Mercedes Schneider was invited to contribute to the Néw York Times’ blog “Room for Debate.” The subject was “What Makes a Good Teacher?” Eric Hanushek said evaluation must be tied to retention and rewards. Amanda Ripley said that teachers’ colleges must be more rigorous and selective. Jal Mehta said that teacher education must be like a medical residency. Kaya Henderson said that the key to great teachers is respect.
Mercedes said that it was time to stop punitive evaluations and let teachers focus on their students, not their scores. She was the only classroom teacher in the debate.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Halleleujah!!!!!! By the way, I loved her book! Everything she says in this article is so true!
Fine your last line is simple, yet profound reminder of why the the so called reformers have generated an agenda and ideology that harms all that it touches…except corporations and privitizers.
What a great teacher to represent us all in the trenches! Thank you Mercedes and thank you Diane.
Many outstanding comments on Mercedes’ excellent essay. Here’s one with some interesting thoughts and phrases:
Gas Mann 7 hours ago
I’ve wracked my brain to come up with another situation where someone is tested but then someone else is held responsible for the results. We don’t breathalyze the passenger or the owner of the car but the driver. We don’t examine the patient and then diagnose their spouse or child. Until this whole silly standardized testing model, we held in America that an individual is responsible for their own actions and must face the consequences. Yet, not teachers apparently. If someone’s child underperforms, clearly it is not their responsibility but the teachers.
If that’s the case — and logic shows it isn’t, but who among the frothing-at-the-mouth supporters of standardized testing is being logical — then shouldn’t parents also be held responsible? They had first crack at the miserable failures that are their children, and they have the most influence. Why do we not penalize them? We could fine them when their children perform poorly. After all, isn’t that a sign of bad parenting that their children aren’t doing their homework or studying properly? Or we could make them pay more property taxes since their children are an increased burden on the teacher, who must use valuable time and resources away from the less-stupid and more-motivated children to help the little mouth-breathers along. What’s that you say? That’s ridiculous? Yeah, no kidding. It’s the kids who take the tests, and it’s the kids who should face responsibility.
Mercedes Schneider: a breath of fresh air, a missive from Planet Reality.
The other four: wishful thinking, tortured logic, gimmicks and proven failures.
Amanda Ripley writes:
[start quote]
Of all the lessons from other countries, this is the one the United States has been most reluctant to embrace: To elevate the teaching profession, start with the education colleges. Make them rigorous and selective, and make sure everyone else knows it.
Once you’ve done that, miraculous things begin to happen. People start to trust teachers more. Politicians give teachers more autonomy — and even more pay.
[end quote]
Yet the very last sentence of a Finnish teacher she quotes eviscerates her entire fantasy of miracle making: “Punishing is never a good way to deal with schools.”
Eric Hanushek:
[start quote]
Despite decades of study and enormous effort, we know little about how to train or select high quality teachers. We do know, however, that there are huge differences in the effectiveness of classroom teachers and that these differences can be observed.
[end quote]
Eric, buddy, read the speech by your Lord and Master, Bill Gates, 9-23-2005, to Lakeside School.
¿? Don’t know how to google? Always glad to help someone that doesn’t know a quality from a quantity—
Link:
Then there’s Jal Mehta, who says we’ve got to treat training teachers like we train doctors—except that in these times of “education reform” you want the equivalent of world-class medical expertise in education for the price you pay for what you want to turn into McJobs (with the resulting lack of autonomy and respect and benefits that accompany those positions).
And last but on a par with her self-styled “reform” peers is Kaya Henderson:
[start quote]
Great teaching is one of the most magical things you will ever see. As chancellor of the District of Columbia public schools, I have the privilege of seeing that magic in action every day. Our teachers inspire me with their passion, skill and unwavering dedication. They are the reason the students in D.C. are growing faster than those in every other state, as evidenced by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, America’s gold standard for measuring student learning.
[end quote]
Again with the magical thinking. And notice that sad refrain of ‘standardized testing measures genuine student learning.’
No, Ms. Henderson, it’s not all about the test. It’s not even a little bit about the test.
Mercedes Schneider: plain truths in plain words that can be backed up by facts, logic and [I love this part!] hard data points.
Amanda Ripley, Eric Hanushek, Jal Mehta, and Kaya Henderson: individuals that truly and sincerely and with studied ferocity, employ Rheeality Distortion Fields on themselves.
I never thought I’d get the chance to use this, but anybody remember Mr. T? You know, in one of the Rocky movies he says before he fights Rocky Balboa:
“I pity the fool.”
What, oh what, would he have said about the four, er, edupundits referred to above?
I don’t know, because they leave me at a loss for words.
😎
It’s interesting that she holds teachers to such a high bar of entry when educational punditry seems to have such a low bar of entry.
Didn’t she become an expert by writing a single book?
Here are two posts that I wrote to NYT in Dr. Schneider’s post:
1)
What a twisted mind, shame on you, Michael?
??The use of more objective evaluation, meaning test?? Transform learning from creativity to robot style, is it meaningful to you? Without food but only endure abusive life, unfortunate students cannot learn, then teacher is blamed by VAM = value added model, is it objective evaluation to you?
Please learn how to read, to follow the news and then to write with intelligence. You are not the true American, but corrupted and greedy immigrant servant to corrupted business. Back2basic
2)
To all readers who love and treasure civility, democracy, and humanity in America:
1) Why do all of you love to live, work and stay in America?
2) Would all of you prefer to be bullied and to be restricted in freedom of creativity by corrupted business corporate?
3) Do all of you realize that the prime goal of Public Education is to cultivate young people their civil rights to learn in their own pace and to become whatever profession they choose to be?
4) I choose to be electrician, not journalist. Is that made me inferior because I am not graduated from university?
In short, in our body, every part in our body harmoniously works together in order to sustain our life well. An a**h*le does perfect its job, if not we will have headache due to constipation. Would anyone try to get a**h*le to be a mouth = race to the top? Please give me a break for this foolish promotion.
Higher education requires learners the utmost commitment, joy of creativity, and the ultimate passion in research or innovation. Most of all, learners need lots of money, support and guidance from talented professionals and public education FUND. Back2basic
I’m stunned that the NYT allowed a mere classroom teacher to participate.
Unfortunately, Mercedes’ response will fall on deaf ears. Here is a snippet from the introduction to this “debate” that shows how truly clueless the NYT reporting is on this issue. It is in reference to using student test scores to evaluate teachers:
“a trend that is popping up across the country”
A “trend”? “popping up”? Seriously NYT?
*Teachers tied to test scores was a federal NCLB waiver requirement!
Why is this so tough to explain?
And this paragraph sounds like it was written by a sophomore in high school:
“If this *approach is not the way to go and yet American students are still academically behind their peers in other countries, how do we ensure and improve teacher quality such that student success is a given?”
Exactly. Here was my comment yet to be approved: (scare quotes purposeful!)
I guess one real educator out of 5 is better than none in the “debate” on public education. This fails to address the real issue of accountability- the word that applies only to teachers and children. Accountability has not been applied to policy makers and insiders who have stifled creativity and meaningful learning opportunities with junk science test and punish schemes. We need educators in charge of the Federal and at state depts of education. Arne Duncan is a basketball player. His top advisors are from Silicon Valley, The Gates Foundation and Wall St.. Race to the Top & the Republicans’ NCLB are identical privatization schemes designed to enrich insiders. When these so called experts say they care about “accountability” and teacher quality don’t believe them.
I agree with Jal Mehta that teacher education should be more like a medical residency. “Demonstration schools” associated with teachers’ colleges used to be more common, and I think it would be beneficial for future teachers and for the teaching profession to bring them back. But hey, you know what’s not at all like a medical residency? TFA. Or alternative certifications. Or online certification programs. So let’s start by getting rid of those, shall we?
Gloria, have you visited medical clinic since 2010? As saying goes that it is too good to be true, then it is not true.
99.5% of all Doctors just give you antibiotic without diagnosing patients’ problem, or give some free sample of new drug (experimental drug!) from bribery of pharmaceutical manufacturer without a second thought for patients’ well-being, except their money and career.
If teaching profession goes through program like medical Doctor, then the chance of student debt and life with culture of fear to lose teaching licence easily will transform teaching profession from creativity and civility MINDSET into submissive state of mind of YES men and women to the power and the rich. Back2basic
How broad is your paint brush. Your second paragraph is just plain silly. Do yo have a shred of evidence to support your assertion? You
Reread your last paragraph; it makes no sense.
John a
I intentionally emphasize the submissive mind of YES MEN style in teaching profession. How silly is it that TFAs who believe in 5 week program to qualify to teach?
How many teachers are afraid to lose job in speaking out against maniac testing scheme? Isn’t it silly to be YES MEN style?
Honestly, I would be in the same boat, YES MEN style if I was a minted graduate in teaching profession. Married with children, student loan and mortgage will force people to be quiet or yes men without any doubt.
Would it be silly to you? not to me. Back2basic.
Noticed a big difference between comments from teachers and others, also those still teaching versus long since retired. Many “not a teacher” comments focus on tests as the best way to know whether a teacher is effective, and also reflect a belief that teaching to the test is a good idea. Comments were also noticeably focused on high school and college admissions…not surprising for readers/followers of the NY Times. Too bad the whole panel was not comprised of teachers whose credentials are as impeccable as Mercedes. If given the opportunity, she could puncture many of the claims of fellow panelist and the most famous economist/statistician pushing VAM since 1979, Eric Hanushek.
In 1991 we didn’t have computers to the extent we do now, so there was really no way this could have been an issue back then. Technology giveth and technology taketh away. It’s unfortunate that we as a society don’t think about what is being taken away from us due to technological “innovation.”