FIXING OUR SCHOOLS FOR DUMMIES - IX

Teachers + Students Test Scores =Teacher Evaluations ?

Some 200 Washington, DC teachers were fired in July as a result of being classified poor and ineffectual under the school systems evaluation process. This new and improved evaluation process evaluates teachers based on students' test scores. The students' test scores became the "value added component" or 50% of the fired teachers' evaluations. If these 200 DC teachers were deemed poor and needed to be fired, then I would hope that they were terminated because they did not possess the necessary skills, knowledge of subject matter, classroom management and organizational skills and certification. Unfortunately, these teachers were fired based on a large part (50%) on their students' test scores.

Why is it that when looking at students who do not achieve fingers always point at teachers. More than likely students who do not test well have a history of poor attendance, poor behavior, poor attitude, refusal to do work both in class and at home and many have parents who have no control over them. If teachers are to be evaluated and held professionally accountable for their students' standardized test score results under the heading of a "value added component" then the same standard should be applied to students and their parents. Let's determine and document if parents have added value to their children's lives. Let's face it, many students add value to a school's test score results and ranking while other students by their inability or outright refusal to participate in the testing process lower their schools test scores and subsequent ranking. Maybe it is time to evaluate and classify students as either students who add value or decrease the overall value of a school.

With these 200 teachers no longer in the classroom will there be a dramatic or even noticeable improvement in the test scores of DC's students? I doubt it because the actual test takers, the students, both those who add value and those who decrease value will still be participating in the testing process. Until the alleged educational leadership of our schools come to grips with problem students who take standardized tests in a "could care less" fashion, some schools will always show poor results. In any school showing very good test results you will see students who want to learn and achieve dominating that school's student population. Troublemakers and the disinterested are not present. These same schools will have parents who are actively interested in their child's education and see the school as more than convenient day care. This combination of engaged students and proactive parents allow an atmosphere to exist where all teachers can teach and add value to the students school experience. What we continue to see are solutions not based on a clear understanding or even an acknowledgement of the actual problems in our schools that teachers must deal with on a daily basis. What we do see are not really solutions, they are poorly conceived and haphazardly executed reactions.

Being a retired teacher I am no longer subject to reactionary solutions, half ass improvement programs and in vogue evaluation procedures. I sympathize with many of my colleagues, both senior teachers and those just starting their careers. Most have the knowledge to teach their respective subjects. All must teach under the residual pressure of ivory tower conceived programs like Caught in the Middle, No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. Is it any surprise that many new teachers do not remain in the profession after their fifth year? Does it surprise anyone that private schools are so appealing to so many teachers, parents and students?