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Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County NJ

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About Teachers: We Have A Lot to Learn

April 23, 2012

by Ed Gross

When the topic is teachers and education, common sense often flies out the window.

Judging the fitness of teachers by the results of standardized tests may seem logical on

its face, but if we apply a little common sense it’s anything but. Why? Because kids are

not commodities. How a class does on a test depends far more on who’s in the class

than who’s teaching it. And how can anyone expect to measure a fourth grade teacher’s

improvement from one year to the next based on the results of completely different

kids? Yet they do. Consider this: a teacher who has many students who are just learning

English and/or come from poor homes where no one is supporting their education can

easily be scored as a bad teacher. Give that same teacher a class full of motivated kids

from upper middle class families the next year. Wow, suddenly she’s a great teacher!

The move to hold teachers accountable via standardized testing is actually quite cynical.

It’s part of the right wing move to privatize education. (There’s gold in them thar kids!”)

Unlike kids, the tests are a commodity and a handy one at that for “proving” the need to

divert money for education to private and charter schools. It’s also a strong component of

the attack on unions. If the right wing can use tests to prove that teachers are doing a bad

job, then it’s easy to claim that unions are protecting and rewarding bad teachers.

Why is this approach having so much success? In part, it might be because we can all

remember teachers from our own schooling whom we couldn’t stand or who didn’t

command our respect. No one’s saying there aren’t any people teaching who are in the

wrong career. (What percentage of people in any profession are actually good at their

job? Maybe 35 or 40?) But don’t forget that teaching, unlike business to which it’s

often being compared, is a calling and therefore attracts a much higher percentage of

dedicated workers than, say, Citibank or General Electric. (My wife is a teacher and she

assures me that her elementary school is always loaded with hard-working dedicated

teachers.) That’s why a lot more than kids’ test results needs to go into evaluating

teachers. Especially when you realize that some very smart students do well on class

work, homework, reports and special projects but freeze up or just underperform on tests,

thereby indicating absolutely nothing about the quality of their teachers. Administrators

have three years to evaluate teachers and see to it they get any mentoring they need

before offering them tenure. Isn’t it the administrators’ responsibility to observe, talk to

parents and even kids to get a true picture? I’d certainly say so, but I don’t hear anyone

clamoring for better oversight, just for better teachers.

And that brings me to the point I keep making whenever this subject comes up. Who do

we think will replace all these so-called bad teachers? I’ll draw you a mental picture.

First, we eliminate tenure, then we cut back on teacher’s benefits and freeze their salaries.

And finally we attract the crème de la crème of college graduates to take their places?

Um, well, no. Instead we would make teachers out of young people who just can’t find a

better-paying alternative. And that’s supposed to be good? Well, yes, if the idea is to have

more and more turnover so that fewer and fewer teachers climb the salary scale. Not so

much, if the idea is to encourage, support and then retain dedicated, experienced teachers.

As Ethical Culturists, we believe in the importance of education and the increased

opportunity for a satisfying life it provides, especially to kids from poor and lower middle

class backgrounds. If delivering that were as simple as holding teachers accountable for

standardized test scores, I’d be a lot more sympathetic. We can all agree that kids deserve

the best teachers our country can provide. While, the current system is far from perfect,

making teaching a less desirable profession is a very large step in the wrong direction.

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Recent Posts

  • Society Gets Grant to Explore Concept of ‘Sacred Spaces’ January 31, 2023
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There's always time for play: celebrations, discussions (some in Spanish -- find Conversemos on our calendar on the fourth Tuesday of the month), hikes, picnics, cultural outings, and more. Come join us!
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Diane running the show

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