Here's a Thought

In the rush to get 'Race to the Top' federal money or to get a waiver on No Child Left Behind (or other such nonsense), many schools are opting to prove they belong by tying teacher evaluations to student performance on standardized tests.

Here's another option, far better in my view.

First of all, the idea of evaluating teachers shouldn't be for the purpose of meeting some criteria set for meeting state goals or qualifying for funds from the feds or elsewhere.  The idea of evaluating teachers is to seek constant improvement which will meet the learning needs of students.   That is a far more essential need in the educational process than the former.

The best way of seeking teacher improvement, enhanced teacher effectiveness and optimum learning is to make sure there are plenty of classroom observations.  Principals, Dept. Chairs, Asst. Principals and Teacher Colleagues can get the job done quite well.  When there is true collegiality, professionalism, trust, and mutual respect then great things will happen.

Using scores from student standardized tests to improve teacher effectivenss is not the answer, not by a long shot!!!

Dick