Michelle Rhee's early test scores challenged (college, county, public schools, principal)

[liliblu]

Her claim:
From Rhee's résumé: "Over a two-year period, moved students scoring on average at the 13th percentile on national standardized tests to 90 percent of students scoring at the 90th percentile or higher."

The Truth:
"I think it’s important for the public to know that the main spokesperson for the movement for additional dumb standardized testing, for teaching to the test, and for firing teachers based on those dumb tests, would herself have been fired under those criteria.

And she has lied repeatedly about that, and has repeatedly claimed that she performed some sort of miracle when she was teaching in Baltimore: a miracle that no-one else has ever, ever achieved."


Michelle Rhee's early test scores challenged
Class Struggle - Michelle Rhee's early test scores challenged

The Rhee Miracle Examined Again – By Cohort
The Rhee Miracle Examined Again – By Cohort « GFBrandenburg's Blog

[khuntrevor]

And she deserved a Nobel Prize more than Obama ever did. DC Schools give us the best example of why throwing money at Public Schools is a fraud.

[Ulysses61]

She is a dangerous, deluded woman. But she's smart enough to make tens of millions by demonizing teachers. I think she is truly evil.

[khuntrevor]

I doubt you would be brave enough to walk the perimeter of HD Woodson or Cardoza High Schools in DC, let alone trying to run them for less than a tax preparer earns.

How many times did they throw the race card at her? Ironically, she married a hugely popular and successful black man, who would be the first to tell those **** they are out of line.

[CaliTerp07]

As a resident of a DC suburb, I really thought Rhee was doing a great job here. DC schools were (are) a mess and a half. They needed something drastic. Rhee offered that. These aren't suburban public schools--they aren't facing the same issues.

[Captain Obvious]

While it seems like she lied or grossly exagerated on her resume, the real question is what kind of job she did for the DC schools.

If I remember I think she holds some sort of public education position in Florida. So I guess we will see if she is all talk or not.

I guess I see both sides of the problem. On one hand you want to have some sort of measurement of teacher performance/effectiveness. On the other hand, how well a student does is dependent on a lot of variables beyond a teacher's control.

It seems like for how long teaching has been going on there would be some best practices available for teachers to implement based on the student's environment.

To anyone who is a teacher, are the different schools of thought as to teaching? Do teachers all the learn the same methods as to classroom management?

[Tinawina]

Rhee's firing of 75 D.C. teachers in 2008 was improper, arbitrator says


This thread made me think about the above article.

Rhee has some points to me, but she focuses WAY too hard on teachers alone and sees things in black and white, acting accordingly.

Originally Posted by Captain Obvious

It seems like for how long teaching has been going on there would be some best practices available for teachers to implement based on the student's environment.

To anyone who is a teacher, are the different schools of thought as to teaching? Do teachers all the learn the same methods as to classroom management?

There are some best practices. But they are usually political hot potatoes or deemed impractical to implement. Or the "wrong" school/source uncovers them, so no one listens. Part of the issue, really, is that almost all policy is set by non-educators.

There are multiple schools of thought in teaching. It has become awfully politicized though.

Teachers don't exactly learn classroom management necessarily. That fact is controversial.

[khuntrevor]

It's also ironic that the best large public school system in the US is only about 5 miles from DC (FCPS), and Montgomery County PS would probably be in the top 10, and it's adjacent. Obviously, something is really rotten in DC.

[Captain Obvious]

Originally Posted by Tinawina

Rhee's firing of 75 D.C. teachers in 2008 was improper, arbitrator says


This thread made me think about the above article.

Rhee has some points to me, but she focuses WAY too hard on teachers alone and sees things in black and white, acting accordingly.



There are some best practices. But they are usually political hot potatoes or deemed impractical to implement. Or the "wrong" school/source uncovers them, so no one listens. Part of the issue, really, is that almost all policy is set by non-educators.

There are multiple schools of thought in teaching. It has become awfully politicized though.

Teachers don't exactly learn classroom management necessarily. That fact is controversial.

I had no idea that teaching lacked so much standardization in terms of practices.

I see what you mean about non-educators getting involved. I have been a student for many years and I honestly wouldn't know the first thing about how to teach or what methods my various teachers used over the years.

It is someone analogous to someone who likes to go out to eat running a restaurant.

Lastly, I cannot believe that teachers aren't taught about classroom management. That seem to be the most important thing in the classroom. If the kids are being disruptive they aren't learning anything.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to reply, it was eye-opening.

[Tinawina]

Originally Posted by Captain Obvious

I had no idea that teaching lacked so much standardization in terms of practices.

I see what you mean about non-educators getting involved. I have been a student for many years and I honestly wouldn't know the first thing about how to teach or what methods my various teachers used over the years.

It is someone analogous to someone who likes to go out to eat running a restaurant.

Lastly, I cannot believe that teachers aren't taught about classroom management. That seem to be the most important thing in the classroom. If the kids are being disruptive they aren't learning anything.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to reply, it was eye-opening.

Oh, I must have explained this wrong. There is some standardization for Teacher Ed schools. They have to past this federal set of standards to be certified, and all the curriculums for classes in each program have to fall in line. Yet and still, there are multiple theories about how to approach teaching, and a whole lot of debate about which ones are valid.

The argument against teaching classroom management is that it can't really be taught. Each class is different, each school is different and each teacher is different, so there is some trepidation about what can actually be passed along in a college classroom. That's what student teaching is supposed to be for, in theory. Also, best practices dictate that novice teachers shadow (or are mentored/observed) experienced teachers for the first few years on the job partly for that reason. Of course that rarely happens - because it is considered impractical. Lots of time there will be like a handout or a small book filled with tips tossed at a new teacher on the subject.

And yes, for years and years most ed policy has been decided by people who have never set foot in a classroom, or if they have, they didn't last more than a couple of years. Hell, that describes a lot of principals. LOL. This is how we got No Child Left Behind and almost every major piece of policy that proceeded it. It doesn't make a bit of sense.