A Teacher Learns New Lessons on the Road
A nice article in yesterday's Washington Post about Jason Kamras, the 2005 National Teacher of the Year -- and Teach for America alum! Too bad this part of the article came at the end, because it captures PERFECTLY why NCLB is so important:
---------------------------In Virginia, a middle school principal pulled him aside. He told Kamras that before No Child Left Behind, he used to assign "a warm body" to teach his low-performing classes.
Now, the principal said, he puts his best teachers with his lowest-performing students so they can meet testing standards. It changed Kamras's opinion of the legislation.
"Like many teachers, I had thought NCLB was an attack on public education," Kamras said. "Now I have a much more positive view, because it's forcing everyone to pay attention to the achievement of children who'd been ignored."
The anecdote became a part of his talks. If the story made a difference in Kamras's philosophy, he said, maybe it could inspire other teachers to embrace some parts of the act.
Making a difference in education policy began to pique his interest. Kamras is now considering taking a more political role to continue bringing issues of inequality to public attention.
A Teacher Learns New Lessons on the Road
Award-Winning Educator Ready To Resume Duties
By Robert Samuels
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 13, 2006; DZ05
He had enjoyed a successful run with his students in Room 219 at Sousa Middle School, near Fort DuPont Park.
They laughed at his corny jokes, learned his lessons and watched their test scores rise. Then last April, he became the District's first National Teacher of the Year.
"I wasn't sure what to expect," Kamras said. "I joked that I was kind of like Miss America."
As the nation's premier pedagogue, he visited more than 40 states and two continents to encourage teachers to work beyond inequalities in urban public schools. But it was a tough audience.
posted by Whitney Tilson at 2:18 PM
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