The Teaching Commission, the non-profit advocacy organization founded by former IBM chairman and CEO Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., released a final report titled Teaching at Risk: Progress and Potholes.
This is good. It codifies common observations by many educators and community members.
Commissioners urge state and local leaders to go “far further, far faster” in transforming the teaching profession.
“If teaching remains a second-rate profession, America’s economy will be driven by second-rate skills,” said Gerstner. “We can wake up today-or we can have a rude awakening sooner than we think.”
The Commission gives state, local and federal leaders disappointing grades for their work in teacher compensation, preparation, licensing, and leadership.
The message comes as the Commission ends its work on schedule, three years after its inception.
Two points jump out in the press release about this report.
One, the focus remains upon schooling as a management system. Not one word directly infers anything about student learning rates. Do eduwonks want one education system in the country instead of schooling a responsibility of states?
Two, that education equates to schooling. How sad. Even more sad, educators seem to buy into this view.
I think that Tablets and ultra mobile PCs can assist individuals increase learning rates independent from these grand policy discussions.