Teacher Factor
teacher-factor.jpg
Our principal gave the our staff an article “The Teacher Factor” (NY Times, 2000) in our mailboxes without any explanation. We are all assuming she gave it to us since we are starting into our round of MAPs testing. I”m mean isn’t one of the main reasons we test is to find out how well our teachers are teaching??
I’ve felt that our school has over done the testing. We’ve got DRA, CoGAT, CSAP, MAPs, etc. and we are still looking at others. The kids are tested so much, the classroom teachers are teaching in a rush.
Anyway, back to the article. So what does make a good teacher? They say they are still researching that. I found the article to be true to what most teachers say after they have moved around to many different schools. Some even say they can tell who the student had the previous year, but what the student has retained. Enjoy the article. I’d like to know what you think.
Zhihua Song said,
September 28, 2007 at 9:33 pm
This reminds me of the Chinese education system. For many years, educators have been saying the same thing with the testing system, especially in high schools. Students and teachers are all working hard around the wand of College Entrance Examination. When the wand moves, everybody follows the move and focuses on how to increase the score.
Teachers are mostly evaluated by how their class is doing in the exams. They will get their bonus if their class has done well in those exams. I guess sometimes it is just too hard to test if students have learned anything else since there are not effective way to test it.
rmacioce said,
September 30, 2007 at 10:25 am
Robertson
I read this a couple of times and am still not sure how to comment. I also teach high school and this research seemed to be geared towards younger grades. I do think teachers have a huge impact on student learning. However, there are so many factors that come into play I can’t imagine you could find really substantial results. I think is what it comes back to is testing….our kids our tested to death which takes away so much from teachers teaching. Why is it we need to differentiate for our students but teachers all have to teach the same things in the same way. Just like our students we teachers teach in different ways.
Kim said,
September 30, 2007 at 4:56 pm
What frustrates me the most about all the test that goes on is the amount of class time that is spent doing it. How are we supposed to teach when they kids spend weeks out of the year being tested. Another thing that bothers me is that we started using the MAPs last year and have yet to get any infomation or training on how the test works and what it shows. I get a number like 219 and have no idea what to do with it.
Ryan Adams said,
September 30, 2007 at 7:01 pm
I agree with all the testing. You know what they say, “You can’t make a sheep fatter by weighing it”
KJA said,
September 30, 2007 at 8:06 pm
I have mixed feelings about the article too. So if I teach 10th grade history, the scores my students achieve are direclty dependent on the teacher they had in 8th grade? It is just so hard to determine what effects student achievement the most.
I remember I felt much better about testing when I taught at a school where 100% of the students went to college. There was a clear goal there and that lended itself a clear focus to my teaching. If that is not the goal of the school I teach in now, should my goals a focus change?
hbohn said,
September 30, 2007 at 9:25 pm
I couldn’t read the article for some reason (too small), but one word came to mind when you asked ‘What makes a great teacher?’ I think being flexible is the most important thing for educators on all levels, especially now that we are learning how to incorporate and use new technology in our classrooms. I am trying as much as I can to take what I am learning from this program and integrate it into my curriculum. I think being flexible is also an important word for all of us right now as learners as well, with the online format of classes. I have also had to be very flexible trying to learn how to blog and use WordPress!
Lois said,
October 1, 2007 at 8:57 pm
I think a corporate element has been brought in into our profession. The positive is that we have accountability for the work we (teachers) do. The negative is that we do not produce a product called children. Assessments “rate” the quality of our children, which in turn, rates us. There is something wrong with this picture.
brentgwilson said,
October 10, 2007 at 8:19 am
I’m intrigued by the way you received the article – in your box without a comment. I wonder what that says about your principal and what her intentions were in distributing it. Very interesting!
jnhack said,
October 14, 2007 at 3:24 pm
I agree with you about too much testing. It’s so frustrating as a teacher that people base teaching skills by test scores. By the time we get to CSAP (the scores administrators seem to care about most), the kids have been so over-tested that they don’t care. So why are we being judged based on a test kids could care less about?