I was just informed that by 2019 50% of my evaluation as a teacher will be based on my students test scores on state mandated tests in reading, writing, and math. 20% in 2016 and 34% in 2018) I know this is the trend nationwide, but it is still discouraging. I am fine if people want to base my performance as a MUSIC teacher on how well my students learn and progress in MUSIC. I also understand that as a public school teacher my students should be tying the curriculum into other content areas, which is why I have them write papers, relate music to math, discuss physics, biology, literature, politics, and other things as they relate to the curriculum; however, basing their state mandated tests are not indicative of me being an adequate teacher. It is discouraging to think that the politicians and policy makers in our country and state have been so blinded by the corporations selling canned tests and evaluation systems. That is like grading a farmer on how my produce tastes after it has been cooked at a restaurant. Instead, grade me on how it tastes when it comes from my garden. Or, if I were a optometrist, evaluating me on how many of my patients get their inoculations. How about I am a wide receiver coach on a football team and my performance evaluation has to do with how many sacks we have as a football team. Or maybe I am a contractor hired by Macys to renovate the bathrooms, but when I am done I am evaluated on the customer service offered at the makeup counter. The analogies are too easy to come by. HOW DOES THIS MAKE SENSE. I am slightly irritated, no I am really worked up about it. The ultimate irony, I am a teacher at the highest scoring comprehensive high school in the state. My evaluation will in all likelihood be stellar, but it is still absurd. And to my colleagues that teach in other schools, good luck.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 00:59:24 +0000
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