It's Not Business; It's Personal

There are many prevailing myths in education: more testing will produce better students, charter schools outperform public schools, computers can teach as well as humans, student test scores are a reflection of the quality of their teacher.

According to George Madaus “tests can and should be used to judge and hold schools accountable but not students because tests don’t adequately represent what kids know and can do.” He explains that there is always a statistical margin of error that could be due to factors such as the temperature in the testing room, a hungry child, or one who just had a fight with her best friend.  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/schools/interviews/madaus.html

  

Let’s consider that argument for a moment. He is saying that we should be concerned with how well the teachers at a school teach to the test but should not take into account the learner’s prior achievement, aptitudes, attitudes or settings. He believes that children and their individual circumstances are unique. But, isn’t that true of teachers too? 

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The Whole is Greater than the Parts

The teacher I learned the most from was also the one I liked the least. It was Miss Burstein at P.S. 67. She was my social studies teacher who asked hard questions-for a seventh grader: “Why did…… What would have happened if….. Her homework was hard, her tests were harder, and my grades were dismal. For a while I hated history. When I became a teacher I began to understand why she made us think so hard. She was also funny, energetic, personable, and kept us engaged.

A recent article in The New York Times, “Grading Teachers, With Data From Class”, describes how one tech company  is collecting and reporting school data. A teacher explained how this data was useful in her practice but she was concerned about her below-average scores in earning student’s trust, building relationships, and helping them feel comfortable asking for help.

Teacher evaluation has reached a crescendo with multiple viewpoints from numerous constituents. I understand the importance of fair and balanced assessment. I embrace the idea of using data to inform decisions. At the same time, teaching is inherently an interpersonal process. It is about connecting with students, engaging them in sophisticated thinking, and most importantly, building trusting and caring relationships.

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