A recent Harvard study cited a direct correlation between a teacher’s success in the classroom to a student’s success in later life. The study indicated that students who have “good” teachers would later earn better salaries.
When covered on January 6, 2012, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/jan-june12/teachers_01-06.html#transcript, PBS’ summary stated, “Replacing a bad teacher with an average or a good one has measurable economic benefits such as boosting a student's lifetime earnings by hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to a new study done in part by Harvard University economist Raj Chetty. Ray Suarez and Chetty discuss the study's findings.”
I have not researched the study in full as yet, but must say that PBS commentator Ray Suarez’ conversation with Harvard professor Raj Chetty supplied one and all with a prime example of using media as a vehicle for dissemination of misinformation. Suarez does ask the correct question when he broaches the numerous variables involved in calculating success, but Chetty, ever-confident, comfortably falls back on his statistics and provides what he considers a relevant response, using a fourth grade teacher scenario. He ignores influential components such as classroom chemistry, student participation, and family dynamics for a particular year. Any of these factors are integral and, depending on school size, may weight the nebulous term of class success or failure for a number of years. He fails to take into account administrative influences and pressure from principals, again, impacting a student’s success. These factors transcend well beyond a teacher’s influence.
Chetty states that value added payments for teacher success is a good move for students. His comment, “So, for example, a teacher who is in the top 5 percent, an excellent teacher, we calculate generates about $250,000 or more of additional earnings for their students over their lives in a single classroom of about 28 students.” While that $250,000 has great impact to the listening audience, it actually equates to an additional $8,929 per student, based on his example of 28 students, over the course of the student’s lifetime, which in turn equals $255 more per year over that lifetime, assuming 35 years of work. His sweeping statement effectively negates such fulfilling, yet, from his mind’s eye, unprofitable professions as social work, education, legal aid or art history. Furthermore, PBS’ summary referred to “boosting a student’s lifetime earnings by hundreds of thousands of dollars.” I see roughly $9,000, even if the survey were valid.
When asked by Suarez, Chetty says that it could also be concluded from the study that it ought to be easier to fire ineffective teachers. Absent the obvious subjectivity in Chetty’s response, I question whether the overall tone of the study skewed the results. Furthermore, the comment came from someone who is promoting his survey, which should make for great play in news. Randi Weingarten was unable to attend because she was “stuck in traffic.” Her attendance would have made for a fair debate. Mr. Suarez should not have positioned the question in manner he selected. But again, it does make for great news, no?
Professor Chetty throws his parting salvo by making an incongruous comparison between teaching and baseball. “I think -- you know, let me make an analogy here. Suppose you are managing a baseball team, say, the Boston Red Sox, and you're trying to do as well as you can. You have players with different batting averages. One approach you might take is to bring the hitting coach out and try to raise the batting averages of the players you have. But I think it also makes a lot of sense -- and this will make sense to sports fans -- that, on occasion, you might decide to let some of the players with lower batting averages go, and try to get somebody else who might do better. And so I think it makes sense to use a combination of those tools. Here, I think the stakes are even much bigger. We're talking about the future of our children, rather than winning a baseball game. So I think it does make sense to consider those policies seriously.”
The comparison was not only insulting; it showed arrogance and ignorance on Chetty’s part. To be so insensitive as to compare the devotion of teaching, impacting each and every member of our society, to that of baseball effectively summarizes a shocking and distasteful show.
- “New Study Gauges Teachers Impact on Students’ Lifetime Earnings.” PBS NewsHour. PBS. 6 Jan. 2012. PBS.org. Web. Transcript. 8 Jan. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/jan-june12/teachers_01-06.html#transcript>.
- ESP
