With all the news reporting that manycertified teachers are ill prepared orpoorly educated, it is clear that a teachinglicense is not necessarily a sign of actualqualification. How does a parent know if his/her childhas a high quality teacher? The National Council onTeacher Quality has prepared a list of five most crucialthings all parents should find out about their chil-dren’s teachers.Ask about the academic growth ofprevious students. Has this person taughtbefore? What were the standardized orstate test results or learning gains ofhis/her previous students? Most states and districtscan break down the testing information by each class.So, find out how last year’s class performed on stateor standardized tests. You don’t need individualstudent information, just how did the whole class did. Assess effective management strategies.Find out if the teacher has effective instruc-tional and management skills. That way,no matter whether your child is very activeand vocal, or quiet and shy, the teacher has the skillsto bring out his best behavior and best work. Well-managed classrooms have a positive tone andfeeling. We can measure the ratio of positive state-ments or gestures (e.g., thumbs up, teacher smiles atstudent) to negative statements, reprimands, orgestures (e.g., the teacher “look”). The ratio shouldbe 3:1 in favor of the positive. This doesn’t mean thatthe teacher has to be a Mary Poppins—-but sheshouldn’t be sarcastic or constantly nagging either. There should be no favorites. Ask your child if theteacher always chooses the same child to do impor-tant tasks. If so, this teacher is not setting a goodtone in the class. The teacher should be consistent. As parents weknow that this is tough to do. But remember theteacher is a professional. It is her job to be consistent,respectful, and fair.Ask about the teacher’s college degree.Many schools are asking teachers todisplay their teaching licenses. What ismore important to know is whether theteacher has subject area expertise. So ask your schoolto have the teachers display their college degree(s)Here is what you want to see: Elementary teachersare well served if they have a liberal arts major;middle and high school teachers should be teachingin the area of their major or minor.You may think that this is crazy to ask. But there elementary school teachers who cannot pass a basic8th grade math or writing test. As consumers, parentsmust start asking about the educational backgroundof the people teaching our children.Ask what your child’s teacher thinks abouttesting. Quality teachers know that theissue is not whether one teaches to the testor does their own thing. Good teachers that they must test in order to know if the childrenare learning what they are teaching. Make sure yourchild’s teacher believes in frequent assessment. It isthe only way he/she can make sure your childdoesn’t fall through the cracks. The assessments be brief daily quizzes before a lesson starts, questionson homework assignments, multiple choice, ormerely a discussion about a topic in which theteacher asks probing questions. Is homework collected, corrected, gradedand returned? Good teachers give studentshomework that is meaningful and applieswhat is being learned in the class. There a considerable amount of research that suggests ifhomework is corrected and returned then studentlearning will increase. Kathleen Madigan is the executive director of theNational Council on Teacher Quality in Washington,D.C. (www.nctq.com) For the complete text of thisarticle, read Parent Power online atwww.edreform.com. Contact Dr. Madigan at:kmadiganma@aol.com or write 1225 19th StreetNW, Washington, DC 20036.Five ways to know if yourchild has a high quality teacher
