Quote:
Originally Posted by Zarathu
There is a bill in the PA House to not only publish the NCLB state PSSA test scores as they do now, but to publish them by class, and with the teacher's name.
I can see the importance of accountability, but the only other thing like this I know of is when they publish the names of criminal offenders in the newspaper. Establishing performance of educators solely on the basis on one spring test, without looking at all the other data that can influence performance of real human beings rather than a product is crazy.
Name one other occupation anywhere where the performance ratings on one narrow part of their job is published in the newspaper.
This will put another nail into the coffin of public education, and assure the fact that we will have a very very very serious teacher shortage in about 8 years. There is a very good chance that this measure will pass.
|
It hit me in a flash while reading this post that essentially this is what is done in France. The difference, and it is crucial, is something that we in the US completely overlook. In France, the children's names are published in the paper after their exam results are posted on the school wall. If you know which children are in which class, then the teachers' results are public as well. Everyone knows where everyone else stands.
In the US, it is axiomatic for children to have a right to privacy. If we had a paradigm shift, and exam results were public in nature, then the pressure to perform would also be shifted in part to the children. Teachers' results would be easier to interpret when it is clear that which children actually attended school and did their work scored well, yet the teachers' scores were lowered significantly by those children who are in distressed circumstances.
I am a veteran of the trenches. Just this year my class load has dropped from nearly 150 to fewer than 120. These children sometimes have, and usually are continuing to experience, horrific tragedies in their lives, or they just drift into the subculture and live from day to day. Having a diploma is rather rare.
Our top students have to struggle with the fact that their honors are diminished by the name of their alma mater. They are tarnished by their classmates' reputations, but they still strive to achieve and get scholarships for a college education. They are very competitive. I believe that many of them would relish their results being published regularly in order to push each other to higher achievement. It would also allow those inclined to see where their deficiencies lie.
Teachers' results could be extrapolated with and without students will excessive attendance or by previous scores. Then, pressure on administrators to handle individual situations, rather than school-wide actions, might conceivably help us resolve some of our most long-standing problems. It is disheartening to see the beautiful children of my former students in my classrooms and see that they are in worse shape than their parents were at that age. That is when I feel as if I have failed.
To me, it makes sense to go one step further and hold the students publicly accountable for their use of the funds that are provided by the taxpayers for their schooling. If they do not achieve, then there should be consequences.
Children in other countries know that if they don't score well enough on their exams, they will not be allowed to continue in academic schooling. So they are more inclined to work harder on their academics. We are trying to do things our way and get their results. I don't see that happening.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have friends who have taught abroad and they claim the number one difference is the level of responsibility put on the students and accepted by the students. Here the teacher is responsible for making students learn. It's my fault if my students don't learn. It doesn't matter if they didn't do the work, didn't have the prerequisite knowledge to take the class or had excessive absences. It's my fault. I didn't make the work exciting enough or I failed to consider their lack of prior knowledge and if they miss class, they show up at my desk, one minute before class starts and ask "What did I miss?" as if it's even possible for me to pass on what I taught in 50 minutes in a one minute synopsis. 
