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Teacher Absences Are Hurting Learning

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Baltimore Polytechnic Institute principal Barney Wilson talks with students during a class change, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007, in Baltimore. A year is a long time in a child's education, the time it can take to learn cursive writing or beginning algebra. It's also how much time kids can spend with substitute teachers from kindergarten through high school _ time that experts say is all but lost for learning. Yet despite tremendous pressure on school administrators to increase instructional time and meet performance deadlines under the 2002 No Child Left Behind Education law, the vacuum created by teacher absenteeism has been all but ignored. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)
Baltimore Polytechnic Institute principal Barney Wilson talks with students during a class change, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007, in Baltimore. A year is a long time in a child's education, the time it can take to learn cursive writing or beginning algebra. It's also how much time kids can spend with substitute teachers from kindergarten through high school _ time that experts say is all but lost for learning. Yet despite tremendous pressure on school administrators to increase instructional time and meet performance deadlines under the 2002 No Child Left Behind Education law, the vacuum created by teacher absenteeism has been all but ignored. (AP Photo/Rob Carr) (Rob Carr - AP)
Algebra teacher James Todaro teaches at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute in Baltimore, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007, in Baltimore. A year is a long time in a child's education, the time it can take to learn cursive writing or beginning algebra. It's also how much time kids can spend with substitute teachers from kindergarten through high school _ time that experts say is all but lost for learning. Yet despite tremendous pressure on school administrators to increase instructional time and meet performance deadlines under the 2002 No Child Left Behind Education law, the vacuum created by teacher absenteeism has been all but ignored. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)
Algebra teacher James Todaro teaches at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute in Baltimore, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007, in Baltimore. A year is a long time in a child's education, the time it can take to learn cursive writing or beginning algebra. It's also how much time kids can spend with substitute teachers from kindergarten through high school _ time that experts say is all but lost for learning. Yet despite tremendous pressure on school administrators to increase instructional time and meet performance deadlines under the 2002 No Child Left Behind Education law, the vacuum created by teacher absenteeism has been all but ignored. (AP Photo/Rob Carr) (Rob Carr - AP)
Baltimore Polytechnic Institute substitute teacher Amon Carter teaches a math class, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007, in Baltimore. A year is a long time in a child's education, the time it can take to learn cursive writing or beginning algebra. It's also how much time kids can spend with substitute teachers from kindergarten through high school _ time that experts say is all but lost for learning. Yet despite tremendous pressure on school administrators to increase instructional time and meet performance deadlines under the 2002 No Child Left Behind Education law, the vacuum created by teacher absenteeism has been all but ignored. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)
Baltimore Polytechnic Institute substitute teacher Amon Carter teaches a math class, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007, in Baltimore. A year is a long time in a child's education, the time it can take to learn cursive writing or beginning algebra. It's also how much time kids can spend with substitute teachers from kindergarten through high school _ time that experts say is all but lost for learning. Yet despite tremendous pressure on school administrators to increase instructional time and meet performance deadlines under the 2002 No Child Left Behind Education law, the vacuum created by teacher absenteeism has been all but ignored. (AP Photo/Rob Carr) (Rob Carr - AP)
Baltimore Polytechnic Institute students Shakeara Jordan, left, Briana Jones, center, and Janay Kittrell, right, work together on a math problem while substitute teacher Amon Carter, far back, teaches the class, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007, in Baltimore. A year is a long time in a child's education, the time it can take to learn cursive writing or beginning algebra. It's also how much time kids can spend with substitute teachers from kindergarten through high school _ time that experts say is all but lost for learning. Yet despite tremendous pressure on school administrators to increase instructional time and meet performance deadlines under the 2002 No Child Left Behind Education law, the vacuum created by teacher absenteeism has been all but ignored. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)
Baltimore Polytechnic Institute students Shakeara Jordan, left, Briana Jones, center, and Janay Kittrell, right, work together on a math problem while substitute teacher Amon Carter, far back, teaches the class, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007, in Baltimore. A year is a long time in a child's education, the time it can take to learn cursive writing or beginning algebra. It's also how much time kids can spend with substitute teachers from kindergarten through high school _ time that experts say is all but lost for learning. Yet despite tremendous pressure on school administrators to increase instructional time and meet performance deadlines under the 2002 No Child Left Behind Education law, the vacuum created by teacher absenteeism has been all but ignored. (AP Photo/Rob Carr) (Rob Carr - AP)

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The federal law requires that all students be taught by a highly qualified teacher. That generally means teachers are supposed to have at least a bachelor's degree in the subject they teach or that they pass a subject-matter test.

Substitutes often don't meet those standards, but the law doesn't include sanctions to keep unqualified substitutes from serving for long periods. It merely requires that, after four weeks, parents be notified that their children are being taught by a teacher without the "highly qualified" label. Some schools rotate substitutes through a classroom in under four weeks to avoid having to send those letters, said Sandi Jacobs, vice president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, a research and advocacy group.

Lawmakers trying to update the federal law have not addressed that loophole, although they have put a provision in draft legislation that would increase training for substitutes and for administrators who manage them.

Children's advocates say kids are being hurt.

"We need to pay a lot more attention to the prevalence of substitute teachers, along with long-term vacancies and turnover rates, especially in schools with a lot of low-income students who can least afford instability in their classrooms," said Ross Wiener, who oversees policy issues at Education Trust, a nonprofit that advocates for poor and minority children.

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On the Net:

Education Department Schools and Staffing Survey:

http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/


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