Educational Policies Podcast with Melissa

The podcast discusses the teacher shortage in North Carolina and its impact on education. The shortage is not limited to one area but is particularly affecting low-income schools and special education classes. The shortage leads to larger class sizes and inexperienced teachers, which is not beneficial for students. The shortage can be attributed to the unrealistic demands and expectations placed on teachers due to federal reforms like No Child Left Behind and the Every Student Succeeds Act. Teachers are evaluated using value-added measure systems, which are unreliable and not considered valid by experts. Additionally, teachers have limited autonomy in the classroom and face low salaries compared to their peers in other professions. To address the issue, teacher working conditions should be improved, evaluations should rely on more reliable methods, and teacher salaries should be increased. The process to obtain a teaching license should also be made easier. Making these changes will re Hello friends and welcome to the educational policies podcast with Melissa, a podcast dedicated to helping the leaders of our state understand the street-level implications of educational policy in the state of North Carolina. I'm your host Melissa and I'm glad you've joined me on the podcast. Today I'm going to be discussing an issue that's of special concern to me and that's the looming teacher shortage here in North Carolina. To be fair, North Carolina isn't the only state facing this issue. Sadly, it's common across our nation. The shortage isn't limited to one specific area, although low-income schools and special education classes are particularly hard-hit. And think about it, when there aren't enough teachers to teach, class sizes increase or people with no background or understanding of pedagogy and best practice are thrown to the wolves, so to speak, in classrooms full of students. And really neither solution is good for our students. So as we consider this issue first, let's try to uncover some of the foundational reasons that we're facing a shortage of teachers in the first place. As a teacher myself, I can tell you that although it's one of the most rewarding careers anyone could choose, sadly it's also becoming increasingly difficult. Teachers face incredible demands and unrealistic expectations on a daily basis. So why is that the case? Well, in 2001, under President Bush's leadership and with overwhelming bipartisan support, the federal reform No Child Left Behind was passed. President Obama made some changes to the law and it became known as the Every Student Succeeds Act. So these reforms were aimed to address the needs of marginalized students, but they also ushered in the new age of accountability, placing new and often unrealistic demands on teachers. 100% of students proficient in reading and math on state end-of-grade tests, for one thing. And then with these new expectations, many school systems began to evaluate teachers differently as well, using value-added measure systems. These systems seek to quantify a teacher's effectiveness by using test score data to evaluate performance, but they're not considered reliable by many experts. In fact, the American Statistical Association warned against using them for many reasons, not the least of which is that these systems measure correlation, but not causation. So in other words, effects, either positive or negative, attributed to a teacher could actually be caused by an entirely different factor altogether not being captured by the model. In North Carolina, teachers are evaluated by a value-added measure system called EVOS, in part. This system measures students' growth from common assessments, and then these scores are used to determine a teacher, if a teacher is effective or not. And there isn't much evidence indicating these evaluations increase student achievement. To top it all off, teachers are not always treated as professionals and not given any autonomy in a classroom, but instead we're told exactly how and what to teach, which keeps us from being able to exercise our professional judgment. So not only are current teachers working harder than many other professionals, the salary isn't very high. At a time when we're desperate for new teachers, being able to recruit college students is hard when they understand the demands that will be placed on them, as well as the low salary ceiling they would have if they chose to become a teacher. A starting salary for a teacher in North Carolina is anywhere from 14 to 25 percent lower than the salary their peers and other professions would be making. I know I didn't get into education for the money, but the noble aspiration of trying to make a difference in the lives of young people won't pay the bills. In fact, the average teacher salary in our state is below the family living wage. But even if a college student does choose to enter into education, the process to obtain a license can be difficult. Chapter 115 C, Article 17 E of the North Carolina Legislative Statutes sets the necessary requirements to obtain a teaching license in North Carolina, one of which is that candidates must take several practice exams. These exams test for competency in various subjects, including math and English, and they can be difficult to pass, especially for minority teachers. They're not even necessarily the best indicator of future success as a teacher. So that gives you an idea as to why we've gotten to this place where we're facing such a serious crisis. But how do we fix it? Well, first we need to start by improving teacher working conditions. Treat teachers as professionals, for one thing. Allow them to have autonomy and make the important decisions that deal with student learning. We're the experts, after all, so treat us like that. Change the way teachers are evaluated, too. Instead of using a value-added measure assessment system like EVOS, just depend on the more reliable methods for evaluation, such as classroom observations throughout the year or even teacher constructed student learning portfolios. Secondly, we need to make significant increases to how much a teacher is paid. The North Carolina State Statute 115 C 301 is where the current starting or where the current salary scale is legislated. And the current starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor's degree is $37,000. The salary then increases by $1,000 each year thereafter. Starting with a larger beginning salary and providing more significant pay increases each year of a teacher service is one way to improve teacher pay. Use the budget surplus to show a serious commitment to increase salaries. Take salaries up so there's nobody whose salary is below the family living wage. Finally, make it easier for students in the teacher preparation programs to earn a license. Consider eliminating the practice exams and allow teacher candidates to demonstrate competency in other ways, such as through college transcripts and portfolios. Bring back the North Carolina Teaching Fellows program, too, which recruited top high school candidates into the educator preparation programs and offered loan forgiveness once they were done. This issue won't be solved overnight, but with a commitment to make changes and a willingness to buck the status quo, we can save our state. After all, don't our students deserve that? Thank you for joining me today on the Educational Policies Podcast with Melissa.