of the other factors — certification, education, experience — what factor really matters most? Or is it a factor not even on my list here that makes the most difference to developing a great teacher? What factors or attributes should parents most want from their child’s teachers?
Everyone can weigh in here, but if you’re a teacher, I’d especially like your take on it.
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Teacher qualifications
Here’s one last chunk of data about teachers from the state report card release last month. The state has one standard for what makes a qualified teacher — its certification process. The federal government has another — it requires states to set a standard for “highly qualified teachers.”
Here’s how some of our local districts, from the 10-county Dayton area, stack up:
Teacher certification
At the top: These districts have 100 percent certified teachers:
Yellow Springs, Cedar Cliff, Bethel, Tri-Village, Covington, Franklin Monroe, Eaton, Arcanum, Fort Loramie, Russia, Troy, Tri-County North, Greeneview, Milton-Union, Tipp City, Vandalia-Butler, Hardin-Houston, Sidney, Mechanicsburg, Ansonia, Northmont, Oakwood, Urbana, Madison, Mississinawa Valley, Kings, Ross, Miamisburg
At the bottom: These districts have less than 98.5 percent certified teachers, which puts them on the low end in our area, but as you can see many of them still have a very high percentage:
Twin Valley 98.5
Edgewood 98.5
Monroe 98.5
New Miami 98.4
Botkins 98.3
Beavercreek 98.2
Northridge 98.1
Jackson Center 98.1
West Liberty-Salem 98
Springfield 97.8
Bradford 97.6
Lakota 97.5
Anna 97.3
Northwestern 97.2
Tecumseh 97
Huber Heights 96.9
Graham 96.8
Kettering 96.8
Centerville 96
Jefferson Twp. 95.7
Dayton 92.7
Trotwood 91.7
Fairlawn 81.8
Temporary certification
Temporary certification is for teachers who have at least a bachelor’s degree but have not completed teacher training and testing. Most area districts have close to 100 percent of teachers with permanent certification. Only these districts in the Dayton area have more than 3 percent of teachers with temporary certification.
Bradford 7.5
Piqua 5.9
Milton-Union 5.4
Mississinawa Valley 5.3
Fort Loramie 4.8
National Trail 4.8
Fairborn 4.2
New Miami 3.8
Preble Shawnee 3.2
Highly qualified teachers
Most area districts are at or close to 100 percent highly qualified. These are the exceptions, with less than 95 percent highly qualified:
Botkins 94.9
Tecumseh 94.5
Graham 93.5
National Trail 93.7
Northeastern 93
New Miami 93
Fairlawn 92
Trotwood 90.4
Dayton 84.8
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