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I agree, but I don't think it should be based on test scores.
But that is what RTT is about and that is what will take over from NCLB.
Rahm made a statement that said he took from RTT for teacher accountability.
So this is not new and all schools will eventually have to use this teacher evaluation.
I agree, but I don't think it should be based on test scores.
People are evaluated every day, about things that are out of their control. When I did substance abuse counseling, I was evaluated based on the number of clients who relapsed. Believe me, having a performance appraisal based on drug addicts relapsing was hardly "fair". Same as airlines, are judged based on planes taking off and landing on time. So, you control what you can, as much as you can.
But, it was also put into a matrix, with other performance measures. I think that the union is actually "scaring" teachers using this scare tactic....I doubt teachers would be evaluated solely on test scores, because there are too many teachers, who would be cut out of the loop, and not have any kind of performance measure, for example, I taught SPED, almost none of my students were even tested.
I saw in the NYT today that one kindergarten teacher had 43 students.
Aside from whatever issues people may or may not have with regards to compensation, one teacher and 43 five year olds is not just ridiculous but dangerous.
Kindergarten is rarely full day. Was it split with 22 and 21 in each session?
If the system is implementing the current Kindergarten recommendations (NCLB and RTT) it will be a full day program. That's one thing that systems with large numbers of at risk or Title I students have done over the last several years.
Try looking at all the cold hard facts and leave your loyalties aside. The combination of the economy, tax limits, budget limits, and teachers' union demands,...I side against the union on this one. They seem to be acting like a spoiled kid begging for an expensive video game system and iPad right after his parents lost their jobs.
Oh, and below is the head of the Chicago Teachers Union. Read the story and watch the video.
If the money isn't there then the CPS shouldn't be asking for a longer school day. If the CPS determines that a longer day is necessary and taxpayers agree then it needs to be realized that this won't be free.
Further, RTTT (and its predecessor NCLB) are exactly why the Federal government need to get out of education and let the states handle it (which is their responsibility, anyways). I don't know for certain but if I were to guess, I would guess that Illinois and Chicago are net donors when it comes to Federal education tax dollars. It makes little sense that educators in Chicago (or anywhere else, for that matter) should have to take orders from D.C. about how best to manager their schools.
I have no problem with evaluation, but as others have stated that are too many variables at play for student test scores to be a significant portion (i.e. more than say 30%) of judging whether or not a teacher is good at their job. I understand that in other professions that inaccurate evaluation systems exist, but that's not a good enough reason to transfer such an idea to education.
Overall I have to side with the CTU on this one. Unions in my opinion are indeed a very good thing for the teaching profession (and they do a lot in protecting the interests of the students, too). Sure some bad teachers are protected (though I think that this problem is blown out of proportion), but I'd rather have that than a situation where good teachers are let go based on faulty evaluation or don't even bother to enter the profession in the first place because working conditions and compensation have gotten so bad.
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