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Washington D.C.'s Teacher Evaluations... Worked?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by YankeeFan, Oct 17, 2013.

  1. printit

    printit Member

    Come on, this answer is beneath you. Who cares that "Rush Nation", whatever that even is, supports this? I assume your Hunger Games analogy means teachers will compete against each other. Except they won't. All anyone is calling for is a baseline standard that is either met or not met. No one is firing the worst teacher in the building every semester. If you do nothing other than get rid of people who are below par employees, you will substantially improve your business. What is so controversial about that?
     
  2. Morris816

    Morris816 Member

    Mizzou, do you know how long the teacher in question has been there? Because if she's tenured, that might explain a few things.

    As far as tenure goes, I understand wanting to protect teachers who are truly good at their jobs from being cut simply because the district can find a cheaper option (regardless of how good or bad the replacement is), but then it allows the teachers who are simply going through the motions to effectively hide behind the fact that they have tenure.

    I had my fair share of teachers who were truly good at their jobs and a few teachers who weren't good for one reason or another. It wasn't based on their years of experience that made them good or not.

    I do agree with one remark made about testing: That's not the way to evaluate how a teacher is doing. It's better to evaluate a teacher based on many kids and parents believe they are learning things from the teachers, rather than evaluating a teacher based on how well he or she gets the kids ready to fill in a bubble sheet.

    Because the latter is more likely to get you teachers who just go through the motions than the former.
     
  3. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I am completely on board with that, yes, so long as the evaluation metrics measure what they're supposed to measure and don't do more harm than good.

    Frequently, though, "merit pay" is awarded on a curve, frequently within a school building. It has to be, of course, because everyone is fighting for a finite pool of money.
     
  4. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    The Atlantic had a story in its education issue a few months ago that cited some studies showing that student evaluations, properly designed, are tremendous indicators of teacher effectiveness.
     
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