In a vote at the end of last month, the Maryland Council for Educator Effectiveness approved a new standardized evaluation system that will be implemented in seven districts, (including Baltimore City and County), at the start of next year. Under this system, student performance will be worth 50% of the total evaluation - a notion so unpopular that every state and district teacher allowed to sit on the panel voted against it. BTU President Marietta English decried the system as "yet another misguided example of an obsession with test scores," and in the wake of this year's testing scandals I am surprised that there was not more trepidation on the parts of non-teachers with regards to this tremendous emphasis on student achievement. It only seems logical that the more emphasis is placed on test scores as an evaluator of one's acumen as an educator, the more likely incidents such as the recent MSA testing scandals will become. This evaluation tool is not yet even in place, but educators are already feeling enough pressure regarding test scores to forge results outright. In my opinion, it follows that the more emphasis is placed on test scores as a measure of teacher quality, the lower the actual quality of teaching being delivered will become. There will be no cause for teaching anything other than the test. People want to protect their livelihoods - to be surprised at the lengths some will go to to do so is nothing more than extreme naiveté.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/education/blog/2011/06/baltimore_teachers_union_denou.html
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You raise a lot of good points. I agree that teacher’s pay should, in some way, be linked to quality of instruction, rather than years of service. But is testing the answer? As things stand now, the answer is no, for many of the points you raised: the temptation to cheat will fall heavily on struggling teachers, and the pressure to “teach to the test,” will overcome many, even those who initially resist.
You’re right, when testing becomes the focus, the quality of instruction decreases. So what is the answer? How can we fairly compensate teachers for their quality, skill, and hard work, if not by utilizing yearly testing? Could Principals be given the power to move teachers up and down a payscale, based on observations of effectiveness, effort, commitment, etc.? Is that risky territory as well? Could better, stronger state tests be the answer? How about devising some sort of test that you can't "teach" to--one that relies soley on critical thinking, transferable skills, and strong reading comprehension. Is that even possible? Or would we someday find ourselves in the same mess we're in today...
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