Teaching in the U.S. vs. the rest of the world

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP- Teacher here and I suspect the rampant absenteeism will be a huge problem next year when students are expected to show up to school every day. So many of them took advantage of the lax rules last year. The attendance committee at our school worked their tails off last year trying to contact the parents whose kids just did nothing.

Yes. This happened at our school way before Covid. The truancy officer basically threw up his hands and said there was nothing he could do. It’s almost impossible to retain students who fail and you can’t track families down and force them to send their kids to school.

Interesting. I have no idea about kids who don't attend school, as mine have regular attendance, but one of my issues with public school systems is teacher absenteeism. When I was younger, teachers weren't constantly out of the classroom. I know that some of it is training or family illness, but it is remarkable how many teachers have training or family illness immediately before or after a long weekend.

There have been studies demonstrating how teacher absenteeism hurt student achievement, with the worst attendance and educational outcomes in high poverty schools.

[Anonymous]

Blame the administration who send teachers to mostly BS training/PDs during the school year. My district won't approve time off before or after a holiday so no 3 day weekends for us. I work in a Title 1 school and I occasionally take mental health days in addition to actual sick days. I'm sure my friends who aren't teachers do too. Nobody thinks it is their business to comment about their time off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP- Teacher here and I suspect the rampant absenteeism will be a huge problem next year when students are expected to show up to school every day. So many of them took advantage of the lax rules last year. The attendance committee at our school worked their tails off last year trying to contact the parents whose kids just did nothing.

Wait a minute. I have been assured that last year everything was great! Students were thriving! All the snuggles and baking of sourdough bread! Black and brown people loved, loved loved DL because they no longer had to deal with mircoagressions and racism!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blame the administration who send teachers to mostly BS training/PDs during the school year. My district won't approve time off before or after a holiday so no 3 day weekends for us. I work in a Title 1 school and I occasionally take mental health days in addition to actual sick days. I'm sure my friends who aren't teachers do too. Nobody thinks it is their business to comment about their time off.

Well, teachers in the US may be absent more than in other countries, according to at least one study, and they are absent more than college educated workers in other industries. There may be valid reasons, but teacher absenteeism is a documented systemic problem that should be examined and addressed.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2020/01/27/we-should-be-focusing-on-absenteeism-among-teachers-not-just-students/

https://fee.org/articles/whats-behind-the-epidemic-of-chronic-teacher-absenteeism/

[Anonymous]

Young people have lots of energy and back in the old country getting the energy out is number one thing. Only then can they concentrate on task at hand. Classes are 40 minutes maximum with 4-5 hours a day total time spent at school.
I remember most topics even now 35 years later because everything was very compact to make time for PE, sports and recess. The teachers didn't waste any time because they only had 40 minutes to get something done.
Teacher quality is also much higher there. Finishing high school is an accomplishment and getting into college to become a teacher is an accomplishment.
In US and seems like in that UK school at least, it's quantity over quality, and the teacher mentions it when she reflects on her day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP- Teacher here and I suspect the rampant absenteeism will be a huge problem next year when students are expected to show up to school every day. So many of them took advantage of the lax rules last year. The attendance committee at our school worked their tails off last year trying to contact the parents whose kids just did nothing.

Yes. This happened at our school way before Covid. The truancy officer basically threw up his hands and said there was nothing he could do. It’s almost impossible to retain students who fail and you can’t track families down and force them to send their kids to school.

Interesting. I have no idea about kids who don't attend school, as mine have regular attendance, but one of my issues with public school systems is teacher absenteeism. When I was younger, teachers weren't constantly out of the classroom. I know that some of it is training or family illness, but it is remarkable how many teachers have training or family illness immediately before or after a long weekend.

There have been studies demonstrating how teacher absenteeism hurt student achievement, with the worst attendance and educational outcomes in high poverty schools.

I subbed for three years before going back full time. The amount of trainings is ridiculous, especially for special ed. Most of them could easily be done virtually and hopefully that will be something that stays now that everyone has wised up. However, if a teacher misses 40 days in a school year for anything other than a major medical event or serious family emergency, he/she is not going to be rehired. If a student misses 40 days in a school year for a bunch of vague reasons, they get passed along to the next grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blame the administration who send teachers to mostly BS training/PDs during the school year. My district won't approve time off before or after a holiday so no 3 day weekends for us. I work in a Title 1 school and I occasionally take mental health days in addition to actual sick days. I'm sure my friends who aren't teachers do too. Nobody thinks it is their business to comment about their time off.

Well, teachers in the US may be absent more than in other countries, according to at least one study, and they are absent more than college educated workers in other industries. There may be valid reasons, but teacher absenteeism is a documented systemic problem that should be examined and addressed.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2020/01/27/we-should-be-focusing-on-absenteeism-among-teachers-not-just-students/

https://fee.org/articles/whats-behind-the-epidemic-of-chronic-teacher-absenteeism/

I would expect teachers to be more absent due to illness than other college-educated workers given the amount of germs they are exposed to, but I'm not sure about the comparison with other countries. Also, US has more female teachers who are more likely to be tapped for caregiving responsibilities--that might be another factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blame the administration who send teachers to mostly BS training/PDs during the school year. My district won't approve time off before or after a holiday so no 3 day weekends for us. I work in a Title 1 school and I occasionally take mental health days in addition to actual sick days. I'm sure my friends who aren't teachers do too. Nobody thinks it is their business to comment about their time off.

Well, teachers in the US may be absent more than in other countries, according to at least one study, and they are absent more than college educated workers in other industries. There may be valid reasons, but teacher absenteeism is a documented systemic problem that should be examined and addressed.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2020/01/27/we-should-be-focusing-on-absenteeism-among-teachers-not-just-students/

https://fee.org/articles/whats-behind-the-epidemic-of-chronic-teacher-absenteeism/

I would expect teachers to be more absent due to illness than other college-educated workers given the amount of germs they are exposed to, but I'm not sure about the comparison with other countries. Also, US has more female teachers who are more likely to be tapped for caregiving responsibilities--that might be another factor.

Most countries have female teachers, not just US. In 8 years we had 3 days were a teacher missed school. It just isn't a thing unless there's an emergency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP- Teacher here and I suspect the rampant absenteeism will be a huge problem next year when students are expected to show up to school every day. So many of them took advantage of the lax rules last year. The attendance committee at our school worked their tails off last year trying to contact the parents whose kids just did nothing.

Yes. This happened at our school way before Covid. The truancy officer basically threw up his hands and said there was nothing he could do. It’s almost impossible to retain students who fail and you can’t track families down and force them to send their kids to school.

Why is this?

Homeschoolers doing a great job of raising their kids live in constant fear of not doing "enough" to show enough good work or progress at the end of the year, terrified of a trip from CPS. Even though studies show that homeschoolers outperform traditionally schooled children in tests across the board.

I wonder why homeschoolers bother jumping through these hoops at all, when apparently the states don't care if kids aren't learning or even attending school. Why aren't those people getting visits from CPS and getting their kids taken away?

Such a double standard.

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty sure there are maybe 2-3 people who work in truancy court in my district. It takes many, many years of chronic absenteeism before a case ever gets to court. Our neighbors homeschool their kids and the mom said the once-a-year meeting with the homeschool liaison is easy. She said the bar is pretty low.

[Anonymous]

My district pulls some teachers out of the building 8-12 full days a year for trainings. Our union has pushed back HARD on that shit. Hopefully we are able to bargain this down to maybe 2-3 days per year next contract.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blame the administration who send teachers to mostly BS training/PDs during the school year. My district won't approve time off before or after a holiday so no 3 day weekends for us. I work in a Title 1 school and I occasionally take mental health days in addition to actual sick days. I'm sure my friends who aren't teachers do too. Nobody thinks it is their business to comment about their time off.

Actually, when people in my office take random days off, people assume they are interviewing for other positions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP- Teacher here and I suspect the rampant absenteeism will be a huge problem next year when students are expected to show up to school every day. So many of them took advantage of the lax rules last year. The attendance committee at our school worked their tails off last year trying to contact the parents whose kids just did nothing.

Yes. This happened at our school way before Covid. The truancy officer basically threw up his hands and said there was nothing he could do. It’s almost impossible to retain students who fail and you can’t track families down and force them to send their kids to school.

Why is this?

Homeschoolers doing a great job of raising their kids live in constant fear of not doing "enough" to show enough good work or progress at the end of the year, terrified of a trip from CPS. Even though studies show that homeschoolers outperform traditionally schooled children in tests across the board.

I wonder why homeschoolers bother jumping through these hoops at all, when apparently the states don't care if kids aren't learning or even attending school. Why aren't those people getting visits from CPS and getting their kids taken away?

Such a double standard.

Cite for this? That sounds anecdotal. And not my experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blame the administration who send teachers to mostly BS training/PDs during the school year. My district won't approve time off before or after a holiday so no 3 day weekends for us. I work in a Title 1 school and I occasionally take mental health days in addition to actual sick days. I'm sure my friends who aren't teachers do too. Nobody thinks it is their business to comment about their time off.

Actually, when people in my office take random days off, people assume they are interviewing for other positions.

That’s weird. Don’t people take a day off here or there for appointments for themselves or their kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it's the pay. I think it's that teachers have no autonomy, have to teach to the test and can't kick disruptive students out of their classrooms.

I’m a teacher and this is the problem.