My friend, a teacher, is losing his job

[Igel]

11. Sometimes.

Sometimes not.

I know good teachers who are sort of on the ropes. They teach the way they taught 15 years ago. They had good results over the years. Their results aren't so great now.

Now they have to have collaborative small groups, differentiate by teaching style, make it culturally relevant; they have to allow retesting and various other ways of "correcting" for bad grades that were justly earned.

They have to be part of a professional learning community, which means that they have to have the same test procedures and guidelines as other "team" members, they have to teach the same things at the same time, and they have to use the same lesson plans. When they say that they have their own lab that they want to do and the rest of the team says they don't like it, then they have to back down and get with the program. Otherwise they're not a team player.

It's like MBAs have read the latest schlock education research and insist that it be implemented.