The Trilemma Dysfunction The Trilemma Dysfunction describes the three problems at the core of America's educational decline. The three problems are intertwined, creating a persistent cycle of dysfunction that overwhelms school reform efforts and dooms them to fail. Less Able Beginners Poor Training and Little Support Unacceptable Professional Life Less Able Beginners When teaching was one of the few jobs open to educated women and minorities, the quality of those entering the field was demonstrably higher. With more opportunities available, fewer of the best candidates are choosing to become teachers. Thirty percent of our new teachers scored in the bottom quartile on their college entrance exams. Talented students look for careers that offer opportunities for growth, rewarding work environments, and comfortable salaries, and teaching has sunk to the bottom of the list. For many veteran teachers, opportunities in other fields beckon. Those who leave and retire are often replaced by less talented novices who don't have other choices. Troen and Boles argue that good teaching requires immense technical knowledge, intellectual rigor, and skill. Far too many of the candidates entering the profession are not capable of meeting that standard. Poor Training and Little Support The decline in the quality of candidates would be less devastating if teacher training provided academic rigor, excellent preparation for the classroom, and screening to eliminate those unsuitable for the job. If well-prepared candidates then received additional support and opportunities to improve their skills once they started work, our crisis would not be so profound. But teacher training is hopelessly inadequate, Troen and Boles argue, ensuring that many children are taught poorly and that many new teachers become disheartened and abandon the profession. And a growing number of teachers are barely trained at all. Recruitment programs offer crash courses then send teachers into the classroom to sink or swim at the expense of children's learning. As many as 30 percent of teachers don't meet the minimal certification standards required by their states. More than 50,000 people who lack training for their jobs enter teaching every year. Unacceptable Professional Life American teachers are poorly paid compared to their counterparts around the world, and low pay contributes to the lack of qualified teachers. But those who leave the field because of low pay are a minority. Troen and Boles explain how the lack of opportunity for real advancement, the isolationist culture, the pressure to conform, and the lack of respect make teaching an unattractive job. Teachers also lack resources (what other workers in our post-millennial world have such limited access to telephones, fax machines, personal computers, even copy machines?), and supplies (they spend their own money to buy them). Most important, they lack a work environment that values and promotes excellence, sharing of knowledge, and real professional development. (c) 2003 Vivian Troen, Katherine Boles; All Rights Reserved.