Education majors are the least literate college grads

Transform teaching now:

For all the New York City students working to meet rigorous new academic standards, nothing is more important than having a good teacher. Teaching is a tough job, requiring a high level of talent, drive, knowledge and skill. But a new study of graduating college seniors found that students who major in education – the future teachers of America – have lower levels of literacy than all other students studied.

Released by the well-respected American Institutes for Research, the report measured college students’ ability to interpret real-world documents and texts like newspaper stories and editorials. It also measured practical math skills such as comparing the cost per ounce of food items. Science and engineering majors had the highest scores, not just in math but also in language. Education major scores were lowest overall.

We need to pay teachers more.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll keep saying it. Teaching is a difficult job and vitally important to our society. We wouldn’t want our Doctors to be illiterate; we shouldn’t accept that our teachers are. The fact that we treat our teachers like glorified babysitters is deeply indicative of just how little our society values knowledge and education.

The only way you’re going to attract better, smarter, more skilled people to the profession is by making it economically attractive, and treating it like the professional position it is.

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