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MORE QUOTES FROM ANDY BAUMGARTNER

On the future of education in the U.S. …

We are the only country in the world that places a premium value on the contributions of every individual and believes in his or her right to successfully live up to his or her potential. And furthermore, I believe that with the attention our country is finally paying to its educational system, we are poised on the brink of a renaissance for teachers and students, (if we will make the right decisions based on the information we are now gathering). We know more about learning and teaching than ever before; we have confirmed the fact that good teachers, not programs or tests, are the keys to educational success; and we are laying the groundwork for revolutionizing the training of teachers and the entire teaching profession. All of these factors have come together to give me a new sense of purpose and excitement about my work.

On the need for teachers to be education activists…

[Teachers] must also be active instruments of change and improvement in education. Teachers possess more firsthand knowledge of what our schools need than anyone else; however, we have traditionally allowed others to make all of the decisions that affect our classrooms, rather than speaking up and influencing the policy makers to do what is best for our students and for us. I would encourage teachers to take an active part in the political processes that govern our schools and to resist the temptation to confine themselves to the four walls of their classrooms. There has never been a time when teacher voice and teacher activism were more needed or more important than they are right now. Furthermore, I would remind teachers of how important it is to have a life outside of teaching. It is imperative to establish relationships with family and friends that can offer strength and support; it is important also to spend ample time enjoying leisure activities. Our students deserve happy, well-rounded, rested, and exuberant adults to teach and care for them!

On the public's responsibility for education…

The success or demise of the public school system is the responsibility of all members of the public. We have traditionally blamed poor schools on poor teaching and poor teachers and have attempted to pull support from these schools in one way or another. When this happens, everyone suffers a great loss. We must accept the realization that, for all the rhetoric, we have not placed America's children as our nation's first priority. Our policymakers have made excuses for not building the schools we want for our children but have not accepted any responsibility for the results. Most importantly, discussions about improving our schools and upgrading teacher accountability and student achievement too often lack sufficient, if any, input by teachers.

The keys to improving education from a teacher's point of view…

The keys to improving our schools from the teachers' point of view lie in providing conditions more suitable to the task at hand and upgrading professional standing and compensation. Better education requires more individualized attention, which requires significantly increasing our teaching force. Yet we are already facing a critical deficit in the numbers of teachers that are needed just to meet the status quo. This situation is further complicated by other factors. Almost 50 percent of all new teachers leave the field within their first five years of teaching; our teaching force is a predominantly older one; and today's students are discouraged from entering the field due to salaries, benefits, and work conditions that are not competitive with other professions. Finally, we must more carefully evaluate what we want to measure and whether or not the methods employed are appropriate for that purpose. Standardized tests with a short-answer format are the least effective means by which a student can demonstrate mastery and use of knowledge. In too many cases, however, these are used as the only indicators of successful school programs. Comparing schools on the basis of scores without also evaluating the effects of differences between school populations, parental and community involvement, access to materials and technology, and other significant variables is an insufficient, misleading, and unfair assessment of effectiveness of schools or teachers. Other important considerations in this area are: Is our true purpose to encourage children to be life long learners or just good test-takers? Are we placing undue stress on our student populations, especially the younger students? How will we use the results of assessments and evaluations -- as a means of identifying and implementing needed improvements or for purposes of exposure and punishment?