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July 25, 2008
Hug a Biology Major

More proof that Education degrees ought to go the way of Phrenology:

"The findings show that TFA [Teach for America] teachers are more effective, as measured by student exam performance, than traditional teachers. Moreover, they suggest that the TFA effect, at least in the grades and subjects investigated, exceeds the impact of additional years of experience, implying that TFA teachers are more effective than experienced secondary school teachers."

Translation: People with real degrees outperform "education experts," even when they get stuck in the worst classrooms.

Posted by Woodlief on July 25, 2008 at 02:44 PM


Comments

As a teacher and coach who made a lateral move into teaching, I fully agree! Believe me, I am no educational expert. The experts just seem to complicate things. I have found, like many things in life, that keeping it simple brings about greater results.

Starting out with a career in sales prepared me more for teaching than any educational class or training that I have had. As a salesman I had to find my customers' dominant buying motive (what is going to make them pull out their checkbook). As a teacher I have to find each student's dominant learning motive (what is going to make a student want to focus and learn). Some of the same techniques that I have used to get my customers to buy I use to get my students to learn.

It does not take a masters or PhD in education to have high achievement in the classroom.


Posted by: Richard Brendle at July 25, 2008 11:17 PM

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