Friday, January 4, 2013

Mrs. English Bottoms Out on the Race to the Top



The national "Race to the Top" requires a new system of teacher rating. Recently, Mrs. English got her copy of the new teacher rating system, and was she ever bemused!

Let’s see, she said, 25% of the rating that will ultimately determine whether or not I get a raise – ever – is based on whole school data. Hmmm…exactly what does that include, she wondered.

Reading further, Mrs. English saw that one of the categories that fed into the school data would be student attendance. She recollected a phone call she had recently made on that very topic.

Phone: Ring, ring.
Mrs. H (mother of student): Hello?
Mrs. English: Hi, Mrs. H., this is Mrs. English, John’s teacher. John hasn’t been in first period for a couple weeks now, and I’m concerned about the impact on his grade and on his ability to pass the state test he’s required to pass for graduation.
Mrs. H: Well, John just doesn’t want to get up in the morning. He usually gets there by second period.
Mrs. English: Doesn’t like to get up? That’s funny; I’m ECSTATIC when my alarm goes off at 5:15 each morning.

Oh, no, actually Mrs. English just imagined that last line.

So, what other categories will this 25% include, Mrs. English asked herself. Hmmm…it looks like those state standardized tests will be a big part of the formula. 

Mrs. English recollected another conversation she had recently taken part in upon running into one of her students on the afternoon following the test.

Student: Mrs. English, I don’t know why you stressed that test so much. It was easy!
Mrs. English: So, you did well?
Student: Well, I wouldn’t say that; I fell asleep half-way through.
Mrs. English: Are you crazy?

Oh, no, actually Mrs. English just imagined that last line, too.

Mrs. English sighed, but being nothing if not tenacious, she urged herself to read on. Let’s keep going, she thought; some of these categories must actually evaluate the teacher. Let’s see, another factor will be how many students score 3 or 4 on the AP exam. Mrs. English thought back to a recent in-service where Principal Smithers had addressed that precise topic.

Principal Smithers: Folks, we’ve been putting too many limits on students who should take AP. AP classes are a good challenge for ALL students. Let’s stop advising the kids who can’t yet read at a high school level or can’t write a coherent paragraph to avoid AP! Give them the challenge! They may surprise us. Sure, they won’t score 3 or 4, but they’ll still be aware of what a college curriculum entails.
Mrs. English: Are you out of your mind?

On, no, of course Mrs. English did not say that.

Mrs. English took her copy of the new rating system, crumpled it into a ball, and dropped it into the recycling bin where it rattled against the empty plastic sides. The students had all dropped their paper scraps on the floor.

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