Concern: New Schools/Worse Results

Exactly what I wrote some days ago. They have no plan, just at once loads of money with which they don't know what to do. Let's build schools, Now, let's double the salaries of the same crappy teachers that were teaching before.

Improving education is a loooong term project. You can't fix education by throwing money at a failed system. Unfortunately in a society where the ruling party has to show in four years what it can do, there is not much motivation to invest in something of which the result you only see in 15 years. Especially while the opposing party will break down what the other did.

The PLD should have taken it's chances since it doesn't look like the PRD winning any elections any time soon, but they prefer to plaster the walls instead of changing the foundation.

I am a retired educator. It is a teacher's job to teach. It's ingrained in them. They will teach in a vacuum, regardless of where on the globe they practice. They will create lesson plans to teach for the extra 2 or 3 hours.

First thing is first, in my mind. I've seen some of the new installations. They are expansive and have full cafeteria (lunch room) and recreational facilities. The atmospheres being created by these new constructions will only enhance teaching and learning. I'm confident all else will follow.

LindseyKaufman said:

I imagine this post will not be of great interest to tourists and expats, but it has been on my mind for some time and I feel the need to put my thoughts in writing.

I am quite concerned about the Dominican Republic building new schools without building the teaching capacity to make those structures spaces of learning. Statistics and studies do not stand in their favor.

If a teacher is accustomed to teaching 3 or 4 hours each day, and suddenly their teaching time is extended to 5 - 7 hours per day without training on how to use those hours, studies show that no increased learning will take place.

USAID recently reported that of the 5 hour school day currently established in most Dominican Republic public schools, students actually learn for 2 hours and 40 minutes. On April 29, 2014, Listin Diario reported that only 25% of recent teaching graduates passed the required exam.

Compared to other Latin American countries, UNESCO has reported that the Dominican Republic scored lowest in reading and math on the established standardized test for those countries.

So, what is the DR going to do with all these new buildings they so proudly are showing off? Shouldn’t the capacity for teaching and learning be built first? Shouldn’t teachers be trained and paid more than the equivalent of $344 per month (Dominican Central Bank)? Shouldn’t classroom student/teacher ratio be better than 78:1, as reported in DW, a German reporting website?

As a global educator who works without pay to improve education capacity and opportunities for Dominican children and youth, I am quite troubled.

Lindsey

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I don't disagree with much of your assessment however 78 to 1 ratio students to teachers? I have been to a number of public schools when classes are on and the largest class I've observed was about 50, and most are 30-35. I asked my wife who taught in public schools back in the early 1990s and still knows most of the public school teachers and she laughed at the 78 to 1. She said the only place she's seen that is at university, in Canada. Our largest class is grade eight with 30, however we have more control over class sizes than a public school. Training for teachers is improving but it'll take several generations and as far as pay- more pay if better qualified, motivated and the results are there, otherwise they are already overpaid. The new schools are an important step though. The two new ones being built in Jarabacoa both have libraries, proper computer labs and science labs which is a vast improvement from the past.
A teacher working a full time, morning and afternoon shift, otherwise fulltime, makes approx. 32,000 pesos per month, sometimes more depending on qualifications which is the equivalent of slightly over $700 per month. Remember pay is relative to the country, not what teachers make somewhere else. In Cuba they make 24 dollars per month.
In our school those children in grade one that can not read will be attending summer school until they can, no extra charge. We have one girl, whose mother is a teacher in a public school, who just turned 16. Delightful girl who can read well and is probably at a grade five level for reading ability, however, her math skills are just above grade one. She was embarrassed to go to public school anymore because she could pass grade three. Even after a short assessment it was obvious that she has a learning disability but public schools in the DR have no idea how to deal with a learning disability she floundered from year to year.
My wife has managed to get her math skills up to a grade four level and hopefully by the end of summer, grade five. The personality change in this girl is remarkable; she's finally realized she's not stupid. I understand your frustration Lindsey all you can do is keeping chipping away, helping in away you can, and hopefully get through to the odd person.

jabejuventus said:

I am a retired educator. It is a teacher's job to teach. It's ingrained in them. They will teach in a vacuum, regardless of where on the globe they practice. They will create lesson plans to teach for the extra 2 or 3 hours.

First thing is first, in my mind. I've seen some of the new installations. They are expansive and have full cafeteria (lunch room) and recreational facilities. The atmospheres being created by these new constructions will only enhance teaching and learning. I'm confident all else will follow.

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Wow, someone posting something on DR1 which isn't negative, are you sure you're on the right site? I totally agree with you. First build the classrooms, put the infrastructure in place, the rest will follow. I saw an advertisement recently where the government was saying they were recruiting thousands of new teachers, a friend of mine from the US has applied and he's a university professor. So, they're not just keeping the same old teachers, they are genuinely trying to recruit more.

Coming from the UK where it takes the government years and years to make any sort of changes, I am in awe of the Danilo government here who seem to build new highways, new schools, new hospitals and set up a new emergency service in such a short space of time. Forgive me for not being negative, but I think there are some amazing changes happening in this country right now. Education is surely the biggest problem this country faces, any attempts to make it better can only be applauded.

jabejuventus said:

I am a retired educator. It is a teacher's job to teach. It's ingrained in them. They will teach in a vacuum, regardless of where on the globe they practice. They will create lesson plans to teach for the extra 2 or 3 hours.

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i have been a tutor for many years and i see things totally opposite. a good teacher will teach in a classroom under a tree and will bring results. a shi**y teacher can have the best infrastructure in the world and will still be just as worthless. right now we have idiots teaching idiots how to be dumb. invest in people first and foremost before you invest in objects. nothing is going to replace intelligence, experience and passion. no amount of cement blocks and plaster can top that up.

dv8 said:

i have been a tutor for many years and i see things totally opposite. a good teacher will teach in a classroom under a tree and will bring results. a shi**y teacher can have the best infrastructure in the world and will still be just as worthless. right now we have idiots teaching idiots how to be dumb. invest in people first and foremost before you invest in objects. nothing is going to replace intelligence, experience and passion. no amount of cement blocks and plaster can top that up.

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I agree to an extent. You can also be a good teacher and not be able to manage a classroom and vice versa. There are many layers to teaching. There are also layers to administration/oversight. My point is that as a first step, building schools, and I don't know the exact number but a bunch are going up all over the country, will enhance teaching and learning.

Class sizes will be reduced so as to make teaching easier: Bad teachers that are bad in dealing with larger class sizes will get better: Good teachers and administration will improve also. Better assessment of teachers and students will be facilitated. Corrective measures will then follow based on these evaluations. At risk of sounding trite, it's a process.

One last note, education is your proverbial political football. We all want our kids (you have good and bad students also) to get the most out of education, but we will/must never be satisfied. If we do become so, then teachers won't feel the pressure to keep improving and students won't feel they need to do as much homework. But with dissatisfaction, teachers and tutors will keep teaching [even if its Chinese Checkers (they have to teach something or the kids will eat them for lunch)], and learners will be compelled to keep learning.

You have to start somewhere. Building new facilities is a good start. So is hiring more teachers and lengthening the school day.These things can be achieved relatively quickly. Improving overall student skills is a slow task. This end of the equation may take many years to accomplish. Continued education and improved training for teachers should be the next part of the equation. Hopefully someone will recognize this and implement the same.

LindseyKaufman said:

Bob, I wondered about the high ratios I was finding in my research, too.

According to another source, currently 10% of primary teachers are untrained (Dominican Republic - Trained teachers in primary education). Thus, I wonder if they were creating ratios in a different way, by counting the total number of students (primary students, in this case) and dividing by the total number of certified (trained) teachers. (Not a way to do ratios, in my opinion.)

According to the World Bank, in 2011, the percent of trained teachers at the secondary level was 79%. I have read that the DR is making a push for more educators, so I would hope that this percent has improved somewhat since then.

I agree that good teachers will find a way to teach and will use the extended time well. Sadly, I had observed more ineffective teachers in Dominican Public Schools than good ones.

Bob, from all that you have written about your wife's school, it sounds like a model school for Dominican education. I hope someday to be able to visit and observe. Sadly, most schools accessible to the majority Dominican children and youth do not offer the same quality.

Lindsey

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Yris's school needs to improve in many ways, especially with more competent teachers. From my perspective the biggest problem is discipline. Without classroom discipline, the students might as well be out on the street playing with the dogs.
We are lucky to have two ex-nuns, one young and one old, who are both good teachers and have good classroom discipline( no we are not a Catholic school).
Children ( the brats) will poke and prod to test a teacher for weakness and go for the throat if you let them. For public school much of what happens there good or bad, lies in the hands of the director. Some of them are political appointees and are useless. There are some good ones, or a least ones that are competent and organized.
The next testing for teachers is supposed to happen this month sometime and we had six of our teachers take the exams last time with only two passing. To be fair to the teachers the questions on the exams (on computer) had very little relation to what they were taught in school so the teacher training is what needs to be improved and a better vetting system put in place. The teacher training at UASD, ...etc. is far better than it is at the local colleges. We talk about poor pay but teachers are paid more than many jobs in he DR so there are many people trying to get jobs as teachers so they can eat at the government trough (pension, health insurance, union...etc.) For the majority it is a job, not a vocation.
Remember as poor as the DR education system is it has come a long way in a relatively short time.
Higher Education in the Dominican Republic: International Mobility and the Challenges of Expanding Domestic Provision | WENR

I agree with Lindsey. Yes, it is good to have new schools. However those schools are not much help if they are poorly staffed and equipped. I have been in more than one public school in the DR. There is so much more than walls and windows needed.

1. Decent teachers - I have seen textbooks printed with incorrect information being used by teachers who don't even realize that what they are teaching isn't right.

2. Schools that have functioning sanitary facilities. There is a school in Puerto Plata where certain bathrooms are unusable because the plumbing so bad that only liquids can be eliminated.

3. Schools that have functioning backup power alternatives. The same school mentioned in #2 has a generator - but it is broken and useless.

4. Schools that have clean walls. I was in one recently that had classroom walls covered in mold!

Danilo is trying, no argument there. However, to change the face of education in the DR, it is necessary first to make certain that those who are charged with the responsibility of educating the children are capable of doing so. So much "learning" here is rote memorization. That produces parrots - not educated adults.

MerengueDutchie said:

Maybe they can also remedy the practise of the tenured teachers living in NY and paying a substitute teacher in their stead much less, pocketing the difference?

I personally know of no fewer than 3 of such cases in the Cabarete area alone.

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and, MD, i will bet dollars to donuts that the education brass knows exactly who all of the offenders are.

i think the emphasis should be put, first and foremost, on retraining existing teachers and educating/preparing new ones.the infrastructure should be secondary, especially new infrastructure. the problem in DR is not to build new stuff, it's to maintain existing structures. there are schools already, but without equipment, with non functional amenities and so on. it really annoyed me that so much of the presupuesto de educacion went to increase salaries. it's rewarding stupidity. retrain and reevaluate teachers, then get rid of those who did not improve and give pay rise to those who did. assign a budget for new qualified teachers who will then start at what was previous regular salary and make their way forward as they gain experience.

new schools are great. but this is not the best start to improving general education. and i would like to see those schools in 10 years time to see if any maintenance is given to them on regular basis and whether they function at full capacity. my guess is that i'm gonna be painfully disappointed.

dv8 said:

i think the emphasis should be put, first and foremost, on retraining existing teachers and educating/preparing new ones.the infrastructure should be secondary, especially new infrastructure. the problem in DR is not to build new stuff, it's to maintain existing structures. there are schools already, but without equipment, with non functional amenities and so on. it really annoyed me that so much of the presupuesto de educacion went to increase salaries. it's rewarding stupidity. retrain and reevaluate teachers, then get rid of those who did not improve and give pay rise to those who did. assign a budget for new qualified teachers who will then start at what was previous regular salary and make their way forward as they gain experience.

new schools are great. but this is not the best start to improving general education. and i would like to see those schools in 10 years time to see if any maintenance is given to them on regular basis and whether they function at full capacity. my guess is that i'm gonna be painfully disappointed.

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Yes, a primary focus should be on retraining the existing teachers and ensuring the new teachers are properly educated, however there has been very few new schools built in the DR since Balaguer was president and the population has more than doubled since then. New schools are needed.

Hopefully the new schools are just the start and better training/retraining teachers will come. I'd also lile to see the curriculum for the schools updated. This country is wonderful, but better education is desperately needed for the country to move forward. I agree with the posters saying that Danillo is at least trying to make.things here better.

jstarebel said:

Hopefully the new schools are just the start and better training/retraining teachers will come. I'd also lile to see the curriculum for the schools updated. This country is wonderful, but better education is desperately needed for the country to move forward. I agree with the posters saying that Danillo is at least trying to make.things here better.

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There is nothing wrong with the curriculum. It has recently been updated.

It seems we all have our own experiences, but while they are true, they are anecdotical and do not represent the entire country. I distinctly remember someone posting a PDF format report on the quality of public schools around the country, both primary and secondary, a year and a bit back.

As it was relevant to me at the time, I perused it in detail. What struck me then was the very large portion of schools, that by their own standards, were unable to meet basic levels of education.

I believe the report will be repeated once a year. It will be interesting to see if we can get a hold of the report again and see if there are any improvements and by how much.

That way we can see a measure of effectiveness across the country of the money going into the educational system. I suggest we wait for the report to be made available.



PS: I am aware of the trouble relying on DR govt data, however that is probably our best bet.

Near the beginning of the school year it was mentioned by several people, one in Santiago and several I Sosua/PP area that the students didn't even have textbooks. As we have an agreement with the school District that they will provide us with excess textbooks as long as we give them to the students for free I was concerned that we might have to buy textbooks and up the costs for parents. (We did up buying some used ones)
We went to the school district and they had stacks of books allocated to each school in the district by number of students, which they delivered to the correct school. There were surplus of almost all texts, all were new.
I think that the employees of the local school district make a huge difference. One of our former teachers is now the inspector for private schools in this district as well a number of the public schools. Her job is to make sure the school facilities are adequate ( running water, working bathrooms, ...etc) I'm sure that this is mandated in every school district, just not carried out very well.
I'll try to take pictures of both old and new facilities here in Jarabacoa, for comparison's sake, to compare with what seems to be a little different on the north coast.

LindseyKaufman said:

I imagine this post will not be of great interest to tourists and expats, but it has been on my mind for some time and I feel the need to put my thoughts in writing.

I am quite concerned about the Dominican Republic building new schools without building the teaching capacity to make those structures spaces of learning. Statistics and studies do not stand in their favor.

If a teacher is accustomed to teaching 3 or 4 hours each day, and suddenly their teaching time is extended to 5 - 7 hours per day without training on how to use those hours, studies show that no increased learning will take place.

USAID recently reported that of the 5 hour school day currently established in most Dominican Republic public schools, students actually learn for 2 hours and 40 minutes. On April 29, 2014, Listin Diario reported that only 25% of recent teaching graduates passed the required exam.

Compared to other Latin American countries, UNESCO has reported that the Dominican Republic scored lowest in reading and math on the established standardized test for those countries.

So, what is the DR going to do with all these new buildings they so proudly are showing off? Shouldn?t the capacity for teaching and learning be built first? Shouldn?t teachers be trained and paid more than the equivalent of $344 per month (Dominican Central Bank)? Shouldn?t classroom student/teacher ratio be better than 78:1, as reported in DW, a German reporting website?

As a global educator who works without pay to improve education capacity and opportunities for Dominican children and youth, I am quite troubled.

Lindsey

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I only have experience in one private school in Santiago. The class sizes are bigger in elementary, about 25-30 students, and in High School, they are smaller, about 16-18 students, although my 9th grade class has 31. I am used to teaching 7 hours a day in the U.S., so the shorter day is nice for me. It appears that many of the teachers here probably teach about the 5-6 hours rule per day and deal with it well. I don't know about others because we aren't allowed to discussed salary amongst ourselves at all, but I make about $555 a month.

As for the low scores in math and reading, I believe it. There are teachers at this school who have no post-high school degree to even teach, or certifications. I do have my Bachelor's degree from the U.S. and am qualified to only teach either ELA or Spanish in MS/HS. But it might surprise you that I was told to teach also 10th grade Civics, 11th grade Economics, and 12th grade Sociology as well as possibly a 5th grade science class soon... I am not pleased about the possible new addition of science because I have NO idea about science whatsoever, even though it's elementary science. However, the point with that is, I am not trained for elementary teaching of social studies. Nevertheless, it doesn't matter to them. I have to "study" every night in order to present my lessons so I know what to say with those classes. Even then, I still cannot explain some of the concepts, especially in Economics because it completely frazzles my mind. This means, we go really slowly curriculum-wise in these classes. I would expect to be much farther along in the textbooks if I knew the content and material, but I don't.

Also, it seems like, at least at my school, that students are not supposed to fail. I was told by an administrator that ALL students had to have a passing grade in marking period 1. Guess what? about 5-6 % of my students failed. But regardless, I had to post the passing grade on their report cards because that is what administration said. That is not right at all. By doing this, they are falsely leading students to believe they are doing just fine in the class. I was surprised to learn when I offered to my students, that they could ask me anytime (outside of class) to see their grades and what they have, and they told me they weren't sure they were allowed to do that. Not allowed to do that??? What? That is something I don't understand. I let them do it anything and encourage it. How is a student supposed to know where they are sitting grade wise if they aren't allowed to ask?

Also, there is confusion on what some policies are. I am often told one thing by one administrator, and then reprimanded for doing it by another. My grading policy has been called into question. Why? Because I was told when I was hired that I could change the criteria percentages to how I wanted to grade the students. Of course I did, because for one, in the U.S., we don't grade on absences, and we don't grade (at least directly) on student behavior, so I took those out. Instead, I include that as part of participation because participation goes both ways: you either are doing what I ask or you are not. But I digress. 2-almost 3 weeks later, I am still waiting for clarification from the head director about what grading system I am supposed to abide by. Hmmmm.... Not very professional!

If only 25% of students are passing las pruebas nacionales, then it is probably because teachers are told to pass the students, even if they aren't. If I pass them, then I am lying to them about how they are really doing in my class. Do you know that many students, when writing a project or essay or paper, just copy and paste the whole document? Had I expected that from MOST the students, I would have planned the assignment with more time to grade because then I could have given them an alternative assignment. I shouldn't have to plan for this at all! But I did not because in my experience, only a couple students might do this in the U.S. but here, it is very common. My husband, who was born and raised here, but educated in the U.S. with his Bachelor's can confirm this definitely. He said that's how it's always been done. Students do their work together with the same answers; they talk constantly during tests and quizzes and when I give them a 0 for "cheating" then I get the punishment. Many of them have NO concept of what it means to go and study their notes and material after school. I was actually told by a student "It's not fair for you to give us popquizzes because we shouldn't have to study all the time; we should only have to study for the test." What? What?? I made sure to tell them life wasn't fair and if that was their attitude, then they needed to expect more popquizzes because that is what being a student is all about.

I gave all my students a stern talking to about the plagiarism and let them know it will NEVER happen again, and I will not allow it. I graded them accordingly to what I could grade, but do you think administration was happy with that? Nope... I do take partial blame because I should have in retrospect, seen this coming, and should have planned better for it, but now I know better for the next major assignment.

I take no satisfaction in working here anymore. There are too many unprofessional incidents that happen. Just today, I lost my entire teaching time pretty much because the head director told me she needed to speak to the students privately and I needed to leave the classroom. That is NEVER okay in my book. I don't know what is said, but I can assume it was to discuss me and my teaching style. It was also extremely unprofessional for an administration to do this.

I have learned sadly, that whatever administration says go, no matter what I do, say, or think. How am I supposed to teach students when I am being cut off half-way through? I genuinely want to teach them. I love the kids. In fact, if it weren't for the admin, I would stay here to finish out the year. The ministry of education needs to see what is going on so they can work on these major problems, or else they will continue to have a country full of cheaters and dummies.

Last thing: even the most educated professional professors at a university level can be ridiculous. I was attending a lecture by a department educator at a university here, and as soon as she said the words, "Our Dominican women are strong and competent, not like those lazy American gringas across the ocean", my respect flew out the room for her. If they think this is ever okay to say to a professional lecture, they need to think again.

I came here to educate, not be beaten down by the powers that make all the decisions.

bob saunders said:

Chip is only partially wrong but perhaps you as well should take heed of Berzin's warning to Chip.
Near the beginning of the school year it was mentioned by several people, one in Santiago and several I Sosua/PP area that the students didn't even have textbooks. As we have an agreement with the school District that they will provide us with excess textbooks as long as we give them to the students for free I was concerned that we might have to buy textbooks and up the costs for parents. (We did up buying some used ones)
We went to the school district and they had stacks of books allocated to each school in the district by number of students, which they delivered to the correct school. There were surplus of almost all texts, all were new.
I think that the employees of the local school district make a huge difference. One of our former teachers is now the inspector for private schools in this district as well a number of the public schools. Her job is to make sure the school facilities are adequate ( running water, working bathrooms, ...etc) I'm sure that this is mandated in every school district, just not carried out very well.
I'll try to take pictures of both old and new facilities here in Jarabacoa, for comparison's sake, to compare with what seems to be a little different on the north coast.

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We are 2 months into the school year at a private school in Santiago, and still my ELA students only have half the books. I am still missing several copies for economics as well. 2 months! And they are getting angry that I don't use the textbook much. How am I supposed to when I can't assign adequate homework for independent practice or quizzes??? It seems like I will have to try my best to get them to buy used ones from Amazon or other book websites...