Monday, January 21, 2008

New York Measuring Teachers by Test Scores

Today in the New York Times...what do you think?

EXCERPT

New York City has embarked on an ambitious experiment, yet to be announced, in which some 2,500 teachers are being measured on how much their students improve on annual standardized tests.

The move is so contentious that principals in some of the 140 schools participating have not told their teachers that they are being scrutinized based on student performance and improvement.

While officials say it is too early to determine how they will use the data, which is already being collected, they say it could eventually be used to help make decisions on teacher tenure or as a significant element in performance evaluations and bonuses. And they hold out the possibility that the ratings for individual teachers could be made public.

Read more HERE

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pressuring teachers is not the solution.
Here's the solution: give bonuses out to the people that have the most influence on test scores. The people who's motivational mind set really matters. The students themselves. Currently students have no reason, that they can realate to, to perform well or poorly. Now, if we start handing out an iPod or Wii for most growth, then we'll start to see movement in test scores!

Anonymous said...

Pressuring teachers to learn the material is part of the solution.

Making administrators get rid of incompetent teachers is another part of the solution.

There is no reason to "reward" teachers because they do their job.

Some of these teachers that teach straight out of the book blatantly shows that they don't know the material. They aren't engaging the students, and have the kids write out notes for 1/2 the period.
Why can't the people that supervise these teachers step in the classroom and teach the classes themselves until they can hire someone that is competent?

Anonymous said...

If parents would participate more actively in their children education life at school, it could help them to improve their test scores. What is really going on is that student violence and other extreme behavioural problems are being waterdown or ignored by the school administrators. consequently, it reflects a bad academic performance in students' test scores. Are parents, administrators, and community doing enough to support educators to have a better schools that shape a better society? don't blame just teachers, when the root of the problem is at home and in the socio/economic factor.