A retired teacher and principal with thirty-eight years of experience
in public education, Renato C. Nicolai, Ed.D., taught 6th through 12th
grade and was both an elementary and middle school principal. In
education circles, he was known as Dr. Nicolai, which eventually was
shortened to Dr. Nick, and has stuck ever since.
Tyler:
Thank you for joining me today, Dr. Nick. Obviously, the state of
public education in the United States is of great concern to many
people. To begin, will you tell us what you think is wrong with the
public education system?
Dr. Nick: Wow! What an opportunity! Yes,
I would be pleased to tell you what I think is wrong with the public
education system. My thoughts aren't in any order of priority; I'm
telling you about them as they come to mind.
What I think of first
is what I wrote about as the main emphasis in my book. Teachers
desperately need to improve the quality of their teaching, so,
specifically, what's wrong is that too many teachers are either
incompetent or mediocre instructors at best. Yes, if you had the
opportunity to stand by my side in the hundreds of classrooms I've
visited in my career, you would be both amazed and horrified at how much
poor quality teaching there is in our public schools. If parents only
knew how much more their children could be learning with instruction
from superb teachers compared to what they are most likely learning now
from incompetent teachers, they would be flabbergasted. That's how bad
it really is. This indictment of teachers, however, is not a major
problem at the elementary school, but is a serious and rampant problem
for sure at the middle school, junior high school, and especially the
high school level of education. Parents, you'll want to read about the
eight essential qualities most teachers don't possess. I've listed and
described them in the first chapter of my book.
Tenure is another
critical problem. Once tenure is granted by a school district, an
incompetent teacher is a teacher for life. It's extremely difficult to
dismiss a teacher who has tenure. What's wrong with tenure is that it's
achievable so soon in a teacher's career (after only three years in most
cases), so final (once it's granted it's irrevocable), and so long
lasting (the teacher keeps it for as long as he/she teaches). What
happens is that some teachers work very hard during their first few
years on the job, receive tenure, and then slack off in their
performance because they know they can almost never lose their job.
Instead of tenure, public education should promote a system of
performance reviews that teachers are required to pass periodically in
order to keep their teaching position for the next two or three years.
The
way a teacher is evaluated is all wrong within the education system.
It's basically a sham and a joke. Collective bargaining contracts and
union involvement in teacher evaluations has watered down the process of
teacher evaluations to the degree that practically nothing worthwhile
results from the process. In my book, I have a chapter titled "What You
Don't Know Won't Hurt You," and the concept of teacher evaluation is
discussed in that chapter. If parents and the public at large knew how
ineffective and unproductive teacher evaluations are, they would demand a
more efficient system. The system as it exists in most school districts
today is a tactful process of saying the right words, doing what's
anticipated, and not ruffling anyone's feelings. What it should do is
help teachers improve the quality of their teaching to the degree that
they help students learn better, but it doesn't do that at all.
The
public education system is rooted in the false notion that all teachers
are qualified educators who can be trusted to make good decisions,
follow school district rules and regulations, work together in a spirit
of collegiality, promote the welfare of students as a priority, and,
generally, do what is just, moral, and professional. What's wrong is
that this description is simply not true; yet, school districts
throughout the United States allow teachers the freedom to work
unsupervised because they are assumed to be well-intentioned,
professional persons who have the best interests of students at heart.
Don't misunderstand me, please. Of course, there are many conscientious
teachers who do work well with each other and do have the best interests
of students at heart, but I believe that there are many more who take
advantage of academic freedom, collegiality, and lack of supervision to
do whatever they want within the four walls of their classrooms. This is
actually a very serious problem that is covered up by the educational
hierarchy.
Another very serious wrong is the way in which school
districts manage the use of substitute teachers. Substitute teachers are
rarely observed to determine their competence, frequently assigned to
subject areas they have no qualifications to teach, and regularly
subjected to unbelievable disrespect and insolence from students. When a
substitute teacher is present in a middle school, junior high school,
or high school classroom, little or no learning takes place. That class
is a waste of instructional time, the students' time, and the
substitute's time as well. The three most common activities that take
place when a substitute takes over a regular teacher's class are the
showing of videos or DVDs, the administration of tests, and the
supervision of long, boring written or reading assignments left by the
regular teacher. The lesson plans left by most regular teachers for
substitute teachers to follow are generally a set of instructions on how
to occupy the time students have in class. The entire substitute
teacher system needs to be completely overhauled. Students must be
taught to respect substitute teachers, to assist them with the lesson,
and to be responsible for their own learning. Expectations that students
will cooperate with substitute teachers, that regular teachers will
conscientiously prepare quality lesson plans, that substitutes will
teach, and that administrators will monitor substitutes are so miserably
low, currently, that the education system simply accepts the status quo
of chaos, lack of learning, and disgraceful substitute teacher academic
and professional performance.
Tyler, the public education system
in the United States is really in trouble. It's inundated with problems;
there are many things wrong with it. I could have written about lack of
student discipline, emphasis on sports over academics, permissiveness
throughout the culture of public schools, reticence about the problems
that exist, and much more. I believe that it has deteriorated so much
over the last fifty years, that mediocrity and incompetence are the
status quo. Parents don't even realize that the system is so bad. What
they see and experience is what they think is how the system should be.
They don't understand how much better it could be and how their children
could be receiving a more superior educational experience.
Tyler:
Dr. Nick, will you tell us a little bit about your background in
education-where you taught and the subjects you taught, as well as your
experience as a middle school principal. What personal experiences have
led to your current viewpoints?
Dr. Nick: My first full time
position in public schools was as a 9th and 11th grade teacher of
English at El Camino High School in South San Francisco, California (a
city separate from San Francisco). After teaching two years, my
assignment changed to teaching English half the school day and
counseling the other half. In my third year as a teacher at this school,
I was elected president of the local teachers' union and the following
year chairman of the School District Negotiating Council. In my fifth
year, I was appointed Assistant Principal of Parkway Junior High School
(7-9) in the same school district.
During the seven years I held
this position as assistant principal, I enrolled in a doctoral program
at the University of Southern California, and from 1969-1972 I achieved a
Doctor of Education degree in Educational Administration and Secondary
Curriculum. My dissertation, which researched the administrative
behavior of superintendents of schools, was the first dissertation
sponsored by the newly formed Association of California School
Administrators (ACSA).
In 1974, I was selected Principal of Isaac
Newton Graham Middle School (7-8) in Mountain View, California. You
asked me to share my experience as a middle school principal, and I'm
pleased to do so, but I want you to know that I could easily write
another book about those experiences alone. So, I'll try to give you an
encapsulated answer. I think I could best describe my experiences as a
middle school principal as a continuing five year roller coaster ride
because I never knew when my feelings, emotions, and experiences would
be up or down. On the up side, I was thrilled to see many students learn
to their potential as a result of the excellent teaching of some superb
teachers. After all, helping young people learn is what education is
all about. I also observed some outstanding teachers whose skills and
methods motivated students to excel beyond their own personal
expectations. That was extremely exciting. As the leader of a
neighborhood school, I grew personally as an educator because I had the
opportunity to influence curriculum, work for the educational benefits
of students, and associate often with community leaders in various
agencies (fire department, police department, recreation department,
mayor's office, and so on). These experiences made me a better
principal. On the down side, I learned quickly that many teachers should
never have been allowed to enter a classroom to teach. They were not
suited to interact with adolescents and teenagers; they didn't have the
skills needed to help young minds understand concepts and ideas; they
failed to devote themselves to learning how to teach expertly; they
didn't know how to control and manage a class of thirty students. I also
realized what some of the problems were that I had to deal with
(incompetent teachers, low quality curriculum, collective bargaining
contracts to name a few) but that I didn't have the power to bring about
effective change. That was frustrating to no end. Finally, the lowest
possible experience for me was to meet so-called teachers who had
literally given up; that is, they had decided to go through the motions
of teaching only. They were no longer eager to teach, didn't look
forward to meeting their classes, and did as little as possible to meet
their professional responsibilities. I left out so much that I feel my
answer is inadequate. I can see the joy on the faces of students who won
academic and sports awards, the enthusiasm of both staff and student
body at our annual soft ball game, the annual parent club barbecue, and
so much more.
I remained at Graham for five years and then moved
on to an opportunity in southern California as the Administrative
Director (Superintendent/Principal) of Chatsworth Hills Academy, a
private school in Chatsworth, California. I preferred serving in public
education, so I returned to Graham as a 7th grade core teacher, teaching
English and social studies (world history). In October of my second
year back from southern California, I was asked by three Santa Clara
County superintendents to head up a "joint powers" school named The
Institute of Computer Technology as an on-loan school administrator.
Along with an on-loan administrator from IBM (Ken Butler), I helped this
new educational enterprise get its feet off the ground. It was exciting
work and I enjoyed hiring teachers, meeting technology experts at Apple
and IBM, developing curriculum, outfitting a school with security
systems, working with school superintendents, learning how to protect
valuable hardware and software, and a lot more. After doing what I was
hired to do, I returned to Graham, teaching English, social studies, and
geography to 7th and 8th graders, including the 8th Grade Honors
English program. I remained at Graham for the next twenty years and
retired in 2001.
During my career, I've been a presenter at
various conferences, in-service sessions, and conventions. My
presentation topics were usually in the areas of teaching methods,
literature-based instruction, discipline, and classroom management. I've
also been a master teacher, chairman or member of numerous curriculum
committees, and an adjunct professor in the teacher training program at
National University.
My current viewpoints and attitudes toward
public education developed throughout my career based upon my personal
experiences as a teacher and principal, what I saw other educators do
and heard them say, what I read, what I learned best helped young people
reach their learning potential, what political reforms failed, and what
I learned about how young minds gain knowledge. For instance, there was
a time when I opposed vouchers; I'm adamantly in favor of them now. The
more choices parents have in the education of their children, the
better. I was a staunch supporter of tenure at the beginning of my
career until I witnessed how many deficient teachers hide their
incompetence under the protection of this law. Tenure should be
abolished. I'm sure you get the idea. I hold the views, attitudes, and
feelings that I do about education as a result of a life-long career in
schools. You know, children aren't the only ones who learn while at
school.
Tyler: You mention that many teachers are not competent?
What is the reason for this, and why does the school system allow them
to remain in the classroom?
Dr. Nick: Why are many teachers incompetent? Here are some reasons to contemplate:
Because
they don't possess the personality needed to interact well with young
people. If a person doesn't like kids, doesn't enjoy being with them all
day long, doesn't look forward to teaching them, doesn't accept their
immaturity and want to help them become more mature, can't stand
constantly answering questions, can't accept individual differences
(race, ethnicity, gender, religion, etc), can't cope with special needs
(hyperactivity, behavior problems, and so on), then that person will
never be a competent teacher.
Because they don't possess, exhibit,
use, and treasure enthusiasm, and, so, they are truly boring to most of
their students. Ask any kid at a middle school, junior high school, or
high school in your community what they dislike the most about their
teachers, and, I guarantee you the answer will overwhelmingly be that
they are boring. And you know something, Tyler; the kids are right. Most
teachers are insufferably boring in how they teach. Enthusiasm is a
sine qua non for all competent teachers.
Because they don't know
how to get concepts and ideas across clearly to their students. They
don't possess the knowledge and skills needed to help students learn.
They just don't know what to do and end up quite often being frustrated
and saying something like, "Oh, those kids just can't learn this stuff."
That's an expression equivalent to defeatism and incompetence. If the
learning material is age appropriate and part of the accepted
curriculum, of course a normal, healthy student can learn it. It isn't
the student who is at fault; it's the teacher who doesn't have the
competence to design lessons, activities, and programs to help students
learn. The reason for this is that many teachers tell students but don't
show and teach.
Because they can't manage and control student
behavior. Teachers daily face challenging disciplinary and behavior
problems. If a teacher can't effectively handle these problems, that
teacher will never be a competent instructor-never! In this case, the
incompetence is in not knowing what to do when a disciplinary or
behavior problem presents itself because the teacher hasn't thought out a
personal Educational Philosophy for Control of Student Behavior. Every
teacher needs to do this to harmonize his/her personality with methods
of discipline. I explain this in detail in my book.
Because many
teachers don't manage classroom time efficiently. I devote an entire
chapter to this topic: "Wasted Time - Inept Instruction (Euphemism:
Teaching Mistakes). How can anyone consider a teacher competent when
that teacher tries to teach over the noise of unruly students, doesn't
know how to quell effectively unnecessary noise at the change of a
classroom activity, and allows students to talk whenever they want. This
inability to control noise leads to as much as 25% of each class period
being wasted. Many teachers can't even control the time at the end of
class when students get ready to leave and waste the ten or fifteen
minutes left.
Because many teachers can't effectively control
group learning. One of the most effective ways for students to learn is
to interact with each other, allowing students to help each other learn
in groups. Sometimes, students have just the right words and
explanations to help a fellow student understand a lesson. However, most
teachers don't control student groups effectively and so waste
tremendous amounts of instructional time.
Because many teachers
don't have high enough academic and behavioral expectations and
standards. In other words, many teachers don't challenge their students
enough academically and don't expect them to learn to the level of their
potential. Teachers must project an attitude of high expectations to
motivate their charges adequately. Most teachers don't even understand
this concept and need to learn it themselves. Not putting it into effect
in classrooms is indicative of ignorance and incompetence. In Chapter
Three, I wrote a seven-page description of the most important strategies
used by teachers who truly understand how to teach high academic and
behavioral standards. Teachers, you've never seen anything come close to
this practical list of how to teach standards.
Because some
teachers don't have a sufficient knowledge of the subjects they teach.
They don't! They are assigned to teach a subject they don't know
adequately or they don't even like. Many teachers are teaching subjects
and they don't have either a major in that field or a valid certificate
to teach it.
There are other reasons as well, but the few I
mentioned are really significant ones, aren't they? Now, what are the
reasons for these incompetencies and why do school systems allow these
incompetent teachers to remain in the classroom? Well, the first part of
the question can be answered easily. Students learning how to teach are
not being prepared adequately by schools of education. You know who
should teach prospective teachers how to teach? Not education
professors! No! Excellent, experienced, current and retired teachers who
know what a classroom is all about and who have a love for kids and
teaching in their hearts should teach candidates for teaching. Give me
proven experts at teaching young people, a group of twenty teacher
candidates for a year, and I know we could do a much better job of
teaching them how to be good teachers than any school of education in
the country.
Answering the second part of the question leaves me
with a heavy heart. The reason is that most school districts don't
effectively monitor and evaluate the progress, competence, and teaching
skills of new teachers. The procedures to do this are woefully
inadequate and rarely result in new teachers being dismissed if they are
incompetent. Teachers new to the profession learn more about teaching
from their own personal experiences the first three years on the job and
from other, experienced teachers than they do from any program
presented by the school district they work for. School districts don't
really know if a new teacher is mediocre or, worse yet, incompetent so
they grant tenure because they need a body in the classroom. There is a
tremendous shortage of teachers throughout our country today. Once
tenure is granted, it is virtually impossible to dismiss a teacher on
the basis of incompetence.
(Due to space constraints a portion of this review was omitted -- please see Reader Views website for the entire interview.)
Dr.
Nick: Parents must be involved in their children's education from
preschool right through high school and, perhaps, even into college. The
tendency is for parents to step back from involvement when their
teenagers start high school. This is a serious mistake. Parental
involvement is critical during high school because the high schooler is
under tremendous pressure from peers mainly to experiment in many
different areas: drugs, alcohol, sex, ideology, cults, etc. That
involvement should take the form of proactive participation, diligent
observation, and ardent questioning. I recommend that parents do the
following to ensure that their children receive a quality education:
Parents
must communicate regularly in person, over the phone, and via e-mail
with the teacher throughout the school year about every aspect of their
child's learning by asking questions and seeking information about these
and other important aspects of schooling:
homework
math skills
language arts skills (reading, spelling, grammar, writing)
testing
behavior
grades
listening skills
attitude
participation and cooperation
Parents
must frequently monitor the progress of their child's learning at home
and act as the most important teacher in their child's life.
Parents
should observe their child's teacher(s) to assess the teacher's quality
of instruction. My book is filled with tips for parents to do just
that. It also contains lists of questions for parents to ask and what to
look for in a classroom to determine if a classroom's physical
environment is organized as a valuable learning tool.
Parents should participate in the life of the school, if possible:
join the PTA or parent club and participate in its activities and governance
volunteer as an aide at school
offer to assist the teacher with paperwork
Parents
must attend school functions: Back-to-School Night, Open House, music
programs, special events, sports contests, fund raisers.
Parents must meet with the teacher at parent conferences and ask questions about their child's educational progress.
Parents
should introduce themselves to the principal and other persons in key
positions at the school to know who they are and to make sure these
school personnel know who the parents are.
Parents should
communicate their ideas and opinions to their elected school board
members, and, on occasion, attend a school board meeting.
Parents must be sure their child is equipped to do the best possible work at school by providing:
necessary school supplies
a nutritious and balanced diet
enough sleep and rest
a positive attitude toward school and teachers
a distraction-free place for homework
Tyler:
Does the concern over public education have a place outside the school
system? What about people who do not have children? Why should they
care about things like millage elections, or want to pay more taxes, or
support the school system?
Dr. Nick: Yes, concern over public
education does have a place outside the school system. Most people who
don't have children, are retired and have no contact with children, or
whose children are now adults pay taxes and generally want a school
system that produces an educated person. These people are automatically
invested in the public school system as a result of their taxpayer
status and expect to receive good value for their tax money. I know I do
because 62% of my annual property taxes (nearly $3,800) goes to public
schools in the community where I live.
Tyler: Students often do
not value the education they receive until years later. As a former
college English professor, I taught many lazy students, and I was
constantly in dismay that so many of them were even admitted to college
when they could not write a complete sentence. I frequently wondered
what they had done for thirteen years in the public schools? Do you
think the college system is in any way responsible for the decline of
public education in the elementary and high schools? Should entrance
requirements into colleges be raised?
Dr. Nick: I don't blame
our college system in any way at all for the decline of public education
in the elementary and high schools. State colleges and universities,
community colleges, private and religious colleges and universities-all
provide opportunities for students who are qualified to pursue them.
It's the responsibility of the elementary and secondary schools to
prepare students to take advantage of those opportunities and meet those
qualifications. I do think these colleges and universities should
regularly evaluate their entrance requirements, as I'm sure they do, to
ensure that they maintain high standards of academic expectations.
These
colleges and universities have a responsibility to graduate
well-educated and highly competent young people. Watering down the
entrance requirements to fill classrooms would be a disgrace and morally
reprehensible. Not all high school students should be expected to
attend a four-year college, although that's what many high school
counselors and administrators tell them is possible. I do blame some
schools of education, however, for the poorly prepared teachers they
seem to turn out by the thousands each year. School of education reforms
in recent years in teacher training programs, curriculum standards,
course content, and subject matter proficiency have not produced quality
teachers. If they had, our elementary and secondary school students
would be exceptionally successful learners and you would not have asked
this question. After all, teachers are supposed to help students learn
to their capacity.
Tyler: Dr. Nick, how long do you think the
public school system has been declining? Do you believe it has affected
the American job force and economy?
Dr. Nick: The American public
school system has been declining over the last fifty to sixty years.
All you have to do is look at the statistics to see that the reforms
attempted during the past half century have not resulted in significant
changes in learning, test scores, and student achievement. In fact, in
most curricular areas, there has been little or no change at all, and in
math and English there has been decline.
Perhaps your readers
would be interested in an excellent article published in the September
2007 edition of Harper's magazine. It's titled "Schoolhouse Crock (Fifty
years of blaming America's educational system for our stupidity) and
presents an excellent analysis of educational reform over the past fifty
years.
This decline continues to affect the American job force,
businesses, and our national economy as well. Many businesses and
corporations have instituted their own systems of internal education to
train their work force properly to do the work expected of them because
they can't rely on the public schools.
Tyler: The ones who suffer
the most in this situation are the children, yet as children, students
are unlikely to know what they are not learning and how it will be
detrimental for them. Furthermore, they may be too intimidated by
teachers to complain when they are given more free time or fruitless
assignments or actual lessons. What if anything, can students do to
improve the quality of their own education?
Dr. Nick: At the
elementary school, middle school, and junior high school levels of
education, there is probably very little if anything the young people
who attend these schools can do to improve the quality of their own
education. They are too young, inexperienced, and immature. At the high
school, however, some students are mature and serious enough about their
own schooling to do something. I might add, though, that there are most
likely very few who would actually challenge the powers that be
(teachers, principals, superintendents, boards of education) for a
variety of reasons. The two most significant ones, in my opinion, would
be peer pressure and fear of retribution or retaliation on the part of
teachers or administrators. Nonetheless, here are some actions mature,
serious, intelligent, concerned high school students could do:
Go
to your principal and complain about the poor quality teaching you're
experiencing. Nothing will happen the first time, so go a second and
third time. Bring other concerned students with you.
Be polite but
assertive, telling your principal that you have a right to quality
instruction but aren't receiving it. Clearly state your areas of
complaint: too much classroom noise, inadequate instruction, lack of
teacher interest, and so on.
Make an appointment with the superintendent to voice your concerns.
Present a plan of how your grievances can be redressed. Bring other
concerned students with you. Request permission to speak at a board
meeting and present your complaints to these elected officials
