Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz encouraged a room full of educators gathered at Indiana University Kokomo Friday to work together to protect the future of their profession.
The Indiana State Board of Education’s decision Wednesday to create a career specialist teaching license undermines that goal, Ritz said, calling the new teacher permit “demeaning” to the profession. The career specialist license allows college graduates with a B average and 6,000 hours of professional experience to teach high school students.
The board voted 7-3 in favor of the new career specialist permit requirements, with Ritz, Troy Albert and Brad Oliver opposing the measure.
“I am all about quality people coming into the field of education. We have a lot of pathways for that to happen as they transition to teaching,” Ritz said at the beginning of her address to K-12 and higher education members at IUK. “Pedagogy is, in my terms, non-negotiable. You have to know the elements of how to teach, not just your content information.”
Twenty-six K-12 school corporations and several universities and colleges were represented at the Center for Educational Partnership meeting Friday afternoon. IUK Chancellor Susan Sciame-Giesecke had a similar message to Ritz’s: K-12 and higher education need to collaborate to help students be successful.
“If we are ever going to turn the page in education from where you sit and where I sit, we have got to work together,” Sciame-Giesecke said before introducing Ritz.
One of Sciame-Giesecke’s goals is to improve college degree completion rates, which could start with better preparation at the secondary level. She also would like to see younger students visiting college campuses so they will set their sights on higher education at an early age.
Ritz also discussed opportunities she sees for higher education and K-12 education to intersect, including:
- Teacher evaluations and compensation – House Bill signed by Gov. Mike Pence in March, calls for establishing a matrix rating system for teacher preparatory programs. Ritz would like to see colleges and universities get more involved in mentoring their graduates through their first year of teaching, which in turn would reflect well on their teacher prep programs. Depending on areas identified as needing improvement on teachers’ evaluations, colleges could offer professional development to address those specific areas. That continuing education also could provide school districts with grounds to offer their teachers additional compensation, Ritz said, depending on the contract they have in place.
- A focus on math – Ritz is working to establish a sub task force of the Indiana Career Council to focus on high school diplomas and offerings, especially in math. She would like to have pathways for high school students to enter different careers, with chances for them to gain experience in the field early so they can make a better decision on what career to pursue. It’s important to encourage students to go into teaching too, Ritz said. “We need to grow our own educators,” she added. “We need to entice them into the field.”