Stimulus Money

In a recent Baltimore Sun article on Education, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan wants to use the stimulus aid to improve schools and improve education. This article along with Barrack Obama’s ideas about education is bringing teacher effectiveness and student achievement to the forefront. Arne Duncan wants to link stimulus money to student achievement, which may require governors to show data proving teachers are effective. He also suggests extending the school day, the school week, and the school year, so that the students can compete with students from other countries.
Teacher effectiveness and student achievement are now intricately related. In theory, this practice makes perfect sense to me. In education, everyone remains on the same pay scale, based on experience and education, regardless of what is going on in your classroom. Some schools offer stipends for teachers who come on Saturdays and who take on additional responsibility. Still, very few motivated, hardworking teachers feel they are making the money they deserve. Many studies show that an effective teacher is the most important part of improving student achievement. I would love to see a fair and equitable merit based pay system implemented, rewarding teachers who are the most effective. However, when dealing with education, we are dealing with human beings. The product or profits we are measuring are whether students have learned the content and can demonstrate it on a standardized state test. There is so much more involved in student achievement than simply the teacher.

The question becomes finding an equitable way to measure “student gains” and “effectiveness”. My fear is that we will begin to see the achievement gap widen, as teachers strive to work with the best classes, so they can make the most money. What happens to those students who are the furthest behind? Are 7th grade teachers effective if they move students from 2nd grade to 5th grade? Does it matter if the students who fail are taking their test without a calculator in a room that is 105°F?

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/on-education/2009/04/09/will-stimulus-money-lead-to-actual-education-reform.html