A group of 40 district superintendents in Néw York banded together to denounce Cuomo’s teacher evaluation system. They said that the law should be suspended as it would be bad for education.
Every superintendent should speak up. Cuomo’s plan is not research-based. It is harmful to teachers and harmful to students as well.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Teacher evaluations based on student test scores are most harmful to the students. Last winter we left our public school which we had been attending for four years because I felt the teacher was putting more than usual pressure on my son who was having a hard time keeping up with the convoluted math and the developmentally inappropriate LA standards. My son, a normally happy child was coming home saying” I think ______ doesn’t like me. _______ is picking on me. ________ told me I need to study harder for the test.” My son also began calling himself , “stupid” and saying that ” he just isn’t smart”. Believe me these teacher evaluations have a trickle down effect and the ones who pay the biggest price are the children. I even heard a teacher in the hall reprimand a parent whose child was out for a week with the flu. She said, ” You really need to bring her back to school because we have testing next week.” Scoring high test score results is replacing compassion in our schools and I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit back and let this happen. Stop the evaluations based on testing. Bring back peer review and include in the mix parent review as well.
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Absolutely agree on the unintended (but predictable) results of using tests for teacher evals.
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This teacher response was totally predictable. If the disrupter reformers were as smart as they think they are, they would have known that their ideas would create the attitude this child exhibits. They would have known their ideas would lead to convincing a lot of students to give up. I guess none of the tests the so-called best-and-brightest took asked any questions about human behavior. If the tests had, the reformers may have come up as FAR BELOW BASIC.
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What makes you think this kind of response is not intended by the so-called reformers? I think it’s exactly what they seek for Other People’s Children.
After all, in their eyes education is explicitly and solely a vocational endeavor, intended to prepare young people for the labor markets – rigid, authoritarian, arbitrary – they dominate.
These people know exactly what they want and what they’re doing, which, given their impacts on children and the abyss between that and their insipid rhetoric, is yet another reason they are so despicable.
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. . . neither accurate nor reliable
. . . harmful to students and harmful to teachers
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And EVEN IF the tests were accurate and reliable, under the current system they would still be harmful to students and teachers. This point is NEVER stated.
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“This point is NEVER stated.”
I’ve been stating that almost daily on this and other blogs and to anyone to whom I speak and who will listen for years now. So much for NEVER-ha ha! (just funnin ya OA2t). From the end of my infamous Wilson posts:
“So the mark [grade/test score] becomes part of the story about yourself and with sufficient repetitions becomes true: true because those who know, those in authority, say it is true; true because the society in which you live legitimates this authority; true because your cultural habitus makes it difficult for you to perceive, conceive and integrate those aspects of your experience that contradict the story; true because in acting out your story, which now includes the mark and its meaning, the social truth that created it is confirmed; true because if your mark is high you are consistently rewarded, so that your voice becomes a voice of authority in the power-knowledge discourses that reproduce the structure that helped to produce you; true because if your mark is low your voice becomes muted and confirms your lower position in the social hierarchy; true finally because that success or failure confirms that mark that implicitly predicted the now self evident consequences. And so the circle is complete.” (Wilson’s words)
In other words students “internalize” what those “marks” (grades/test scores) mean, and since the vast majority of the students have not developed the mental skills to counteract what the “authorities” say, they accept as “natural and normal” that “story/description” of them. Although paradoxical in a sense, the “I’m an “A” student” is almost as harmful as “I’m an ‘F’ student” in hindering students becoming independent, critical and free thinkers. And having independent, critical and free thinkers is a threat to the current socio-economic structure of society.
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Oh, no doubt you have, Duane. I mean you NEVER hear it from our friends in policy positions…or the media. But your personal crusade is certainly making a difference.
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It is not a matter of being held accountable for their job. This is how the politicians are thinking. If a student is more interested in fashion, socializing and extracurricular activities (be they legal or illegal), the teacher is supposed to have their job on the line for THEIR grades? Teachers are not just complaining for no reason. If the job looks so easy, why aren’t you a teacher? Why don’t the politicians hold the students accountable for their grade? In Europe if you don’t maintain a certain grade, you are asked to leave the university. Students understand that it’s their responsibility to learn. Why don’t the majority of the students here know that? The politicians are merely reinforcing their sense of entitlement. Students need to learn how to work and study themselves. Education should not be viewed as an entitlement, but a privilege. We’ve all had teachers from who we learned and we’ve all had teachers from who we had a hard time learning. One teacher cannot fit everyone’s needs. If the student knows how to read, then he/she should read the books and study and not solely depend on the teacher to do everything for him/her. This is not the same as being held accountable at a corporate position! This is turning education into a mockery. Education is not just about learning facts, it’s about learning how to work, how to do for yourself, how to think for yourself and be motivated to achieve goals. It’s not about receiving a degree whether you earned it or not. No child left behind is leaving EVERYONE behind. When the world is in their hands in a decade or so, who will they blame then when they are unable to hold a job or think for themselves? They should blame the politicians for coddling them in the first place. If you really want to help the students who are struggling, work on putting programs in place to support and promote their education. A teacher has extra help after school and 2 students show up out of 75. It’s not because the others are doing so well, in fact it’s usually the 2 that show up are in the top of the class. And that teacher is supposed to be held accountable? There needs to be checks and balances and the politicians need to spell out their goals because they are either just throwing punches or there is an alternative motive.
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I totally agree that formal education is not an entitlement nor a right, but is a privilege.
Our society is what it is because EVERYONE feels entitled to things they should earn the privilege for. Period.
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Oh baloney. The sheeple of the U.S. have to be about the meekest, least demanding people in the developed world, willing to keep bearing more and more of the work while getting less and less of the financial take. Americans are about the only people that argue that the rich “deserve” to rob the poor blind because they’re the ones who worked for it (as if the poor workers had nothing to do with it).
Anyway, being entitled to something means you’ve done something to earn it. You are entitled to draw Social Security when you retire because you’ve paid into the system your whole working life (unless you’re a public employee in some states). If you’re an hourly worker who works more than 40 hours in a week, you are entitled to time and a half pay. Entitlements aren’t things that are handed to you, they are things you earn.
And, finally, education is a social benefit, not just an individual “privilege”. Poor and minority kids warehoused in “no excuses” schools being force-fed irrelevant facts may wonder what kind of “privilege” that is. If we want people to care about education, we have to make it relevant, and not just to affluent white kids who will get the real privilege of going on to expensive colleges and using their connections to be “successful” in a world that many poor and minority people are shut out of.
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I tend to agree and wish more students and families took education serious. Those that do not or are disruptive consume a disproportionate share of teacher’s time and resources. They also inhibit learning for students who DO value education.
But that is different from kids that do not “fit” into the current education system. Alternative schools and schools-within-schools have been highly successful in our own public school system and the waiting lists are long. Which begs the question of why voters and politicians do not support with action and funds these popular programs for all interested families.
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I know teachers don’t mean to put extra pressure on children to succeed on the test. I realize that their jobs are on the line. I can see it in their faces. I can see the worry and frustration in their eyes. I should state that I’m also deeply sympathetic to the teachers as well as the students. I’m watching this battle like a hawk because I know as a parent I’m capable of reversing this horrible trend toward more testing. FYI- Asia is absolutely baffled by our apparent eagerness to replicate their education model. They realize they have crippled the creativity of their youth. They are trying to learn and implement ours.
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Threats, fear, and punishment are undermining and corrupting classroom environments across the state. Don’t blame the victims. This toxic atmosphere was produced by Andrew Cuomo and Meryl Tisch; they own the disaster that is unfolding. The damage inflicted by the new Cuomo Core Agenda will permanently impair the academic potential of countless children from Montauk to Buffalo. It is time to stop the madness.
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It’s good as far as it goes, but as I keep arguing, I’m still waiting for a “therefore”: “Therefore, we collectively refuse to implement this abusive law in our districts. We collectively promise that, so long as we remain superintendents, no teacher in our districts will suffer any adverse consequences as a result of this immoral evaluation system.” Ethical people in power have the ability – and, I’d argue, the responsibility – to do so much more than just denounce bad policy. They have the power to prevent such policies from being implemented. Sure, it comes with the risk of having to resign or risk getting terminated, but, again, resigning in protest is what ethical people do when faced with unconscionable requirements.
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That selects for compliant employees, though. If the only ethical option is “quit or get fired” those ethical people will then be replaced by other people who will have learned it’s better to go along.
They need a way to object and stay there, a Plan C, or you would really be encouraging an organizational culture of “go along to get along” and you’ll end up with people who do that.
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For lower level employees, I would agree, which is why I really can’t blame teachers and maybe even building principals who do what they have to to go along to get along. But leaders are supposed to, well, lead. Superintendents have the power to stand up and say no and protect those under them from harm, including students and teachers. All the more so when there are 40 of them banding together.
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Chiara,
Your suggested consequences may or may not occur. I can just as easily say that the results will be that more people will be energized to do the ethical thing and these educational standards and standardized testing regimes with the accompanying VAM/SLO/SGP schemes will be rejected.
We actually can’t know what the future would bring in situations like these, but I certainly would prefer to take the chance by having those supes do the ethical thing as proposed by Dienne. It hasn’t happened yet but it still could-unfortunately most supes know who butters their bread and have a long history of being the lead GAGAer.
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This is the kind of thinking that keeps people from even banding together to write a letter, as these 40 superintendents have done. Or organizing in their workplace. Or marching in the street, or carrying a sign.
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TAGrO! Dienne.
Thoroughly agree!
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I’ve been a teacher for 27 years. There’s been some very tough days.
But I can say that I’d definitely never want to be a principal or superintendent, especially now. Can’t do it….wouldn’t want to do it. Maybe I’d last a month or two running an entire school.
It’s clear that the public policy agenda in New York State is harmful to our children and a danger to our democracy. Anyone who doubts that fact should spend some serious time scrolling back through this blog or reading Diane’s books.
We all share an ethical responsibility to oppose these destructive policies. And, at times like these, real leaders are needed.
Thanks to those 40 New York State district superintendents for making an effort to at least start moving us all in a more positive direction. And, to those educators who are still sitting on the sidelines waiting……not doing anything…..well, if not now, when?
“in the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 1967
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It would be nice if the cowardly administrators in NYC would begin to speak up.
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Jeb Bush parachuted into Michigan to bash public schools:
“Bush, who was Florida governor from 1999 to 2007, is a school voucher and charter school advocate who founded the Foundation for Excellence in Education after he left office. He called in his Lansing remarks for “a radical transformation of our education system” to one that is child-centered with “robust accountability” and higher standards.
“The system we have today is holding us back as a country,” said Bush, who said the K-12 school schedule is still based on an agrarian model that gave children the summer off so they could help in the fields.
“The economic interests of adults is driving most of the decisions we make.”
Everyone is “self interested” except ed reform politicians bashing public schools to push their privatization agenda. Speaking of “economic interests of adults” Michigan has one of the highest concentrations of for-profit charter schools in the country. They’re a national leader on “adults” turning a profit on privatizing schools.
Jeb Bush apparently believes all the “adults” in the state of Michigan are deliberately working to harm their own children. The arrogance of these people is simply amazing. Do you think they learn it at those tony private schools they all attended? Maybe we need to reform America’s top private schools. Add a course on humility.
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The most tired line among so-called reformers:
“The economic interests of adults is driving most of the decisions we make.”
So I guess the hedgefunders and charter CEOs are the altruistic ones? Right.
The economic interests of the already-fabulously-wealthy are driving the system. The view education funding as a pot o’ gold. So much of reform is about shifting where the money goes.
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“Before coming on board with Rauner, Purvis served as CEO of the Chicago International Charter School, a network of 15 schools in Chicago and Rockford.
After Purvis’ hiring, Rauner defended her salary, which is about double of what her predecessor was paid by the state, saying she is “well worth every penny.”
She ran a charter chain so she’s worth double the pay.
Remember! This is not about hostility to public schools!
They’re “agnostics”
Just ignore that it’s a tight-knit little club where they all hire and then promote one another.
Did you see Duncan and Jeb Bush exchange emails? That’s cozy. Obama probably should have told voters were getting Jeb Bush on education.
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Diane, thank you for all of your work. I want to send you a memo, which a teacher from WY wrote. We do not know the best place to send it. Thank you.
joan@joanwink.com
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Go to dianeravitch.com (not net) and hit the contact Diane button.
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When superintendents do a better job sticking up for teachers than NYSUT, do we have a problem?
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Test scores are a terrible way to judge teachers. But my own kids are dealing with a poor teacher and we have had more than we care to. As a teacher myself, I view these struggling colleagues as undermining the 99% of good teachers. Yet, the poor teachers persist, and they seem uninterested in improvement, and the effect on our family is far reaching. What to do?
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What is your point MathVale? Your statement has nothing to do with the discussion at hand.
But… here is a suggestion. Have you thought about talking to the parents of the other children in your child’s classroom. They may not see it the same way as you do, but if they do, perhaps you can find a workable solution together.
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