New York City’s Department of Education (meaning, Mayor Bloomberg) and the United Federation of Teachers are wrangling about the formula for rating and ranking teachers and how much of it should be determined by test scores. The mayor still wants to publish the names of teachers along with their ratings so that parents will know which teachers to avoid and which to seek out. Imagine the chaos in schools when everyone wants to be in Ms. Smith’s class and no one wants to be in the classrooms of Mr. Jones, Ms. Green, or Col. Mustard.
It is important to remember how untrustworthy these formulae are.
Here is a good reminder. Aaron Pallas describes the “worst” eighth grade math teacher in New York City.
And here is the story of the “worst teacher” in the city of New York.
The New York Post plastered her name and picture in its pages, but it turned out that she teaches new immigrant students who cycle in and out of her class. The value-added ratings for her were meaningless.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Imagine the chaos in schools when everyone wants to be in Ms. Smith’s class and no one wants to be in the classrooms of Mr. Jones, Ms. Green, or Col. Mustard.
Imagine the Supreme Court decision that finds Mr. Jones, Ms. Green, and Col. Mustard unprepared to fulfill the duties of common school teachers (due to deficient ed schools and alternate accreditation) and deems vouchers constitutional so kids can attend Professor Plum’s Academy.
Dumb value added assessment is just one more symptom of failed governance of common schools. Who today will fill the shoes of Horace Mann? What would Dr. Cremin do? Or his students?
Eric,
I know what Dr. Cremin’s students would do? They would do what I am doing. I was one of his students.
Diane
Make him proud!
BTW, I’m finding Dr. Cremin’s little book of Horace Mann’s writings indispensable. I find it problematic that such a key source is not entirely consistent with the ed histories crafted for purposes of litigation.
Have any of Dr. Cremin’s students produced briefs or served as experts in ed (e.g. school funding) litigation?
I don’t know.
I don’t get involved in litigation.
Imagine the chaos when parents and students realize the teacher with the low value added score is actually the better teacher and try to switch back to that teachers class. Unfortunately, I don’t think the proponents of VAM care how invalid it is. It was a tool designed to arbitrarily rank, rate and fire teachers under the guise if science. The courts are the only way to stop this. VAM will never be able to survive be put on trial.
Sorry for the errors, that was typed on an iPhone.
Maybe we should put out a report card on newspapers, journalists, and editors. The Post and its reporters would certainly fail. To print such damaging information about Ms. Mauclair without doing any research other than interview a few parents (whose comments, I am sure, were convinced that she was a horrible teacher by the biased reporter) shows both a lack of both journalistic ability and integrity. Oh and let’s also grade those that came up with such an inane rating system.
Oops meant to say “whose comments, I am sure, were influenced by a biased reporter”
This is total bullshit. Bloomberg is a fool and we are fools to put up with this.
Mr. Bloomberg is a brilliant man! The best this city has ever seen. He is not a fool and knows of the abuses of teachers who slack and there are many throughout NYS! Our students deserve the very best in front of the classroom thus his policies will ultimately lead to high student achievement for ALL students!!
Leaving aside how Bloomberg is, how on earth do these tests show what teachers are supposedly slacking? Teachers can’t force the students to take these tests seriously, nor should they. But the teachers are bashed for the tests nonetheless.
Yes, and our police and fire personnel ought to be quality too.
Chase them and fire them. Crime and fires are rampant. They must not be offering the public a quality service.
Perhaps you have not been following along, Theo.
In that case, big spoiler alert here…..There is NO EVIDENCE VAM works!
So,there may or may not be awful teachers in NY schools, but VAM will not reliably identify them.
However, VAM is very successful at getting rid of good, dedicated, hardworking, respected teachers by incorrectly holding them accountable for all manner of things over which they have no control.
Now, why would a brilliant man want that?
When exactly will this high achievement start? It is has been ten or eleven years. He can’t fudge the numbers again like he did with Joel. Back to work Theo….you shouldn’t be spending city hall pr time here.
The people must be able to have recourse to hold accountable both criminally and civilly, the “ed reformers” like Bloomberg, Gates, Broad etc. who end up having spent massive public resources, undermining working people (teachers) and most importantly
having failed to genuinely improve public education as promised and thus ultimately failing our children.
Obviously. Mayor Bloomberg doesn’t have a Clue.
RE: Government Transparency
Has Bloomberg had a brain scan since he began? If he follows the protocol for transparency, then the results should be published in the media. Certainly a man with such a consistently high rate of failure for ten years must have a tumor on his brain if he cannot see that he has been devastatingly unsuccessful in improving NYC schools.
If anyone has a NY Post subscription please please cancel it. Read the comments on the story of the “worst teacher”.
I want to see administrators evaluated also in the same unfair manner. Why not? Do they not spend the money, set curriculum, how it will be taught and assign teachers and principals? Why do they get a free ride? Does not the fish rot from the head? Everywhere I have been it sure does.
I want to see administrators evaluated also in the same unfair manner.
Would you use your vote to make that happen? Horace Mann decried such motives!
Wouldn’t it be enough for administrators to receive a fair and balanced (or fair and accurate) evaluation?
Yeah, right after all the teachers’ get theirs…fair, balanced and accurate. Let us know when that happens and I will sign up my admin.
Are CT school administrators hiding from the Connecticut Quality Award examiners? Montgomery County Public Schools benefit from Maryland’s examiners; why not Connecticut? Why not New York State?
Or how does your district compare to an Ohio RttT opt-out district? For a district pursuing a vision too important to be co-opted by RttT, google this:
“West Carrollton City Schools” “Race to the Top” “LEA Scope of Work”
Bloomberg is not suffering from a brain tumor, he’s suffering from a towering case of hubris, megalomania and egomania. As a billionaire mayor and mogul, he feels totally at ease bashing, trashing and demonizing public school teachers and their unions. The man is a one per-center lacking in empathy for ordinary working folks, especially unionized public sector workers.
I hope Ms. Mauclair lawyers up. I would be glad to donate to the cause.
Many have said that when the lawsuits start over this nonsense, that is when the rheeform house of cards will tumble.
At some point, all the promises come due.
Sounds like a case for the union lawyers. They must be good for something.
Outrageous! Where is the justice? What about zero tolerance for bullying or does that exclude the bullying of teachers? How about if we start with a public apology from Mayor Bloomberg? What do you say, Mike? This assault on teachers must stop.
When they get rid of the NEPOTISM that the administators use to fill the positions in the schools that are not in the classrooms. When administrators walk into classrooms not looking to fail teachers like most do. When administrators stop lying writing up observations that are not true. When the administrators stop getting bonuses for quality review ratings and kick off to their assistants. Its a conspiracy !!! Teaching is a jail sentence and no one should spend thousands of dollars on an education and money on certifications test to be abused everyday that they walk into work!