Anyone worried about inexperienced teachers at MV, YY, CM and other HRCS?

[Anonymous]

Seems to me that, although these schools are highly regarded, their teachers typically only have two years experience and this is typically the case at charter schools. Apparently positive educational outcomes are directly linked to teachers with more experience. http://www.scholarsstrategynetwork.org/sites/default/files/ssn_basic_facts_ladd_on_the_importance_of_experienced_teacgers_1.pdf

So wouldn't it make sense to favor a mid range to good DCPS over charter with teachers with little experience? So Shepherd Park or a Hearst over MV or CM? I would love to know what others think.

[Anonymous]

In the three years my child has been at MV, I have not had a problem with inexperienced teachers. Some have had more experience than others, but it hasn't been an issue. They receive a ton of ongoing training and have many resources to draw from if they encounter problems. Then again, I can only speak for our experience.

[Anonymous]

Most charters do have inexperienced teachers because of the pay. Or, college grads are just looking for their first job.

[Anonymous]

There's a trade off - youthful energy and enthusiasm vs experience and routine. We are at YY and while many of teachers don't have a lot of experience, they make up for it by their willingness to work hard and being up on the latest "best practices."

I have a child with SNs and have been very impressed and happy with the school overall.

[Anonymous]

Yes! Please stay far, far away from all these charters! Especially if you are holding on to a K spot!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes! Please stay far, far away from all these charters! Especially if you are holding on to a K spot!

Good one, but doubt it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most charters do have inexperienced teachers because of the pay. Or, college grads are just looking for their first job.

This type of question and response may be accurate in general, but tells you very little about specific schools. There are both inexperienced and experienced teachers at every school. Some experienced teachers may not be experienced in the specific school curriculum and therefore be less effective than a newer teacher. Agreed that in the aggregate more experience is better, it's pretty much that way for all jobs, no? but you will have to dig deeper to get more info about specific schools, and you probably won't find those answers here.

[Anonymous]

So according to the link in the OP's post, the majority of Teach for America teachers leave after their 2-year commitment, and over 80% are gone by the 3 year point. Given this logic, should we be seeing significant teacher attrition at MV, IT, and CM right about now? I think all three schools are at the end of year 2.

Actually, I take that back--the above is assuming these schools have a high % of TFA on faculty. Anyone know the TFA % at CM, MV, and IT?

-A parent nonetheless interested in one of these schools

[Anonymous]

Yu Ying has a lot TFA including the VP and Sp Ed Coordinator as well as teachers (English/Reading Specialists/etc). They are terrific!

I would suspect the same for many of the other charters especially the feeders for DCI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So according to the link in the OP's post, the majority of Teach for America teachers leave after their 2-year commitment, and over 80% are gone by the 3 year point. Given this logic, should we be seeing significant teacher attrition at MV, IT, and CM right about now? I think all three schools are at the end of year 2.

Actually, I take that back--the above is assuming these schools have a high % of TFA on faculty. Anyone know the TFA % at CM, MV, and IT?

-A parent nonetheless interested in one of these schools

Actually, I was wrong re: how long each school has been open--MV and IT are at the end of year 3, and CM is at the end of year 2. Still, all three should have experienced relatively high teacher attrition if they have lots of TFA teachers on their staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So according to the link in the OP's post, the majority of Teach for America teachers leave after their 2-year commitment, and over 80% are gone by the 3 year point. Given this logic, should we be seeing significant teacher attrition at MV, IT, and CM right about now? I think all three schools are at the end of year 2.

Actually, I take that back--the above is assuming these schools have a high % of TFA on faculty. Anyone know the TFA % at CM, MV, and IT?

-A parent nonetheless interested in one of these schools

Actually, I was wrong re: how long each school has been open--MV and IT are at the end of year 3, and CM is at the end of year 2. Still, all three should have experienced relatively high teacher attrition if they have lots of TFA teachers on their staff.

Again, you can't use general statements for specific schools- it's like saying "most white people in the US don't have a college degree, so most white people in DC shouldn't have a college degree". You'd be very wrong in that case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Again, you can't use general statements for specific schools- it's like saying "most white people in the US don't have a college degree, so most white people in DC shouldn't have a college degree". You'd be very wrong in that case.

And sorry for bringing up race, that's not what this discussion is about. It's just the most obvious thing I could think of when thinking about assumptions based on group characteristics that fail when applied to individuals or smaller groups.

[Anonymous]

I think folks are conflating to issues -- younger teachers vs. Teach for America teachers. CM, for example, does have a number of relatively young teachers, but I don't believe anyone is presently a TFA teacher. I know one of the pre-school teachers was previously a TFA teacher prior to coming to CM. We also have a few teachers who have earned their certifications through the Inspired Teaching program and/or have taught at Inspired Teaching through their Fellow-in-Residence program.

[Anonymous]

oops - that should say conflating "two" (not "to) issues.

[Anonymous]

I don't think MV has many, if any, TFA teachers. MV attracts teachers through its unique focus. The teachers seem to have all drunk the koolaid (as have I).