Teachers Unions and Student Performance: Help or Hindrance?
By: Randall W. Eberts
You can find this article Here.
In “Teachers Unions and Student Performance: Help or Hindrance?” the author Randall W. Eberts begins his article with a summary of what research and information he has gathered. He leads into what he is researching by first discussing some general feelings that people often have towards teacher unions. He suggests that some of the heaviest opposition is saved for the teachers unions as a result of slow educational reform. Many people believe this because of the actions of teacher unions such as advancing their own political interests instead of the interest of the students.
His article is then split up into sections of practices of teacher unions or simply large topics/issues that are faced by the school systems of today and how the unions play their role in them. First, there is the role of collective bargaining. Eberts explains that
“Collective bargaining is the process by which teachers and administrators agree on a set of regulations that govern working conditions and determine compensation and fringe benefits. Dubbed a “web of rules,” it can affect every dimension of the workplace and can subsequently influence educational outcomes. 5 It defines the rights and duties of teachers to particular assignments, guarantees teachers’ participation in school governance and educational policymaking, establishes grievance procedures, and at times creates disciplinary sanctions for teachers’ failure to achieve certain standards. It also provides for teacher participation in restructuring the workplace. More specifically, the far-reaching web of rules may include working conditions, such as the length of the school day, hours of instruction and preparation time, and interaction time with parents; class size; the number and responsibility of supplemental classroom personnel, such as aides; employment protection; assignment to schools and grade levels; criteria for promotion; reductions in force; professional services; in-service and professional development; instructional policy committees; student grading and promotion; teacher evaluation; performance indicators; grievance procedures; student discipline and teacher safety; and the exclusion of pupils from the classroom”.
Eberts later concludes that there are four reasons of why collective bargaining is a growing practice among teacher unions and how it affects the school districts. Through Eberts explanations of many pressing topics, he often (in statements of reassurance) shows that he is taking an objective view while conducting his research. Eberts says “The primary role of unions is to protect workers from unrealistic demands of management, ensure a safe working environment, and extract the maximum compensation possible. Bargaining focuses more on teachers’ interests and less on their performance and how that performance affects student outcomes” (this is an example of one of these statements).
In a similar way, Eberts goes on in his article as to how he approached the idea and practice of Collective Bargaining. He introduces the idea/topic, explains it, and reveals how it is used by the unions to their advantages for either self-promotion or development of the interests of the students. The topics that Eberts conducts research on are:
- Teacher Pay and Benefits
- Working Conditions (Classroom Size)
- Employment Security (tenure)
- Cost of Instruction
- Administrative Flexibility
- Student Achievement
- Reform Initiatives
- Accountability
- Incentive Pay
Through all of these topics that Eberts elaborates on, he lets the reader know about where his data came from. Most of his data came from studies on the effectiveness of these topics. He mentions the names of their conductors as well (Betts and Danenberg, Kerchner and Koppich, Hoxby, Loeb and Page, and Baugh and Stone).
Eberts concludes his research by stating that average students do not seem to be harmed by attending a school that is associated with a union. Broad questions are also presented to re-inform the reader of things to think about. He also states that while there are no quick fixes for improving school quality, with respect to union and collective bargaining, there are a few steps to follow in order to increase performance on the school and union side of things.
Appraisal:
I found this article to be quite interesting. It informed me on a lot of the information that’s associated with a teacher unions and how it affects the achievement to the schools/students and the unions themselves. The use of name dropping (the author’s names from the studies he got his information from) showed that he had compiled a lot of research, and the statements he was giving and the conclusions he was reaching was not derived from his own opinion. The article was also not very difficult to read and informative enough so it would be interesting.
Education Research Reviews 