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EDITORIAL
Let's see a plan
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Updated: Apr. 10, 2012 | 10:09 a.m.
The smell of cash has the state's education bureaucrats doing an about-face over a Nevada law that prevents classroom data measuring student performance from being used to reward or punish individual teachers.
For nearly a decade, teacher unions and other officers of the education establishment have steadfastly defended the law -- in fact, they were the ones who pushed compliant legislative Democrats to pass it in the first place.
But now the statute threatens the state's ability to tap into the $4.3 billion "Race to the Top" fund set aside by the Obama administration to help turn around failing schools. Only states that can document performance are eligible for the money.
But with the Nevada budget buried in a revenue sinkhole, momentum now seems to be growing for a special session of the Legislature to alter the law so the state can sidle up to the beltway trough. Teacher union officials in recent weeks have indicated they'll accept changes to the statute.
That sounds good, but ...
The current law is indeed an impediment to accountability. It should be swept off the books regardless of how much money Washington dangles in front of the state. The fear, though, is that the teacher unions and other obstacles to true reform will use their considerable clout with their Democratic puppets in the Assembly to craft a watered-down bill that continues to shield underperforming teachers while somehow technically meeting federal requirements.
So we'll curb our enthusiasm until we see a specific proposal.
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I am an educator that is actually for using testing as part of teacher evaluations. I just wonder how it will be done in a way that is fair to the teacher. I love my job, and I love my students. Many of them try their hardest, but there are always those who will do the bare minimum to get by. That is nothing new in the educational system. I just worry that this district/state will not come up with a good and fair evaluation process. Using my goggles from the past, I see a possible future filled with a new evaluation department being added, a superintendent over teacher testing evaluations, and I am guessing experts will need to be hired. This is going to get expensive; we know that the district can throw a lot of money on great ideas that turn into great flops. I just don't trust them. I will continue to trust the one thing that I know that works: believing in my students, putting in extra hours of work, and continuing to revise and update my teaching methods. If all teachers do this, there test scores will go up. We just have to remember that is unreasonable to compare Henderson schools with East Vegas schools. It is like comparing apples to oranges, and this is not fair to teachers. Many schools would make AYP if the only require was showing some growth. As long as they always show some growth, they must be doing something right.
Mike,
In order to change parent behavior we need to change the system. Keeping parents from making meaningful choices about how or where their child is educated DOES NOT help the situation. Parents are stuck with 1 school. They get no choice and so schools are not responsive to their needs. It is no surprise that many do not seem to care much (I think they care more than the teaching establishment gives them credit)
Curly Bill,
Value added assessment is fair because it evaluates teachers based on their individual students performance compared to that individual students performance from the year before. A low-income Hispanic kid will have a different performance trendline than the white and very wealthy grandchildren of the Greenspun media empire. A teacher will not be penalized for having a room full of non-native English speakers since they are compared only with their own personal performance.
"Maybe you can find happiness. I doubt it."
Right on! Most people are bitter because that's what they really want to be. Such appears to be the case here.
teacher
Your postings are always the same. Students are brats. Parents don't care. Administrators are useless. You are like a washing machine stuck on the spin cycle. You are just frustrated at have chosen a profession you hate. Pull the plug and reset your life. Maybe you can find happiness. I doubt it.