But, if you consider that teaching is one of the lowest-paid careers that someone would need a master's for, it becomes a little more understandable that the scores would be on the low end. Remember that only college grads who are pursuing higher degrees take the GRE, so that is typically a smart group. If you want to see higher average GRE scores among educators, you are going to have to start treating teachers as professionals. (Not singling anyone out, just the USA in general!)
I have to disagree with you here (for many reasons). I know that there are many very bright and capable teachers out there, but there are too many teachers who aren't like this, plus many good ones get fed up and leave the job.
Note that I'm speaking primarily of teachers in public schools here.
A Master's in Education is a far cry from say, a Master's in biology, history, or physics. An M.Ed. is far less demanding than any of these other three degrees and tends to emphasize fluffy subjects like diversity, social justice, and critical thinking skills. Plus, math and science requirements tend to center on low-end introductory courses. It's not surprising that M.Ed. degrees tend to attract less-than-stellar students. Yet they get the degree and too many seem to expect that the rest of society should defer to them because they have a master's degree. Lots of people have a master's degree. I have a one! But I don't expect anyone to defer to me or even see me as "professional" because of it. My results at work are what make me a professional.
Then there's the problem of pay increases being tied
only to seniority. Teaching is one of the few jobs where you can't be rewarded because you're good at your job. Why would a talented, energetic person with other options stay in a job where even the
idea of merit pay is controversial?
Teachers as a group also resist the idea of being evaluated or judged on performance. And once a teacher is tenured, that's it. If there are layoffs, a bad tenured teacher with more seniority will displace a good one with less seniority.
Sorry, but I just don't like that system, and I think it attracts (and retains) people who tend toward mediocrity. Surely, you must see some of this stuff among your fellow students.
