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To the Editor:
Re "Teachers: Will We Ever Learn?," by Jal Mehta (Op-Ed, April 13):
Teacher effectiveness is the great enigma. Higher professional standards for classroom teachers (comparable to law and medicine), as advocated by Mr. Mehta, appear to be a good idea. But can we truly predict what makes pupils respond to teachers in the classroom? A teacher could brilliantly ace those professional licensing requirements and still fail at communicating in the classroom.
More emphasis should be placed on apprenticeship and mentoring at every level: novices apprenticing with proven master teachers, pupil-to-pupil mentoring, programs encouraging parental mentoring.
The top countries cited for educational success have homogeneous populations for the most part. Our country is more diverse culturally, economically and socially. The melting pot requires a melting pot approach. A stronger apprenticeship-mentoring system is worth adding to that pot.
GLADYS SCHECHTER
New York, April 13, 2013
The writer is a former high school teacher.
To the Editor:
The alarming conclusion of the 1983 report "A Nation at Risk" was, "If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war."
Sadly, three decades later our country has done little to improve the quality of education. We don't stress creative thinking, and we don't practice group problem-solving, a must in a world in which technology is changing at lightning-fast speeds. Instead we force our teachers to teach in lock step and make them teach to the test, pretending that tests are an accurate way to measure students' abilities.
A first step is to go back to a system based on meritocracy and away from self-serving politics.
RONALD KAPROV
Bronx, April 13, 2013
The writer has been a public-school teacher for 27 years and worked on "A Nation at Risk."
To the Editor:
In recent years there have been several reports, such as that cited by Jal Mehta, of how our country's education system is performing at lower standards compared with many countries around the world.
It must be pointed out that urban education is a great challenge in America, depressing the rankings. The top high schools in America do not play second fiddle to those of any country. Standardized test scores and grade point averages are extremely high in these institutions, and so many of these children go to the most prestigious universities in the country. Our colleges are the most renowned in the world. In fact, foreign students clamor to gain admission to them.
In our socioeconomically diverse nation, teaching with a one-size-fits-all mentality is something we need to change.
SALVATORE J. BOMMARITO
New York, April 13, 2013
To the Editor:
As a public-school teacher for 20 years, I wholeheartedly agree with a lot of what Jal Mehta says. I'd like to add that despite our intense teaching load, high class sizes and the complete spectrum of society's joys and challenges represented among our students, we are not compensated on a scale remotely related to those of doctors or lawyers.
Is it any wonder that we are not drawing enough new teachers from the top third of college graduates? Teacher education matters. So does teacher compensation.
ANNIE ALCOTT
Berkeley, Calif., April 13, 2013
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