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.
Years ago I had a friend who was a music teacher in a public school. He was a liberal hippie type, complete with pillbox-type hat, and gray ponytail. One day somehow we got on the topic of school vouchers. To my surprise he supported the idea 100%. He said that our current system is an abomination. As I recall the way he put it was that having a voucher system of some form could open up whole new 'vistas' in education.
And it has. And the government is trying their hardest to stop it from growing.
They like their monopoly and will do whatever it takes to keep BAU.
Common Core is going to be one huge wakeup call when parents finally get wind of how it works.
NYC had it in place for 1 year and their scores plunged.
The Chicago teacher strike was not only about money but trying to remove the Common Core performance piece. That put 100% blame for student failure on the teachers.
As I recall the way he put it was that having a voucher system of some form could open up whole new 'vistas' in education.
Yes it can because the schools become accountable to the parents and kids they are educating. You need to attract students and with all that money on the table the private sector would be tripping over itself to cater to the multiple needs of students. You could make avaiable to the students in public schools curriculum's that focus on science, the arts etc.
Wow. That Eric Holder is one busy guy. He's also in the middle of a suit against Family Dollar and BMW for having the nerve to conduct background checks as a condition of employment when those prospective employees are black while whites, of course, can continue to be screened)
Common core triples the amount of standardized testing.
Common core puts 100% of student failure blame on teachers.
Children's brains develop at different stages.
Common core practically throws Piaget's stages of development out the window for some subjects like Math.
I'm certainly no fan of overuse of standardized testing, but what would you propose we use to evaluate student progression? You're preaching to the choir if you advance the idea that teachers should not be evaluated upon test scores, alone, but is it not a legitimate measure, among several? Is there anything inherently wrong with administering one standardized test, twice per school year, in the fall and the spring, to have some data upon which to measure progress?
I see nothing about the Common Core that puts "100% of student failure on teachers." Can you explain that.
If your last point is based upon the premise that setting benchmarks for particular grade levels means that students who lag behind will be expected to master concepts and skills which they are cognitively incapable of performing, you are correct.
I'm certainly no fan of overuse of standardized testing, but what would you propose we use to evaluate student progression? You're preaching to the choir if you advance the idea that teachers should not be evaluated upon test scores, alone, but is it not a legitimate measure, among several? Is there anything inherently wrong with administering one standardized test, twice per school year, in the fall and the spring, to have some data upon which to measure progress?
I see nothing about the Common Core that puts "100% of student failure on teachers." Can you explain that.
If your last point is based upon the premise that setting benchmarks for particular grade levels means that students who lag behind will be expected to master concepts and skills which they are cognitively incapable of performing, you are correct.
you have asked some really good questions. I am totally for accountability. I want to be able to measure the success of a school/teacher. but there sure is room for improvement.
we really struggled with our secondgrader last year over spelling. there was no real plan. we didnt even know they were doing spelling for several weeks until we asked the teacher why they werent doing it.
turns out, in a haphazard manner they kinda were. not a real plan. not something consistant, not really part of the weekely schedual. but sometimes there was some spelling work being done.
we couldnt figure it out. Then we recently found out, that since spelling isnt on the first state assessment test, they dont teach it as part of the plan. The teachers just work it in if they want to... geez...
clearly we need to do something to improve how we educate. teaching to some test is just maddening.
I really hate to say this, but minorities got a better education, when everything was freely segregated.
What has happened since desegregation? The suburbs and separate school districts. Everything has gone right back to be like it was, before desegregation busing.
What it did do is turn once nice affluent neighborhoods, into old folks homes. as those kids being bused to minority schools, moved.
Look now when families are relocating, the major factor is the school.
It's a double edged sword. Our local schools SUCK and everyone choices their kids out of the area to better schools. So, the ESL kids get bused in and the local kids get bused out. The rich kids in La Jolla go to private schools. I'm sure their Parents have the same complaint about my kids but they cannot claim it's from a language barrier that we have to deal with. Oh, that and I pay an @#$ load of taxes and they can afford private school so they could probably care less about the problems the rest of us deal with.
I'm certainly no fan of overuse of standardized testing, but what would you propose we use to evaluate student progression? You're preaching to the choir if you advance the idea that teachers should not be evaluated upon test scores, alone, but is it not a legitimate measure, among several? Is there anything inherently wrong with administering one standardized test, twice per school year, in the fall and the spring, to have some data upon which to measure progress?
I see nothing about the Common Core that puts "100% of student failure on teachers." Can you explain that.
If your last point is based upon the premise that setting benchmarks for particular grade levels means that students who lag behind will be expected to master concepts and skills which they are cognitively incapable of performing, you are correct.
We had systems in place that did just that.
SRA tests were national, SAT tests are national, ACT tests are national.
You put the best teacher in a failing school and that teacher will get a bad evaluation.
That same teacher in a high performing school gets a good evaluation.
The teacher didn't change did they ? The teacher has little to no control over student test scores given the current climate of the public school system.
But the government has no control over students, parents and the home life.
So for a teacher, keeping your job is dependent on your students passing the test.
It's the stick approach as usual.
Yup..it will get rid of the "bad teachers" won't it ?
And knowing this..how many good teachers are going to venture into low performing or failing schools to teach ?
And the focus is moving from actually having the correct answer to being able to explain it in words.
How will that work out regarding teaching Math ?
Obama math: under new Common Core, 3 x 4 = 11 | The Daily Caller
“Even if they said, ’3 x 4 was 11,’ if they were able to explain their reasoning and explain how they came up with their answer really in, umm, words and oral explanation, and they showed it in the picture but they just got the final number wrong, we’re really more focused on the how,” August says in the video.
We had systems in place that did just that.
SRA tests were national, SAT tests are national, ACT tests are national.
You put the best teacher in a failing school and that teacher will get a bad evaluation.
That same teacher in a high performing school gets a good evaluation.
The teacher didn't change did they ? The teacher has little to no control over student test scores given the current climate of the public school system.
But the government has no control over students, parents and the home life.
So for a teacher, keeping your job is dependent on your students passing the test.
It's the stick approach as usual.
Yup..it will get rid of the "bad teachers" won't it ?
And knowing this..how many good teachers are going to venture into low performing or failing schools to teach ?
And the focus is moving from actually having the correct answer to being able to explain it in words.
How will that work out regarding teaching Math ?
Obama math: under new Common Core, 3 x 4 = 11 | The Daily Caller
“Even if they said, ’3 x 4 was 11,’ if they were able to explain their reasoning and explain how they came up with their answer really in, umm, words and oral explanation, and they showed it in the picture but they just got the final number wrong, we’re really more focused on the how,” August says in the video.
I just stated that progress on standardized testing should be one criterion of several used to evaluate teachers. What would you use to evaluate fellow teachers? Furthermore, the metric on those tests should be progress. This creates an allowance for teachers who teach in poor schools.
Your quote at the end has made the rounds of blogs. It is taken out of context and a previous comment in that speech from the person quoted in the story stated that finding the correct answer is still crucial.
How should we evaluate teachers? Should we not administer at least two MAP tests or some other standardized test at least twice per year to measure progress? How should we measure progress?
I just stated that progress on standardized testing should be one criterion of several used to evaluate teachers. What would you use to evaluate fellow teachers? Furthermore, the metric on those tests should be progress. This creates an allowance for teachers who teach in poor schools.
Your quote at the end has made the rounds of blogs. It is taken out of context and a previous comment in that speech from the person quoted in the story stated that finding the correct answer is still crucial.
How should we evaluate teachers? Should we not administer at least two MAP tests or some other standardized test at least twice per year to measure progress? How should we measure progress?
Maybe you need to look backwards at education and look for when we fell off the path.
Because the US was #2 globally at one point.
So we had good teachers. How did we measure then ?
Why such the concern on teachers ? There are more strict requirements on teachers today than ever before. More teacher testing to get more certs.
And getting rid of bad teachers has to happen at the local level. Who better than the principal can spot a bad teacher ? Principals must evaluate teachers.
I am certified and have my Math 4-8 certification. The Math 4-8 test included calculus problems.
Why I was tested in calculus for Math 4-8 is beyond me.
But as of this past Feb I'm not highly qualified anymore.
When Texas applied for the NCLB waiver the Dept of Education came back and said Texas wasn't rigorous enough in their highly qualified teacher program.
So now I cannot teach Math 4-5-6 because I haven't mastered ELA, Science and History by taking and passing the Generalist 4-8 test. I don't teach those subjects yet I need to master them.
Rather than try to pass that Generalist test I'm just going to go for Math 8-12 cert.
I know my Math and I'm going to stick with that.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
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.
. He's also in the middle of a suit against Family Dollar and BMW for having the nerve to conduct background checks as a condition of employment when those prospective employees are black while whites, of course, can continue to be screened
)
