Supt. B. Hall ignored the misconduct and cheating by teachers and administrators while accepting praise for the high test scores achieved, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.In light of the Atlanta, Georgia cheating scandal, we see that even teachers will cheat when the stakes are high. When merit pay is connected to higher year end scores, teachers look at that fact and decide to 'teach to the test' instead of working on the skill sets outlined in the Core. Teachers should always teach the core skills in their classroom, if they are not, something should be done by their administrators. This is one example but I'm sure there are more. When test scores are linked to 'more money' and merit pay increases, the lure to 'teach to the test' is there and difficult to ignore. Have you seen the movie Bad Teacher? What do you think about this national reliance (as a result of NCLB) on test scores and AYP as determining what a 'failing school' really is?
Crystal,
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying that I am glad that all of those teachers and superintendants cheated, I am saying that I am glad that its finally being talked about. For the last three years I have been saying that it is only a matter of time before our government turns teachers into criminals. They have set the bar impossibly too high and still expect results. I guarantee that Georgia is not the only state. I have wondered about my own district. There is no possible way to make the scores that the gov't wants. Our reliance, as you put it, on testing has become an obsession with competition against Asia. Pres. Bush wanted us to compete with their schools. The problem is that we can't compare apples to oranges. We are expecting ALL of our kids to be genius's. They just throw out the ones that don't make it and keep the ones that do. I've said too much already. I can't say that I agree with merit pay either. It's just another program that will turn us againt each other as we compete for the prize. Intrigueing questions. Good post.
Jason Robison
Crystal and Jason,
ReplyDeleteThis is a really big issue. If it isn't in some places, its going to be. If teachers jobs or pay is going to be placed on the line due to test scores only. Teachers will find a way to make sure that they will have the numbers needed on state scores in order to keep their jobs. Here's the problem. Most teachers are motivated and want to do a good job. However, many students don't care, and their parents don't either. Many kids on state tests will just randomly mark in bubbles. If this is the case, what point is there in teachers spending time and energy trying to force the issue. If the teacher's job is going to hang on these types of student's scores, I can see where SOME teachers may try to work the system in order to remain employed. I'm not saying that I support it, only that I can understand it. Sometimes there is a fine line between criminality and doing what you have to in order to survive. As to Jason's comments, Bravo! I have always had a problem with America's "One size fits all, everyone can be an astronaut," education system being compared to Asian and European educational models. When compared, there is no surprise that the US lags behind. However, where are the Euro/Asian special ed classes, where are their remedial math classes, where are their Japanese as a Second Language Programs? Where are those parental complaints that teachers are too hard or expect too much? Where are those "we can't have a dress code in our school because it infringes upon my child's right to self expression" comments? Only in the USA my friends, Only in the USA.