Question:
What are your impressions of the changes that Secretary Duncan and the Obama administration propose as they consider revising NCLB?
Response:
I like that there is more attention being brought to the NCLB policy. It has been a long time since big media and critique has been placed on this issue. As a product of NCLB I understand how stressful this policy can be firsthand on teachers and students. I do not feel that it has done what it was intended to do, clearly with cheating scandals popping up everywhere it seems to be making things worse. I agree with a lot of the ideas Secretary Duncan and President Obama have for revising NCLB. In the 10 odd years that this policy has been in place there has been plenty of time to see what works and does not work. Hopefully there will be less corruption and more focus on the students and teachers with this intended revise of the policy. I am a bit on the fence, I do believe in paying teachers more, but as a whole. All teachers should perform well at every level of education. Paying those who do better more does not appear to be the best way to get every student to the same place.
My Past Is My Future
Hey Kirnel,
ReplyDeleteSince you said that teachers who perform better shouldnt be payed more, do you also believe that teachers who don't perform at the same level should be payed the same amount as those who are boosting student achievement.
One great thing that I see the new NCLB doing is not simply putting pressure on teachers, but they are providing services and teacher education as well to ensure that teaching methods are up to date and can adequately serve the students.
Maybe it is a good idea to pay teachers for better0than-average performance. But I have also been thinking about whether teachers in affluent areas do better because 1. there are more resources in schools in affluent areas, 2. because the students' life-chances seem a lot better in these areas. Just some ideas about the things besides teacher ability that might affect teacher performance.
ReplyDeleteDear Kirnel,
ReplyDeleteYou bring up the idea of teacher compensation in your blog entry, which is definitely a topic that's being addressed more specifically in many educational settings. Did you follow any of the story of the tension between the governor of Wisconsin and the teachers there? (This would have been earlier in the year.) Teachers' benefits were cut and he was strongly in favor of ignoring the work of many years of negotiating from the state teachers' union. Teachers flooded the capital building and staged a vociferous protest. I don't think it turned out well for the teachers in the end, though I'm not sure where things stand right now.
Similar tensions have been building throughout the country, so you're addressing a hot topic. What ideas do you have about how teachers should be evaluated and rewarded? Can we learn anything from any other professions, somehow adapting other merit systems? What seems to be a reasonable expectation for teacher competence? There are already national (and state) tests in place that all teachers who are certified must pass. What other measures can you envision that would be helpful?
You've picked a topic that would interest a lot of constituencies in the world of education.
Best,
Dr. Emert