Quality Vs. Quantity

Do good teachers trump more teachers? New research says yes.

by Morgan Zalot

teacher equity

Sharif El-Mekki knows firsthand the importance of having teachers in the classroom who are not only talented, but also experienced.

"Coming into a school with a strong leadership team as a novice teacher [gave me] a support system," said El-Mekki, who began his career at West Philadelphia's Shaw Middle School and is now principal of Mastery Charter School's nearby Shoemaker Campus. "I was amazed as I grew into administrative roles that this was not true across the board."

El-Mekki, along with three other panelists, spoke Tuesday in a discussion titled "Effective Teaching for All Children: What It Will Take." The panel, established in conjunction with the Education First Compact and the Philadelphia Cross City Campaign, is lobbying for better teaching quality and equity across the board in Philadelphia public schools.

Betsey Useem, a panelist and consultant to Research for Action, said that after her organization's initial report in 2003, "Once and For All," some change occurred, but that the new research indicates a need for more reform. "There was some progress made but not enough," she said, stressing that media coverage has provided an important springboard for issues related to education reform in Philadelphia, but that it seems the same story can be written over and over again due to recurrence of some issues.

Mark Stehle Betsey Useem (left) and Dolores Shaw (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

The most recent report by Research for Action, 2007's "Closing the Teacher Quality Gap in Philadelphia: New Hope and Old Hurdles," indicates that, while strides were made in areas such as teacher certification between the 2000-01 school year and the 2005-06 school year, more is needed to save the school district. "We have the problem of new teachers being concentrated in low-income, high-minority schools," Useem pointed out during the discussion.

Another prominent issue that Research for Action's new study addresses is teacher retention. Of teachers hired in 1999-2000, the study finds that, as of October 2005, 29.9 percent remained in the district, and only 16 percent stayed at the same school. "Overall, retention is a really serious problem," Useem said.

Useem's organization and the other members of the panel also stressed a dedication to equitably distributing qualified, experienced teachers throughout the school district. Useem says the study documents a strong unbalance in the average number of less-experienced teachers placed in schools with the most low-income students.

"The reality is that we made some success," added Dolores Shaw, a community activist and parent. "But if we made more, we wouldn't be having this conversation here today." Shaw, who heads up the Eastern Pennsylvania Organizing Project, says her organization found discrepancies while training parents to read school budgets. She said they found that the average and median salaries for teachers listed on the budgets do not reflect teachers' actual salaries. "It's a serious issue," she said, adding quickly that she understands money is not always an ultimate solution. "What money does do is help provide resources for young people and children who need extra service and extra high-quality teaching resources."

Shaw's organization's study, "Separate and Unequal: The Distribution of Instructional Resources in the School District of Philadelphia 2001-2005," indicates that on average, teachers in high-poverty schools have eight years less experience than those in low-poverty schools; and that teachers in low-poverty schools make $9,000 more per year on average than those in high-poverty schools. The research also says that on fifth-grade-level Pennsylvania System of State Assessments tests, students at high-poverty schools tend to score an average of 30 points lower than those at low-poverty schools.

The study defines "high poverty" as a school in which 80 percent or more students receive free and reduced-price lunches as part of a statewide program, while up to 39 percent of students receive them in those considered "low-poverty schools."

Recommendations of "Separate and Unequal" urge the school district to report real teacher salaries as opposed to average salaries, and ensure that every school is afforded a "healthy mix" of experienced and new teachers.

The report also stresses the importance of site selection and incentives for teachers to work in disadvantaged schools as catalysts for equity and funding for both teacher quality and more teachers for schools with fewer resources. "We cannot continue to under-serve these young people," Shaw stressed adamantly, asking, "Do we have the will to make these corrections?"

All panelists expressed a sense of urgency — they said the time is now, when both the presidential and mayoral administrations are committed to focusing on education and the communities throughout Philadelphia are joining forces to lobby for change. "Everything is aligned for the first time to do this right and fairly," Shaw told the group in the small conference room at the United Way building in Center City. "Will they take the time to do it now?"

As the discussion neared its end, Brian Armstead, Philadelphia Education Fund director of civic engagement, added one last important reminder. "I think one of the key messages is this, right now, is doable," he said. "There is no reason to say we can't do it. [We need to] focus on a few key things and implement them thoroughly and fully."

Community involvement is also a key factor, says Robin Blanc, a project assistant for the Philadelphia Cross City Campaign in attendance at the discussion, and she feels that the community is ready to push for change. "One of the things you look at, having the community behind the efforts of the district, is that the community is going to see the effects of this," she said.

Though those in support of pushing teacher equity as the most important school-district reform measure know they'll likely face a tough battle with other issues — including the ever-debated problem of class size — they are steadfast in their mission. El-Mekki says his school is a great example of the importance of teacher quality. At Mastery Charter School's Shoemaker Campus, El-Mekki says, the average class size of 27 students is fairly large, but with effective, experienced teachers, class size is not as big a factor as it seems. Small classes don't produce good teachers, he cautions; it's good teachers, he says, that yield more effective education. "Effective teaching is still just as effective with 10, 20, 30 kids," he explains. "We still look at class size, but we start off at top-quality teachers."

Whatever happens in policy reform, the activists, researchers and community members committed to this issue make it clear that it has been around for years and isn't going away until change is made. "The community in Philadelphia is really driven. They're putting their whole lives into making this work," Blanc says. "They're really out there every day seeing problems and coming together to come up with solutions."

(editorial@citypaper.net)