Addressing substantial inaccuracies in last night's CBS-2 report

Watch this first...then view my comments below...

#1...it's not the teacher, Frank.

On this, I agree with the individual school systems that it is unfair to compare apples to apples...unfair to compare a lateral entry with real-world experience versus a tenured teacher. Both are professionals in their craft.

#2...what methodology did WFMY use to gather its data? In the story, Frank reports:

We found schools with the highest numbers of these teachers struggled to reach academic goals.We considered a successful school one that gets a "B"... reaching 85% of its academic goals. The most recent data show in Guilford County, 7 out of 10 schools with 8 or more lateral entry teachers didn't get a "B". For Alamance-Burlington schools, 8 out of 10 didn't get that "B". For Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools, 10 out of 10 didn't get that "B".

No explanation on what data was used, nor from what time frame, nor how it was obtained.

#3...Did Frank spend a day in a highly-impacted school...no, let me rephrase...did Frank spend more than 10 minutes in a highly-impacted school's classroom? Or was he given the usual and tepid "corridor tour?" If he didn't spend time inside a classroom, then he does not know what goes on inside these classrooms. A lot of good things do go on. But there are issues.

Do many of these teachers have access to vital classroom supplies? No. Do many of these teachers have the support they need? No. Do many of these teachers have good mentors? It is the exception rather than the rule. Do many of these teachers have the parental support? Again, the exception rather than the rule. And are these teachers supported by school administrators when classroom discipline problems threaten the learning environment? That's open to interpretation.

As long-time readers of this blog know, I was once a lateral-entry teacher at Andrews H.S. in High Point. On my first day, I was given keys to my classroom, and was told 'good luck, God bless.' The kids I had, many were good kids, some had behavioral issues, none were 'bad kids.' No such thing as a 'bad kid' when you're teaching. But one has to suspect whether or not many of these lateral-entry teachers have more of the children with behavioral issues than other teachers.

What I dealt with at Andrews was beyond belief: departments being ordered to cut their budgets, spending money out of pocket on supplies, dealing with a state assistance team who threatened to pull licensure on the spot because the school failed to consistently meet state benchmarks (and lateral-entry teachers were deliberately targeted), a superintendent who did not support state assistance teams (Grier), fights on a regular basis, regular false fire alarms (almost daily at one point in the school year), a lack of attention by the school's elected school board member, busing...

...did Frank take all this into account for the "Sweeps story" last night?

#4...WFMY quoted James Cibulka from "NCATE" but never explains who NCATE is. NCATE is the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, a national group designed to give accreditation to teacher education programs nationwide.

#5...the story says:

Educators say the teacher shortage means lateral entry is here to stay, so now it's a matter of making the system work.

That, too, is open to interpretation. This state, this county, is laying off teachers. There is no teacher shortage in North Carolina anymore. Anyone who is still feeding you this cock-and-bull is not to be believed. If anything, there is now a gluttony of experienced teachers now out of a job and looking for work. And the teachers that are still gainfully employed in this state are dealing with forced furloughs, cutbacks to the State Health Plan, the possibility of no automatic raises...and that's just dealing with Raleigh. Add to the stress of getting our kids to pass this week's low-stakes EOGs and it is any wonder why anyone would still want to pursue teaching...in North Carolina. But many do, and I applaud them and their desire. My wish is for every teacher to find a job next year.

There were a good deal of things that were either unreported or under reported in this story and it leaves the door open for Frank to do a much-needed follow-up.

E.C. :)