Yesterday I made clear that equating meritorious teaching with student standardized tests scores is complete nonsense. Let me state in it plain language, great teaching involves much, much more than how someone performs on a standardized exam.
How on earth does a standardized test reflect the progress a student makes in a few months or a portion of the year? It doesn't and the test isn't constructed to measure progress or improvement. And let's say that a student entering fifth grade is reading at a second grade level. Does anyone really think it is feasible for that student to read at a fifth grade level by the time a test is given in March (only three-forths of the way through the school year). Hardly!
The fact that people believe that standardized scores are the 'be all' is simply amazing. Some people have really sold us a bill of goods. Aside from the fact that the test results don't really indicate improvement there are other serious shortcomings.
I believe we want our teachers to unlock a student's creativity. I'm pretty sure standardized testing won't measure this. Likewise, I hope that teachers inspire students and push them to give their best. Again, the standardized test is designed to measure this critical factor.
Teacher merit (effectiveness) is a rather complicated and multi-faceted trait and shouldn't be viewed through the lens of how students perform on standardized tests.
Dick
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