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At over $400K/year, and he gets personal security if he desires, Gorman is one of the highest paid public officials (if not the highest paid) in NC. He gets more money than the governor. I say lets put him on performance pay. The rest will take care of itself.
It's ridiculous what he gets paid vs the results that he has been getting in the schools. Case in point, this "solution" doesn't even take effect until 2014. What about 2009? Why isn't the bubble headed media in Charlotte asking that question? Ans: They are afraid of holding anyone in positions of authority in this city accountable for their results.
At over $400K/year, and he gets personal security if he desires, Gorman is one of the highest paid public officials (if not the highest paid) in NC. He gets more money than the governor. I say lets put him on performance pay. The rest will take care of itself.
It's ridiculous what he gets paid vs the results that he has been getting in the schools. Case in point, this "solution" doesn't even take effect until 2014. What about 2009? Why isn't the bubble headed media in Charlotte asking that question? Ans: They are afraid of holding anyone in positions of authority in this city accountable for their results.
He said he would subject himself to the same kind of program...I don't know who would set the standards for him though.
I don't think Gorman stated this but I'd suspect this is all about the federal education grants Obama is giving out. Developing a program to measure teachers was a part of it.
Regarding showing improvement...it's not as hard as one would think.
1.) Place kids in lower level courses so they will score better overall.
2.) Give kids a practice EOG at the beginning of the year with the following instructions:
Take your time, work slowly, it's OK if you don't finish.
If you don't know an answer for sure, don't guess....leave it blank.
Now, at the end of the year EOG you tell them:
Take your time, don't rush but answering every question is the goal.
If you don't know an answer for sure, take your best guess. Don't leave any answers blank.
This happened every year in our middle school...and they bragged about the 'improvement' they were able to show each year. Of course the kids learned and would have improved through the year anyway but these two strategies inflated the results. Putting kids in lower level classes is appalling but their scores were really high.
Teachers that obtain masters degrees should make more money as they are more rounded educationally and have proven that they have the drive and energy to better themselves which will likely reflect in the classroom with inovations. They will possess more refined analogical skills, organizational skills, and likely be more motivational. A masters degree often gives credibility to one that received his/her undergraduate degree at a less academically challenging college or university that may not have seriously prepared the teacher for a position in teaching. Student teaching requirements are useful, regardless of academic achievement, but not a true indication of how the future teacher will manage a classroom in a different environment. It doesn't fully test adaptation to diversity or abilities to interface with other teachers, parents and staff.
Secondly, as a former teacher in different grade levels and environments, I have learned that merit pay is a waste of time as far as awarding top performing teachers. Control of the classroom usually depends on the makeup of the class. If a classroom has disruptive students, the teacher will not be able to perform with the same results as the teacher that has the classroom with all motivated students. There is nepotism and favortism in school hirings and placements just like in the business world. A teacher that is a friend of the guidance councelor or principal is often given his/her choice of students. This is a regular occurance at most schools. This presents two problems. First, the teacher with the preferred students is going to have better results. Secondly, personal selections for merit pay will go the the teacher that is most liked by the 'in group' of teachers and administrators.
Someone mentioned special education. The special ed. teachers would be penalized when it comes to merit pay for performance. The students are normally at a lower performance level coupled with behavioral problems that obstruct successful teaching and results. There are unsually no concessions for the teachers of special ed. students; therefore, chances of merit pay are diminished. The only way to measure performance in the special ed. class is to measure the progress of each student rather than the group. Doing this presents too many variables that make it practically impossible to achieve.
Lastly, a percentage of teachers are hired because of "quotas" whether publically admitted or not. You may have 100 teachers in your school and wish to present ten teachers with merit pay. It is likely that 20 to 30 percent of the awardees will have to be presented to "quota" hirees regardless of whether they deserve them or not. This means that a certain percentage of deserving teachers will be passed over, because they are not part of the quota hire. That is another area of concern that I have experienced. It is possible that the "quota" hires are excellent, superior teachers and win all of the awards, but the possibility still remains that the less successful "quota" teacher may be rewarded.
In summary, merit pay isn't usually fair because student assignments aren't usually fair. Coupled with that, favortism, interpretation of data, nepotism, and quotas distort any fair system. In my opinion, merit pay should go to teachers that volunteer as tutors, become involved in after school programs, volunteer during planning periods, become involved in school activities outside of the classroom like extended or long field trips that may involve overnight stays, and do an excellent job teaching. But then, all this would need to be documented and the problem of verification becomes a possible issue.
These are the qualities that make well-rounded teachers that deserve merit, in my opinion.
Good luck Gormen. Looks like you don't have a clue. What was your largest classroom? And, have you ever taught special education?
I'd have to check with my mom who is a retired public school high school teacher in FL, but I believe they implemented something similar in FL. So naturally the focus became pass the students in spite of whether they really know their material.
It seems that in some cases education has dumbed down. I remember when if you failed some classes and summer school was not enough you got held back a grade. Does that even happen anymore?
Why are we sticking with our current system? Why not switch to a system like they have in Germany for all kids. You basically take grade 9 and 10 then get to stay or go to a technical type school. So kids, who dont want to go to college, get a head start in another career.
He said he would subject himself to the same kind of program...I don't know who would set the standards for him though.
I don't think Gorman stated this but I'd suspect this is all about the federal education grants Obama is giving out. Developing a program to measure teachers was a part of it.
Regarding showing improvement...it's not as hard as one would think.
1.) Place kids in lower level courses so they will score better overall.
2.) Give kids a practice EOG at the beginning of the year with the following instructions:
Take your time, work slowly, it's OK if you don't finish.
If you don't know an answer for sure, don't guess....leave it blank.
Now, at the end of the year EOG you tell them:
Take your time, don't rush but answering every question is the goal.
If you don't know an answer for sure, take your best guess. Don't leave any answers blank.
This happened every year in our middle school...and they bragged about the 'improvement' they were able to show each year. Of course the kids learned and would have improved through the year anyway but these two strategies inflated the results. Putting kids in lower level classes is appalling but their scores were really high.
So, in other words...screw the kids. We don't care if they really learn anything let's just make it look like they did so we can get our money. That's a great philosophy. Twenty or thirty years from now our country will be enslaved to other countries that actually taught their children. When will we ever learn? We have to WORK at what we're doing to get better at it. Paying people to be lazy and stupid hasn't worked since Lyndon Johnson started doing it and it won't work for Obama or any other air headed greedy politiciian.
I'd have to check with my mom who is a retired public school high school teacher in FL, but I believe they implemented something similar in FL. So naturally the focus became pass the students in spite of whether they really know their material.
It seems that in some cases education has dumbed down. I remember when if you failed some classes and summer school was not enough you got held back a grade. Does that even happen anymore?
I taught in Florida and different districts came up with merit pay systems. They were changed frequently as one that was fair to everyone was impossible to come up with. The district decided to award the schools themselves for their performance. My last school was always a "A" school which allowed us to be awarded. Then, we had to decide who would get the lump sum of money. We had to have workshops to decide if paraprofessionals, administrators, kitchen staff, janitorial staff or who should be part of the split. Finally, we decided that since it was the responsibility of the teachers and their paras to make the grade, they should get the award with a token amount to the other staff. We finally worked out a equable system.
And, by the way, I can't remember any student failing summer school. They are more like summer camp these days.
Why are we sticking with our current system? Why not switch to a system like they have in Germany for all kids. You basically take grade 9 and 10 then get to stay or go to a technical type school. So kids, who dont want to go to college, get a head start in another career.
That is the way it is done in the U.K. as well. Kids have an option at age 15.
Why are we sticking with our current system? Why not switch to a system like they have in Germany for all kids. You basically take grade 9 and 10 then get to stay or go to a technical type school. So kids, who dont want to go to college, get a head start in another career.
We had this option at our high school, vo-tech. There were 15-20 programs to choose from, everything from taxidermy to plumbing to cabinet making to bookkeeping and cosmetology, etc. You almost never hear of it anymore but most of the students in our school who didn't choose the college prep path were able to graduate with a useful trade/skill.
Cool, I just checked my high school website and they still have the vo-tech...but the taxidermy program has been phased out lol.
Why are we sticking with our current system? Why not switch to a system like they have in Germany for all kids. You basically take grade 9 and 10 then get to stay or go to a technical type school. So kids, who dont want to go to college, get a head start in another career.
This is why other countries are so far ahead of the US IMO... We concentrate on "no child left behind" and generally cater curriculum to the least common denominator. Special Ed aside, there are a great many kids who would benefit from spending 11th and 12th grade acquiring a trade instead of just getting by to meet minimums for graduation.
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