Houston Teachers To Sue Over Evaluations Tied To Test Scores

I wonder what her value-added score would have been?

It was going to happen eventually. A group of Houston teachers this week will be filing a federal lawsuit challenging the district's teacher evaluation system, based on a "Value-Added" method like Florida's as shown above. Houston's is one of the first to base their evaluations on student test scores.

This suit is going to draw huge national attention because all over the country, states and school districts are more and more basing their decisions about teacher pay and job security to student test scores. Whereas in the past, those decisions were made on observations of actual teaching.

Now there will be those who will say "but how can you know how well a teacher is teaching unless you factor in student test scores?"

Well, I teach music. Music isn't a "tested subject".  Is it fair that MY job performance is based on a test a student takes that I had nothing to do with?

Up to 70%--that's SEVENTY percent--of all teachers, from early childhood to high school, fall into this category. But it's the Reading and Math tests that they are judged by.

There are NO EXCEPTIONS for special needs kids--they are expected to get the same scores doing the same things as all the other kids. Even though their IEPs say something completely different.

We just had a diary up where it talks about what happens when testing is the sole basis for evaluation: The curriculum vanishes to the point at which there is nothing left but test prep. No music, no art, no PE, even no recess.

And for what?  These tests aren't even a good indicator of student progress anyway.

As the data shows, such tests are extremely unreliable indicators of student learning. And such tests can't even test higher-order thinking or critical thinking skills. And as far as the essays go? A computer can write gobbledygook and still get a good grade.

So what's the solution? First of all, to disabuse ourselves of the notion that children are test scores and can be measured as such. Second, to get administrators out of the offices, and maybe even get them some actual training in observation. Third, how about working to actually keep veteran teachers--you know, the ones that have been there for twenty years and have massive tenure and the salaries to match? Those Master Teachers need to be mentors and also can help with the observation and evaluation process.

Finally,

Vote for me for a Netroots Nation Scholarship.

Sign the petition asking all legislators to take the same standardized tests they are asking our children to take.

Support Ras Baraka for Mayor of Newark. He will take on Chris Christie and the corporatizers and privatizers of public education. His opponent is being funded by hedge funders and billionaires.