Recent Alabama’s Teacher Of The Year Frustrated

dbradqsqitq8xntfcagdAnne Marie Corgill was acclaimed as Alabama’s National Teacher of the Year in January, 2015. She is a teaching veteran of over 21 years. The education community and others were taken aback when she resigned from her post in less than two years of being awarded the prestigious award. She clearly stated that her frustration with bureaucracy led to her resignation. Corgill had initially been promoted from teaching second grade to fifth grade, but later was told that she wasn’t qualified to teach the fifth grade. Corgill says that it is time to bring back the joy, pride and professionalism to the teaching profession and she would proudly be the voice of her many colleagues and students.

When Corgill was awarded Alabama’s elementary school Teacher of the Year award in January 2014 she taught the fourth graders at Cherokee Bend Elementary, Mountain Brook. Following this she was appointed to teach second graders in Birmingham Oliver Elementary where once the school year began, she was shifted to teach the fifth graders. Birmingham’s Oliver Elementary according to Alabama Public Radio was described as a low income, federally funded school. She had put her heart out to teach the fifth graders for five weeks with positive results but was highly disappointed when Birmingham and Alabama administrators stated that she did not qualify to teach above third grade and that in order to qualify to teach in higher classes she needed to acquire an additional state certification.

1044213-0-20151102065840Corgill added that her certificates in early childhood education and National Board Certification qualifies her to teach students upto the age of 12 inspite of which she had been asked to apply for another Alabama certificate. Corgill has also taught in Manhattan New School in New York City and is the author of a book about education and writing called Of Primary Importance. Corgill is only one among the highly qualified and well deserving teachers who were disappointed by the educational system and put down their papers. Corgill says that despite these setbacks she is determined to continue teaching passionately.

Talk Your Way Out Of Depression

men_women_and_depression_1cbpsA study published in the PLOS ONE journal states that the benefits of talk therapy for depression have been overrated. Similar studies have been made in earlier years regarding effect of antidepressant drugs and with similar results. Both antidepressant drugs and talk therapy are effective; however, they may not be as great as it is portrayed to be. The researchers suggest that the exaggerations may be a result of exaggerated publication bias. Publication bias occurs when a positive finding supports treatment and is more likely to be published as compared to negative findings that stand a lower chance of publication.

Every treatment has its ups and downs. This is similar to tossing a coin and reporting only those that come up with heads and refuse to disclose the number of tails that turn up. Simply put, this kind of reporting only gives a distorted image of a particular treatment or method. The above mentioned study of talk therapy revolves around a review of 55 National Institutes of Health grants that were awarded from 1972 to 2008. These grants were allocated towards clinical trials of psychotherapy for depression. Sadly results from almost a quarter of the clinical trials were never published according to Erick Turner, psychiatrist and researcher at Oregon Health and Science University.

bigstock-depressed-college-student-talk-92745440-300x200Turner along with his colleagues laid hands on the unpublished results of the clinical trials and realized that the unpublished data lowered the apparent efficacy of psychotherapy for depression by about 25%. The outcome of such an exaggerated result being published was that the advocates of talk therapy and critics of drug therapy joined hands at dissuading the use of antidepressants in order to promote psychotherapy. Turner and his team revealed that the criticism was unfounded; however it should not be affecting victims of depression. While depression is only one among research problems, the question lies in how much of the data available out there is trustworthy and reliable.