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Maybe someone who has voted this confusing essay up could explain why. The author is saying, the problem with education in the US is not that poor teachers are

by marze 16y ago

Maybe someone who has voted this confusing essay up could explain why. The author is saying, the problem with education in the US is not that poor teachers are nearly impossible to fire, but is really something else? It seems an improvement making it easier to fire poor teachers would be of great help. Why is the author highlighting this idea as an example of a bad idea? To me, this would be the most positive single change that could be made.

pyre 16y ago
The point being that the worth of a teacher is measured by their students' scores on standardized tests. So which teachers are 'good' and which are 'poor' (i.e. what the 'correct' method of gauging teaching success), seems to be the arena of disagreement.
- Empact 16y ago
  Well, switching our schools to a model of choice, where parents choose where to send their kids, really is a meta-solution beyond test scores. Test scores are used to exemplify kids' behavior because it's easy, it's concrete (in the "what gets measured gets managed" sort of way), but I doubt most parents who flee district schools for charter schools start or end with test scores: instead they consider culture, goals, outcomes, safety. The test scores are used to prove good charter schools can be, and are better than district schools, but they aren't the only measure - just the most compact one to communicate. There's a more general problem that judging a teacher concretely, fairly, consistently, is damn-near impossible. I don't think there's an easy answer to the question of what an administrator would use in the absence of value-added education (i.e. the application of test scores), but I'll bet the parents act independently of that system, and serve as a check on it.
  - pyre 16y ago
    I think that depends on the quality of the parent, and the values (and/or critical-thinking ability) of the parent(s) in question.
    - Empact 16y ago
      I'd argue, in an individual case: yes, in aggregate, you're subject to the common thought and culture of the group, which is open to change over time as outcomes present themselves.

by marze 16y ago

pyre 16y ago

The point being that the worth of a teacher is measured by their students' scores on standardized tests. So which teachers are 'good' and which are 'poor' (i.e. what the 'correct' method of gauging teaching success), seems to be the arena of disagreement.

Empact 16y ago
Well, switching our schools to a model of choice, where parents choose where to send their kids, really is a meta-solution beyond test scores. Test scores are used to exemplify kids' behavior because it's easy, it's concrete (in the "what gets measured gets managed" sort of way), but I doubt most parents who flee district schools for charter schools start or end with test scores: instead they consider culture, goals, outcomes, safety. The test scores are used to prove good charter schools can be, and are better than district schools, but they aren't the only measure - just the most compact one to communicate. There's a more general problem that judging a teacher concretely, fairly, consistently, is damn-near impossible. I don't think there's an easy answer to the question of what an administrator would use in the absence of value-added education (i.e. the application of test scores), but I'll bet the parents act independently of that system, and serve as a check on it.
- pyre 16y ago
  I think that depends on the quality of the parent, and the values (and/or critical-thinking ability) of the parent(s) in question.
  - Empact 16y ago
    I'd argue, in an individual case: yes, in aggregate, you're subject to the common thought and culture of the group, which is open to change over time as outcomes present themselves.