021 What does a Teaching Credential Really Prove?

<p>The National Center for Education Statistics <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=28">reported that in the 2017-18 school year there were 3.3 million full and part-time traditional public school teachers.</a> That is the most recent count available. That's a lot of college tuition and credentialing fees. So does all the investment in a piece of paper that supposedly certifies a person is a competent teacher really mean anything? What does a teaching credential really prove?</p> <p>Every state requires public school teachers to jump through the hoops to earn a credential. This usually means earning a bachelor's degree, performing a few months of practice teaching, and passing a test or two. In my humble, 34 years of experience, opinion, the way colleges prepare teachers for life in a real classroom lacks enough real experience. Course work and student teaching hardly mimic what it is really like to be in charge of one's own group of pre-formed student minds.&nbsp;</p> <p>I remember my first year of teaching. I cried a lot. Like every day. My then-husband would pat me on the back and say, "You'll be Ok. We need the money," as he guided me out the door. &nbsp;I was the first one on campus and the last one to leave. I brought home a box of work and papers to grade every night. More than the sheer weight of the responsibility of imbuing knowledge into middle school minds was the <a href="https://edsource.org/2018/the-art-of-engagement-classroom-management-now-matters-more-in-teacher-training/597885">struggle with classroom discipline</a>. That, more than anything else, was the biggest headache of my early career. I don't remember anything in my credential courses that prepared me for that!</p> <p>Earning a credential does not a good teacher make! Jen, Sharyn, and I talk about what it takes to get a credential. We discuss what it means, and more importantly, what it <em>doesn't</em> mean. Of course, as always, we give our suggestions as to how to fix the credential process.&nbsp;</p> <p>If you're co