Response to “New York Measuring Teachers by Test Scores
In reading Will Richardson’s blog on this article appearing in the New York Times I had to write. I can’t think of anything more unfair to teachers than the idea of evaluating teachers based on their students’ scores. Students and parents are not held accountable which means there are many of them that could care less about the test. Prior to this year in KY, we had nothing to compare students to. In other words 5th grade math scores were what they were and could not be compared to the previous year’s scores because you would be comparing different groups of kids. Now though because of NCLB schools can compare scores because students are tested in Math in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades.
Prior to actually working in a school in my own classroom, I was under the impression that pay for performance would be great, especially for people like me. I just knew I was going to go into any classroom and help make everyone there proficient. It didn’t take long after my first year of teaching that reality set in and I realized there are too many factors contributing to the success of my students. Too many factors out of my control. So I do my best.
There have been times when I’ve witnessed state test results being projected in front of the entire school staff and teachers singled out and asked, “What happened last year?” The teacher wanted to crawl under the table and make a quick exit…if fact, I don’t she attended the teacher’s meeting the next year when scores were released. I don’t think fear is a good motivating tool for teachers. This type of measuring stick promotes teaching the test, curriculum restrictions, and cheating.
