Teacher credential is not a measure of effectiveness

Teachers know when they are effective. For me, I was in my first year of teaching sixth and seventh grade. My kids missed a reading benchmark, and I turned to my teacher coach for guidance. He helped me change my approach and student scores soared.

That’s why I am deeply concerned about the California State Board of Education’s proposal to label teachers as “ineffective” based on the credential they bring to the classroom, not their performance in the classroom.

By Sept. 18, every state must submit a school quality plan to the U.S. Department of Education under the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA. One component of the plan addresses teacher quality, in an effort to inform parents and taxpayers if schools are providing strong teachers to all of our kids.

As of Friday, the state is proposing to label all teachers who do not have a credential as ineffective, regardless of how their students perform. Conversely, every teacher with a credential would be considered effective, again with no consideration of student performance.

This is a disservice to students and families who expect results from teachers.

My family moved to the Bay Area from El Salvador when I was a one-year-old so I could attend good schools. But looking back, I realize my teachers failed to teach me how to read until fifth grade. After I became the first in my family to graduate from college, I returned to the Peninsula to run an afterschool program.

I was angry to discover the inequities I faced are still prevalent today.

As the primary wage earner in my immediate family, I did not have the luxury of taking a year or two off work to earn a teaching certificate in a traditional graduate school program. Nor did I want to. I felt the need for change-making educators was urgent, especially for those who shared life experiences with their students.

That’s when I found a nontraditional teacher preparation program that allowed me to work as a salaried teacher, under the supervision of coaches, with an intern credential while I worked my way up to a clear credential.

Intern credential pathways were introduced by the state about 50 years ago in part to recruit under-represented people of color, career changers and people who due to family obligations couldn’t afford a traditional graduate program.

It’s working. Nearly half of intern credential teachers identify as people of color, compared to 34 percent of all teachers and 76 percent of our students.

I fit this description, and otherwise would not be where I am today: preparing to become the founding principal of a new school in the East Bay.

As a school leader, I intend to measure teacher effectiveness in multiple ways, from student growth to student surveys. I want to know not only if students are learning, but if they feel safe and look up to their teachers. Students are more than numbers, just as teachers are more than credentials.

When the state board meets Wednesday, I urge the members to adopt a final statewide school quality plan that includes a holistic view of student learning in its definition of teacher ineffectiveness.

Credentials do not prove competence. Classroom performance should.

I urge the members to adopt a final statewide school quality plan that includes a holistic view of student learning in its definition of teacher ineffectiveness. Credentials do not prove competence. Classroom performance should.

Jose Gonzalez is a principal in training with a charter school provider in the East Bay and a doctoral candidate at USC. He earned his credential through the Teach For America-Bay Area partnership with Loyola Marymount University. He wrote this for The Mercury News.