> She's there for one-on-one help if the students have trouble with the content.
I hope Denver really vets its teachers well then. I remember going through public school in the 80's, and having to be careful which questions I asked in class because the teacher would be literally learning the material at the same time as the students. The teachers under this new system, in order to be effective, will have had to already gain familiarity with the course content ahead of time; they won't be able to afford any "Yukari Tanizaki" type teachers who drop all prep work when away from school...
"I remember going through public school in the 80's, and having to be careful which questions I asked in class because the teacher would be literally learning the material at the same time as the students."
I'm curious: Do you have more details? Because it seems to me that it's just absurd that such would occur. Not because I don't believe you; I do. But... at the risk of sounding snotty, there just isn't anything that a public school could cover that should have the teacher scrambling to learn the material, unless the school did something radically stupid. The curriculum just isn't that large, and by definition, teachers were at least smart enough to get through college.
The only thing that leaps to mind that this could have happened with is "new math". I could see how that could cause trouble, since it was pretty stupid. But what else could throw the teacher for such a loop?
> But... at the risk of sounding snotty, there just isn't anything that a public school could cover that should have the teacher scrambling to learn the material, unless the school did something radically stupid.
In my experience, it was usually just that. Either the teacher was given a new textbook or curriculum the prior summer with no evaluation period, or the instructor was transferred from one subject to another due to a financial or staffing pinch.
For example, I had a teacher who specialized in teaching algebra and trig, but had to be pressed into teaching calculus one year. While he knew enough of the material to grade and write assignments, his ability to explain the more obscure stuff in lecture was hobbled by his forgetting most of the material was about last time he was exposed to it. I've also had instructors bounced between teaching English and Social Studies because administrators thought they were similar because the tests of both subjects involved essay answers.
My experience may also be atypical, since at the high school level, I tended to take "honors" courses, which usually were an afterthought funding-wise than the majority of the "college prep" or "remedial" classes.
Unfortunately, this is where you hit up against the other side -- pay. You cant really expect teachers to spend their free time outside of school as well as spend 40+ hours a week IN school when you pay them at secretary rates. And we do.
I consult with a school on a variety of issues -- they continually have trouble finding qualified teachers who are willing to work extra hours for tutoring, etc, as well as spend the extra time to create lesson plans outside of the classroom.
Personally, I blame the teachers union, but in reality thats just one small part of the problem.
The school in the article is making great strides in one part, hopefully they can also make huge strides in the HR side as well.
I hope Denver really vets its teachers well then. I remember going through public school in the 80's, and having to be careful which questions I asked in class because the teacher would be literally learning the material at the same time as the students. The teachers under this new system, in order to be effective, will have had to already gain familiarity with the course content ahead of time; they won't be able to afford any "Yukari Tanizaki" type teachers who drop all prep work when away from school...