According to Sunday’s press conference with President Obama, the No Child Left Behind Act is about to get a whole lot of changes. Although no specific details have been voted on by Congress, the Obama administration promises reform on how schools are judged to be succeeding or failing, as well as get rid of the 2014 deadline for all students to be academically proficient. The new plan is said to be differentiated for schools in chaos or critical conditions and will be based on academic gains instead of whether or not “adequate yearly progress” has been made. The funds allotted to schools and districts will no longer follow the formulas set by the Bush administration, and will be divvied up by how well student data looks from teachers and schools. The plan is supposed to hold teachers and school districts more accountable for the success of their children instead of giving out money in a form of entitlement.
As an educator in a low performing school, the thing I fear most is the accountability that is being enforced on the teachers. Obama’s administration wants to include test scores in teacher evaluations, which could have huge impacts on teacher ratings. While I understand the importance of teachers performing well and those skills showing on standardized tests, I am afraid that the differentiation that is being focused on will not be as diverse as they expect. For example, my school’s High School Assessment Scores are far below meeting AYP standards. However, our test scores in my subject have grown exponentially in the past couple of years. In comparison to other city schools, even though there has been big growth, we still look like we are performing far below what is necessary. I know that this plan wants to stress the importance of diversity, but to what level will a federal government be able to keep track of each schools’ teachers’ performances. I am afraid that even with the changes, neighborhood schools that are starting to improve will still get demeaning labels and budget cuts and in exchange charter schools will continue to receive more funding. Many of my students have no other option than to attend my neighborhood school, and lack the initiative or knowledge to get into these transformational programs. Therefore, many of my students will either give up or drop out. If some drastic change does not occur to the Reform Act, I am afraid that many of my students will lose their way in a broken system.
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It seems like you have two issues that are getting blended together in this post.
1. If you tie test scores to teacher evaluation will I be fairly judged as an individual teacher?
2. If my school is improving, but still doing badly, will it get the funding it needs to continue improving and eventually make the grade?
As far as #1 goes, I don't think federal evaluators will be deciding your raise. They might come up with a formula, but the administration at your school will be the one implementing the formula. If they think you're doing a great job I would think that you would be rewarded.
As far as #2 goes if improvements are very slow, as a parent with a kid that will be at a high school for four years, I don't know if I care that if you were given 10 years the school would be ok. If other schools are doing better with different approaches they deserve to be rewarded. If your students would be better served at a school that they don't know about, communication of these options need to be improved. Lack of initiative and knowledge haven't kept kids from being successful in your class, so they shouldn't keep them from finding the right school.
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