The most noxious element of President Obama’s Race to the Top is the requirement that teachers should be evaluated to a significant degree by the test scores of their students.
By now, there is a large body of research that shows that this is a very bad idea, that the rankings based on test scores say more about who was in the class than the quality of the teacher.
But the idea of evaluation by test scores has been taken up with delight by the farthest right-wing state legislatures, the latest being Michigan.
Michigan has one of those legislative bodies that devotes considerable time to figuring out what they can take away from public schools and public school teachers.
And so now there is a bill to tie teacher compensation directly to test scores.
We know how this will end:
Teachers will teach to the test.
Schools will narrow the curriculum only to what is tested.
Some desperate teachers and/or administrators will cheat.
Some schools and superintendents will find ways to game the system.
Teachers will avoid the students who might drag down their rankings.
Some fine teachers will be fired because they taught the most challenging students.
Teachers will be demoralized by the abasement of their profession.
The only one who will look on these events with pleasure will be the architects of Race to the Top.
This is what they wanted.
And if they didn’t want it, they should stop it now. Admit their error.
How sad.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Hey, in New Mexico we’re already being told that 50% of our evaluation will be student test scores. Then at our last staff meeting, we were told that all the gifted students were going to be place in one classroom. If our test scores don’t go up, we are out of a job after a 90 day growth plan. Forget compensation (we haven’t had a raise in 5 years, and it doesn’t look like there will be one this year either), we will just be unemployed.
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Teaching to the test –> The slow erosion of this nation’s infrastructure, and eventually, its greatness. Race to the Top OF WHAT, exactly? http://askingquestionsblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/education-needs-bravehearts.html
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“The slow erosion of this nation’s infrastructure, and eventually, its greatness”
Well that’s because the Rheeject is a North Korean Spy here to destroy American public education so that North Korea can rightly assume its place as the top dog nation of the world.
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Should be “Well tha’s why. . . “
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Nevermind, brain and hands not working well at the moment.
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All hail the Supreme Leader!
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Campbell’s Law
“The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor.”
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Also known as Goodhart’s Law
Original Statement —
Variant Statement —
Bumper Sticker Version —
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Paraphrasing Einstein- Not all things that can be measured matter and not all things that matter can be measured!
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Diane… your predictions are already coming (have already come) to pass…
*Teachers will teach to the test. (there already)
* Schools will narrow the curriculum only to what is tested. (yes, this happens so teachers can boost their passing rates – they don’t teach to the high-functioning kids, leaving them to fend for themselves,; they teach the low functioning kids, and only just enough to pass the tests with a minimum passing score so the teachers’ and schools’ passing rates can look better. It;s a travesty. I blogged about it here: http://askingquestionsblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/honey-i-shrunk-promise-of-education-or.html)
Some desperate teachers and/or administrators will cheat. (It’s happening: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Peekskill-High-School-Arrest-Regents-Exam-Answers-Changed-History-Geography-205279491.html)
Some schools and superintendents will find ways to game the system. (*cough* Syracuse City Schools *cough*)
Teachers will avoid the students who might drag down their rankings. (This, actually, I have not seen in practice.)
Some fine teachers will be fired because they taught the most challenging students. (Been there, done that.)
Teachers will be demoralized by the abasement of their profession. (Only all of my teacher colleagues in Facebook, and of course, the esteemed Gerald Conti, from a neighboring town of mine: http://askingquestionsblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/gerald-conti-shrugged.html)
The only one who will look on these events with pleasure will be the architects of Race to the Top. (laughing all the way to the bank.)
*sigh*
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Oh no, my comment is “awaiting moderation?” Is that because of the blog links? It’s not blogspam, I swear; it’s all relevant 😦
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Try posting links one at a time …
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Two or more links gets an automatic “awaitingmoderator” so I’ve learned to just do one at a time usually.
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“Teachers will avoid the students who might drag down their rankings. (This, actually, I have not seen in practice.)”
I don’t think it happens as much in particular schools (teachers don’t have much say in which students they get) but I do think it is happening in the job market.
I have been job hunting recently due to my spouse’s relocation, and the district I am looking in just began tying teacher evaluations to test scores. Knowing this, I am purposely avoiding schools with low scores. My heart tells me that I can teach anyone, anywhere, but at this point in my career I need to be realistic. I am an award-winning teacher with 10 years of experience. I don’t want to take on a difficult assignment only to be fired or have my professional reputation ruined with an “unsatisfactory” evaluation. The kids in those schools need good teachers, but it isn’t worth the risk.
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Oh no, my comment is “awaiting moderation?” Is that because of the blog links? It’s not blogspam, I swear; it’s all relevant 😦
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Sadly, the legislator mentioned in the link is one of my former students. I’d like to ask her to answer this: “What if, hypothetically, one of my students just crumpled up a test and took a nap during the test session? How should that affect my evaluation?” Not that that’s ever happened, of course. (Note: Last sentence is thick with sarcasm.)
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Okay, trying Jon’s idea… posting links one at a time…
Diane… your predictions are already coming (have already come) to pass… (part 1)
*Teachers will teach to the test. (there already)
* Schools will narrow the curriculum only to what is tested. (yes, this happens so teachers can boost their passing rates – they don’t teach to the high-functioning kids, leaving them to fend for themselves,; they teach the low functioning kids, and only just enough to pass the tests with a minimum passing score so the teachers’ and schools’ passing rates can look better. It;s a travesty. I blogged about it here: http://askingquestionsblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/honey-i-shrunk-promise-of-education-or.html)
… (cont’d)
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Diane… your predictions are already coming (have already come) to pass… (part 2)
Some desperate teachers and/or administrators will cheat. (It’s happening: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Peekskill-High-School-Arrest-Regents-Exam-Answers-Changed-History-Geography-205279491.html)
Some schools and superintendents will find ways to game the system. (*cough* Syracuse City Schools *cough*)
Teachers will avoid the students who might drag down their rankings. (This, actually, I have not seen in practice.)
Some fine teachers will be fired because they taught the most challenging students. (Been there, done that.)
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Diane… your predictions are already coming (have already come) to pass… (part 3, of 3)
Teachers will be demoralized by the abasement of their profession. (Only *ALL* of my teacher colleagues on Facebook, and of course, the esteemed Gerald Conti, from a neighboring town of mine: http://askingquestionsblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/gerald-conti-shrugged.html)
The only one who will look on these events with pleasure will be the architects of Race to the Top. (laughing all the way to the bank.)
*sigh*
Ok. That’s it. *pant pant*
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Unintended Consequence —
• Teachers leaving the profession will run for office.
That’ll teach ’em❢
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Hey, that’s a great idea! Vote for me!
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If you know any, we could use a new mayor here in Chicago. Badly.
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We need more than a new mayor.
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Are you kidding? Everyone knows that teachers are lazy, not very bright and don’t care about anyone but themselves. You’d get more respect if you ran as a reformed prostitute/drug dealer/petty thief.
Although lazy, not very bright and don’t care is a pretty good description of a lot of the office holders we have now.
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Ha! A lawyer I used to work for had a sign in his office that said, “Please don’t tell my mother I’m a lawyer. She thinks I play piano in a brothel.” At the rate we’re going, “lawyer” could be replaced with “teacher”.
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I wouldn’t call it sad; I’d call it vicious.
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I can’t believe I missed that scandal in Peekskill, considering THAT’S WHERE I LIVE! Peekskill is a good example of a district struggling with so many issues: low-achieving kids, balancing a budget, and creating a gifted program so high-achieving students have a place to be challenged. Frustrating when this hits home.
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The NEA and the AFT had a chance to question the RttT and to challenge it with savvy assertiveness when it was first presented in February 2009 as part of the ARRA.
But, they decided the best way to approach the “intended” consequences of the RttT was to invite Duncan to their conventions and thrown “softball” questions to him. Hence, the age of “collaboration” in education was the outcome and the age of “teaching to the Test” is the accepted practice in pedagogy.
Privatization is slowly winning. Union leaders will convince teachers that the key to all social justice struggles is to collaborate and wear tee-shirts showing displeasure.
It is time to take our union leaders to task on the issue of the progressive privatization of public education. Teachers will lose their jobs because of test scores. Charter schools because of test scores will replace public schools and unionism in those charter schools will not be allowed. Destabilization of the public school system will be felt the hardest in the poorest of all districts.
Teachers need to raise their voices not only in their schools, in their district, in their state, but they must raise their voices the loudest at their union leaders in the NEA and AFT.
Remember their position is not permanent.
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Here! Here! We need leaders, not collaborators!
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Unfortunately, teachers are often sheep, afraid of challenging or asking the tough questions, much less taking a stand. They are easily swayed against voting for or supporting fellow educators who are seen as “troublemakers” and they will not acknowledge the dangers until it is far too late.
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