Teaching Has Changed

Teaching has Changed

Teaching has changed in the last ten years and not necessarily for the better.    Back in 2010, there were states that were adding a “pay for performance” policy whereby teachers received an increase in salary if students did well on exams.  Or, a significant consequence if they didn’t.  After several prominent cheating scandals by teachers and upper level administrators those policies have largely fallen out of favor.

Teen suicide rates have increased dramatically in the last 10 years.  Social media usage has led to an increase in cyberbullying and teachers are expected to intervene in those situations.  The opioid epidemic has taken its toll on school communities as it has the rest of the country.

How to respond to the horrific school shootings in Sandy Hook, Connecticut and Parkland, Florida have fostered serious debate.  Active shooter drills have become ubiquitous and there is disagreement over whether these incite or reduce anxiety.  Some states have addressed the issue by allowing teachers to carry guns.  On the other side of the equation, teacher unions have come out against the active shooter drills as fostering anxiety and in some cases chaos.

Regardless of why, there has been a confluence of events which have led to fewer people enrolling in colleges of education creating persistent teacher shortages.  Most recently teacher strikes have happened again, leading some teachers to run for public office and thereby gaining the political control for themselves.  

Of all the changes, the increased testing and teachers being held accountable for test scores rather than the students themselves have created a sense of insecurity among teachers.   One college professor has said, “Once you make a person’s livelihood dependent on the success of someone she’s trying to help succeed, it changes the focus of what we are trying to do.”

In 2009, only 15 states required student-growth data in teacher evaluations.  By 2015, there were 43 states that required student test score data as part of the teacher evaluation.  That situation was partly due to the financial incentive to school systems offered by the Obama administration.  But after 2015, states moved back from that posture.  The financial incentive ended and the Every Student Succeeds Act stripped the power to determine how states grade their teachers from the U.S. Secretary of Education.  At the same time states began to receive backlash from their constituents.  The number of states linking student test scores to teacher evaluation has now dropped back to 34.

Not only has teaching begun to feel more rigid to teachers, but the public opinion of the teaching profession has also taken a hit.  In 2009, 70% of families said they would like their child to become a public school teacher.   By 2018, that percentage has dropped back to 46%.   Families cite inadequate pay and benefits, student behavior, lack of discipline and the feeling that teaching is a thankless job.  To make matters worse, a full 50% of teachers responded to a poll indicating that in the last couple of years they have seriously considered leaving the profession.

School children need quality and committed teachers in the classroom.   Over the last ten years teaching has changed, and not for the better.