Education Issues

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by blush

The problem with approaching education "like a business" is we are dealing with children, not "products."

As far as I'm aware, other professions that deal exclusively with humans are not monitored and evaluated based on the performance of their human. Doctors are not hired/fired based on how many people they cure. Psychologists' jobs do not depend solely on the progress of their patients. Yet we, as a nation, are demanding that teachers "fix" students by tying the student's performance to the teacher. And we give less and less and less personal responsibility to the students themselves.

If you (collective you) want to know what teachers do, go sit in a classroom. Walk through a school. See how many teachers have their feet propped up on a desk with the paper while the class runs amuck. Yes, those teachers need to be fired. As should a doctor who is killing patients.

We are not dealing with boxes of Cheerios that need new marketing. We are dealing with children. Children who come to us with all different levels of experiences and backgrounds. Children who sometimes don't have breakfast. Or a bed. Or sometimes have too much breakfast and beds. To expect ANYONE to level that playing field in a year for high stakes testing is ridiculous. Would we expect a disease to be cured after one visit?

Students should be progress monitored using multiple modes of assessments. If a pattern emerges that students in a class are rarely or never making progress, someone should start stopping by the damn classroom and find out what's going on. Not a Dog and Pony Show evaluation, but several unannounced visits. No teacher's success should ever be linked to 1 test on 1 day.

Thinking of major districts (like DC and NYC) in which the whole "run it like a business" concept was adopted. And in some cases, 100s of teachers were simply fired. All based upon test results. Boards across the US are aiming for this kind of action.

I am and always have been an advocate for public schools. I don't know if my kid were in school, today, if I would move him into a private school- mainly because of testing. Or, I would opt him out of taking these tests. A child is not a robot. Nor are teachers. (Which does not mean I do not want measurable outcomes of learning- but this is not the way).

Frankly, I am glad I taught in a very different era. I actually felt joy teaching. Demanding, but rewarding- and I felt supported by administration and parents. I don't hear this much anymore from teachers.