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When teachers are hired they are given criteria which they are expected to meet. The principal, assistant principal, and sometimes guidance counselors visit the classrooms. Parents can visit the classroom, but must first make appointments through the office so as not to be too distractive to the classroom setting.
If a student is being assessed for special classes the guidance counselor may observe daily to keep notes on the child's behavior in a classroom setting. In our county the assistant principal would be involved in assessment also.
Twice a year the principal or assistant principal would observe formally for about half an hour unexpectedly. It would be drop in at the times of evaluation, it would be drop in at other times just to keep tabs on teachers.
We were observed all the time, we were judged by administrators, county officials, parents and other teachers.
You can bet your bottom dollar good teachers were known and bad ones were known as well.
Since teachers have formal observations kept in their permanent folders in written form, how can anyone say there is no way to know good teachers?
If I were a principal I would be livid to hear that this administration thinks testing students is the only way to judge teachers. I would think my judgment was being questioned.
Tests have always been given. When I started teaching over 30 years ago we gave a nationally normed test called the Iowa Test of Basic Skills...I think I remember that correctly. It involved reading, writing, and arithmetic. Basic skills.
I believe in testing students to a degree, but I don't believe in testing them to grade the teachers and to grade the schools. There are far too many other factors involved in assessing teachers and schools.
Teachers are required to renew certificates every few years. In our county we could do it through courses at nearby colleges and universities or inservice training at the schools. I often chose the college route though I had to pay for it myself. It was more challenging and effective, and I saw different points of view that our county administrators might ignore.
It is to our shame as a country that so many in this administration readily accept that the only way to tell if a teacher is a good teacher is to test the students.
That is quite simply either a cop-out...or has other motives such as privatization behind it.
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