Malcolm Gladwell recently penned a snappy article comparing quarterback recruitment to teacher hiring. The common thread, he argued, is that just as you can't effectively predict a college quarterback's NFL performance from college metrics, you can't predict a teacher's classroom performance from background indicators. Andy Rotherham, proprietor of Eduwonk, managed to find an absurdly well-placed duo to respond. Tim Daly, head of the New Teacher Project, happens to have a brother, Brendan Daly, who is an assistant coach for the Minnesota Vikings. They write:
the NFL is highly sensitive to indications of performance. When a star player proves his worth, no ones cares any longer where he was drafted. The New England Patriots, having been pleasantly shocked by Tom Brady's emergence as a star substitute for Drew Bledsoe in 2001, did not put Brady on the bench when Bledsoe returned from injury. Despite Bledsoe's pedigree (#1 overall pick) and Brady's lack thereof (#199 pick), it was immediately clear that Brady was destined to be the superior player. And Bledsoe was a three-time Pro Bowl selection in the prime of his career, not a washed up journeyman.Researchers tell us that similar things are true of teachers. Outstanding teachers might come from high profile programs like Teach For America or The New Teacher Project… but they might also come from any number of other pipelines. If a teacher is among the top performers relative to other novices, he/she is likely to remain a top performer in future years. Just like Montana… and Warner… and Brady.Professional football and teaching diverge when it comes to addressing unexpectedly poor performance. In the NFL, ineffective players have short careers, even when they are highly touted (and well compensated) draft picks. Cade McNown, the twelfth pick in the 1999 draft, was out of football after the 2002 season, having burned through three teams and having thrown fewer touchdowns than Brady threw in his first year as the starter for the Patriots.Though there are certainly exceptions, education tends to work quite differently. Ineffective teaching is rarely addressed, despite evidence showing that it has a long term impact on kids. Principals are known to seek transfers for problematic teachers. They might even relegate their riskiest staff to grade levels where testing does not occur. Nonetheless, in almost all cases, the teacher continues to teach, too often with the same results.[...]Why? Why does the NFL aggressively respond to evidence of performance while the teaching profession does not? The main reason lies with the decision-makers. Head coaches in the NFL are extraordinarily accountable for results. They are judged by the performance of the players they put on the field, and they cannot afford to risk losses by sticking with poor players for too long. A coach has every incentive to pull the plug as soon as it is clear that the second stringer is a better bet than the starter. As fans, we demand it.In the NFL, results are very clear. Wins and losses tell the story...educators have trouble agreeing on which metrics should be used. There is doubt about whether individual contributions can be disentangled from those of colleagues.
That all makes sense. But one thing the Daly's say does not make sense. They deride the "tendency to blame families and society for student performance" as "the equivalent of the quarterback pointing to a porous offensive line." But a quarterback facing down a porous offensive line...will get sacked. And I say that as a former offensive lineman. Without the time ensured by a talented offensive line, a good quarterback can't throw. And without the raw skills and developmental leaps ensured by a decent upbringing, even a good teacher cannot teach. As it happens, you need both good quarterbacks and good lineman. Just as you need a focus on social and family factors and on teacher quality. It's a shame that ,in the contemporary education debate, these things have been set in opposition.
