Suzala, can you start a new thread for this posting?
Should teachers be held solely responsible for student achievement? More specifically, should teacher pay be connected to student test scores?
Let's consider a few scenarios with three fictitious students named Pierre, Wilma and Egbert.
Pierre is a little first grade boy. Although his attendance is good, he consistently arrives with something missing. Whether it's his lunch/lunch money, pencils or homework, he never seems to come to school ready to learn. His 15 minute a day at home reading log is seldom returned on time if at all. His teacher has contacted the parent on numerous occasions to discuss the gap in Pierre's home-school connection but to no avail. The mother will agree with the teacher's concerns, promise to make a better effort but for whatever the reason (legitimate or otherwise) will rarely follow through. Despite Pierre's high potential, his progress is severly hindered by that fact that he does not read on a daily basis and has minimal, if any value placed on homework and learning in his home.
Wilma is a seventh grade student. She is a well behaved girl with average grades in all subjects except for math. She is given the opportunity to come for extra help ninth period on a daily basis but rarely shows up. When her teacher contacts her mother about arranging a mutually agreeable time to have extra help (time that goes beyond the teacher's contractual obligations), the response is that extra help will interfere with Wilma's other activities including her social life, shopping responsibilities and cosmetic appointments (manicures, haircuts, etc). Neither Wilma nor her parents have concerns over Wilma's C average in math or her low standardized test scores.
Egbert is a tenth grade student who really doesn't care about doing well in school. As his parents are going through a messy divorce right now, he gets little support from home. His homework is rarely done. He fails some classes, barely passes others. How he does on his regents exams is simply not a priority for his parents.
Now, consider that there are at least one or two Pierres, Wilmas and Egberts in any given class. Who is really responsible for the gaps in their learning?
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Framing the question frames both the argument and answer.
ReplyDeleteThe analysis itself was a flawed review of the topic.
Think about it…the issue is tying teacher pay to teacher performance. And the argument set forth is…
“not fair to hold the teacher accountable for unmotivated students, student lack of effort or students from troubled families.”
But to view the teacher performance vs. teacher pay issue….the following hypothetical would have been more accurate:
Teacher Pierre team teaches a class with another teacher. Teacher Pierre is merely a supplement to the class but gets full teacher pay. Pierre shows up for work at 9:03 and is the first to leave. Pierre has not motivated the class, has provided nothing innovative to inspire the students, treats the position as a “union protected job” instead of a “career”. Pierre has high potential to teach but could care less about the students. Pierre is the personification of a protected civil service employee.
Wilma is a teacher who is always well behaved. Wilma puts up a good façade to parents. But Wilma is never reachable outside of class. Wilma refuses to provide an email address for concerns that parents or students might contact with a question. Wilma never returns phone calls. Wilma has too many other activities outside of work to be reachable for parent concerns. Wilma needs time after school to begin coordinating for a summer job as Camp Director. Wilma gives vague report cards with no feedback to parents and never contacts parents to keep them informed of important issues arising in the class.
Egbert is a teacher going through a messy divorce right now. The students get little support or effort from Egbert. But the dating scene is very important to Egbert. Egbert dresses extremely inappropriately for a teaching professional. Egbert is immature and every other word out of Egberts mouth is “like”. Egbert pays attention to some students and ignores others. At this point in Egbert’s life, students are not a priority.
Now let’s add the new one….. Ace
Ace is the instructor from heaven. Unmotivated students become overachievers. Students are nurtured, educated and developed. Ace raises district standards. Ace is available at all hours by phone, email, fax and carrier pigeon. Ace’s students always ace all standardized exams.
Now considering that there are at least one or two Pierres, Wilmas and Egberts in any given school…. Do you really think its fair for the district families to compensate Pierre, Wilma and Egbert at the same pay/pay level as Ace?
The answer to your question is no. How about another example . You have a classroom where a teacher ignores childrens questions,criticizes children in front of their peers and generally does what he/she has to do as the minimum requirement. Who responsible for the kids performance then? What is worse is when you get the name of your child's teacher in August and get a dozen parents who have stated "yes my child had that teacher and we were not happy at all".? while the majority of teachers may be good ,there are a few under performing teachers who the parents and administrators are aware of and what do the administrators do about it? they move the teachers around from one school building to another. The bottom line is that the responsibilty of our childrens success is dependent upon the parents, teachers and administrators who should deal with underperforming teachers instead of moving them around from building to building
ReplyDeleteYour statement makes it seem as though just about every class has several problem children who go for manicures , social appointments , and shopping . Is this considered child bashing?
ReplyDeleteIf a parent makes scenarios about several teachers that are problem teachers then this would be teacher bashing right? There are issues on both sides of the fence that are not addressed.
Ha Ha! I Love the last comment, but I would like to fuel the fire a bit, What If you were Teacher, "Ace"? You went the extra mile all the time, your classroom citizens thrived, you were always available to students and families and your classes were stimulating, and you saw that all the extra work you did made no difference in your pay. You saw that teachers Wilma, Pierre and Egbert were phoning it in and getting the same pay. I believe that this would result in 1) Ace fumes silently; "Why should they be payed for what I am doing?" and 2) "why should I bother doing the extra work as it doesn't seem to effect my bottom line.
ReplyDeleteI also know that a great teacher by parents opinions, may not be the best teacher for my Betsy, but if year after year, parents are trying to opt out of a teacher's class, that should be a signal. Perhaps there should be an allowance to permit students to move from building to building to get the best instructors.
If this was the non union company, and many clients called and said, " I can't work with your rep, they are distracted by personal issues and phone calls during our meetings, they dress in a non professional way, ( are you a "real" company-or just fly by night?) and most importantly he/she doesn't seem to offer me the best service or keep me updated or motivated to buy more". How long do you think the company would keep them?
ReplyDeleteDear PCT, BOE and NY State, we are the clients and we have been calling.
What if... We all did our jobs as parents and stopped always blaming the teachers for everything!!! Wait... that would be to easy for all of you, Keep up the complaining, your real good at that... No... I'm not a teacher!
ReplyDeleteTo the first comment on this posting - January 9th at 6PM, the issue raised was clearly stated as connecting teacher pay to student test scores NOT "performance" as you state.
ReplyDeleteTeacher performance is an area that is supposed to be monitored by school administrators as is their hiring and the entire tenuring process. The administrators in Plainview are too afraid of the union to step up and deal with what needs to be dealt with.
Test scores are a culminating measure of multiple school years. Test scores in isolation are not a viable measure of teacher performance.
That is why tenure needs to be eliminated. No one should be guarenteed a job . The cost of removing a teachers is in the tens of thousands of dollars for a district. This is not teacher bashing either. The problem is this: You have a small percentage of under performing teachers who get moved around from one building to another . The parents know it , the adminstrators know it and still it continues
ReplyDeleteTo the admin:
ReplyDeleteWould it be possible to highlight the achievements of our local students like this one on here?
http://www.pobschools.org/Intel-2.pdf
There are many students who are successful in our school district and surpass many of those students in other school districts. It is discerning to read the awful diatribes among many commentors here, as if none of our children are doing well here in Plainview-Old Bethpage.