Every time this question of teacher accountability arises, we hear the same blah blah blah...
Here's my question...How do we make teachers and their work more accountable? You gotta know that standardized test can't possibly be the measure, after all any 'educated' person will know the following scenario...
Government middle school teacher in Central LA School District vs. government middle school teacher in Los Virgenes School District -very different kids and parents with very different expectations and experiences resulting in a "gap" in test scores...
This is a bigger issue than some (many?) "bad" teachers.
Accountability is clearly needed - there are some pretty poor performing teachers out there, as there are in any occupation, but test results will not be the validation for either a) increasing pay b) improving quality of teachers c) removing the "bad" teachers.
Hell, I've seen many poor teachers that have had kids achieving great results in tests but that had nothing to do with that year's teacher. It's about those children's experiences over many years. Likewise I've seen many great teachers who have made a huge impact on children's self-esteem in the course of year but this won't translate to a huge improvement in their GPA that year.
As a parent I take responsibility for my own children's education and I hope that the school system will reinforce it, color it, broaden it, but ultimately I see it as my job (read: responsibility) to educate my own children. That means being there every night, every weekend to guide them, discipline them, stimulate them, provide them my values as a guide, and provide opportunities for them. My kid's school does a great job of providing many things I can't like a huge library and extensive sport programs but they can only provide a middle road educational system because under the existing way of teaching to large numbers of children, education is pitched to the middle ground or slightly lower.
Unfortunately very few parents are willing to commit to (afford) alternative educational philosophy that can do better (eg Constructivism, Multiple Intelligences or IB programs). Governments are unwilling to commit either, and a lot of it comes down to the COST of smaller class sizes and better use of technologies.
Anyhow..now I'm starting to answer the question I posed...what do you think are the ways teachers can be held accountable, that are measurable, equitable and consistent?
PS.. yes I am a teacher, I do get summer holidays which are taken up for four weeks with (as an example this year) a workshop for two weeks 8.30 - 5pm on Langauge Arts, one week (same schedule) on teaching Arts, and one week at my school working on the school development plan. That leaves four weeks of which two are holidays with my kids and two weeks planning lessons, developing curriculum and buying resources (with my own money) for next year. I will also take time to update my 1st aid skills for 3 days. And for those who say I don't work many hours a day... well I start at 7.20am and leave approx 4.15 each day. I have a half hour for lunch three days and have yard duty for the other two. Last Friday night I held a school sleepover, next Friday night is the Science Fair, the week after that I am at school camp for three days and nights, the next week I have the evening school concert and fundraiser, I coach basketball and volleyball at our school on my own time two days a week and attend two focus groups on my own time monthly. Staff meetings are conducted after school on Mondays. I tutor two kids on Wednesday after school on my own time for no fees. Every weekend, either Friday, Saturday or Sunday night I plan for the next weeks lessons for approx 2-3 hours (leisurely admittedly). I would have on average on parent meeting every second week before school starts. My collegues are all pretty much the same as I.
I like my job! I am not excited by the pay, but I feel rewarded in other ways. Guess I am a loser tho
