According to Byron Auguste, Paul Kihn, and Matt Miller of McKinsey & Company in their report of September 2010, "Closing the Talent Gap: Attracting and retaining the top-third graduates to careers in teaching," the three leading countries with world class education systems, recruit college graduates from the top one-third of their classes. These nations are Finland, Singapore and South Korea.
The United States currently recruits only 23% of their teachers from the top-third and only 14% that go to high poverty schools. This poor performance is caused by a "chaotic mix of labor market trends, university economics, and local school district and budget dynamics." The authors of this report point out that the United States is fortunate that education has become a political hot button in this country. There is hope for the American education system of turning things around in a positive manner.
Is the U.S. Missing the Mark on Education?
The U.S. is appears to be emphasizing the improvement of teaching strategies for existing teachers or keeping the best teachers and getting rid of the least effective ones. On the other hand, the top countries with the most successful education systems – Finland, Singapore, and South Korea – focus on recruiting and retaining the "top-third+" college graduates to the teaching profession. The + in "top-third+" represents the additional qualities these countries look for in teaching candidates. These qualities are perseverance, ability to motivate others, passion for children, and communication skills.
Finland, Singapore, and South Korea do things quite differently than the U.S. as far as teacher recruiting is concerned. Admission to their teacher training programs are very selective. Additionally, the top candidates have their program costs and tuition oftentimes paid by the government. Candidates also receive a stipend in many cases. Very interestingly, the supply and demand for teachers is closely monitored; thus, insuring all qualified teacher candidates will have a job upon completion of their training.
Very strong financial compensation is provided for teachers in Finland, Singapore, and South Korea. These countries feel excellent compensation is necessary in order to attract and retain these top one-third college graduates. Additionally, teachers in these countries enjoy great status and prestige because having excellent professional teachers is a top priority.
The U.S. Needs to Change Its Approach to Education
Auguste, Kihn, and Miller state that the U.S. recruits most teachers from the bottom two-thirds of college classes and the bottom one-third for the poorest schools in the districts. The debate on what makes a great teacher continues, but officials of these successful countries insist that placing teachers with top academic credentials supports their undeniable results-orientated success.
Now is the opportune time for the U.S. to seriously consider the way it is doing business with the education problem. Roughly 1.8 million of 3.3 million teachers will be eligible to retire within the next ten years.
This factor offers a great opportunity to shape the new teacher corps. High poverty schools are having a terrible time of attracting and retaining strong qualified teachers. Employers are demanding that students be equipped with the necessary 21st century skills to compete. Joe Klein, former chancellor of schools in New York City said, "Recruiting top students into teaching should be a national objective."
Make the U.S. Education System Great
Make the U.S. education system great by recruiting the top-third college graduates into teaching. This can be accomplished by greatly increasing the compensation and prestige afforded quality teachers. Leaders in education, government and business should focus and cooperate on creating a dramatic change in national priorities. The welfare and success of America's greatest asset, its children, is dependent on this transformation of the teaching profession. Most significantly, the economy of the United States depends on a greatly improved results orientated education system.
John A. Marinchek - John is a student and writer of Social-Economic issues, the Human Potential movement, and Martial Arts. His specific interests deal with ...
