I'm not really sure where to begin. Most of you know I tend to stay away from work related posts here but this time I'm doing it. Colorado just passed Senate Bill 10-191 and this is going to have some major repercussions (negative in my mind) on the educational system. This bill essentially establishes a state wide system of merit pay for teachers. For those that don't know, "merit pay" is when teachers are evaluated based upon their students success. Specifically, we are talking about annual yearly progress (AYP) on the state assesment. This bill will make it so that even teachers who are tenured can be let go if their students don't show AYP for two consecutive years. Certainly there should be some yardstick by which we measure student achievement but I do not believe that state tests are the right one. I hate to be "that guy" who complains about something while not having a better solution but.....I guess I am.
There are so many factors that contribute to student success other than what occurs in the classroom. Did the child eat breakfast? What did they eat? Did they stay in a house that had a functional heater? Do they have clean clothes? Are they being physically or sexually abused at home? Are they in good health? Are they loved? Do they have any feeling of self-worth at all? Obviously I could go on but I think you get the point. Let's take one of the simpler problems from above: Did the child eat breakfast? If they didn't then there's no way in hell they're going to focus on their work. They're going to miss the point of the instruction and then fall behind. My first priority is to deal with the things that are causing the student to NOT be able to focus in the classroom. This is why I have a fridge and microwave in my room and a cabinet full of food and drinks (which I don't get reimbursed for and, frankly, don't expect to) because too many damn students come to school unprepared to learn. And that's a simple one to deal with. The child that's crying because mom was strung out the night before (and there's no services to support that child even when a teacher does their job and contacts the department of social services) is a little harder to deal with (please keep in mind that I am talking about my experiences as a teacher in Colorado only).
I'm not sure where this leaves me other than very disappointed and worried. Never before have I questioned what I decided to get myself into than since I began teaching here. Quite honestly, it scares the shit out of me. I can already see entire school days being re-structured around the all-mighty state assessment. No more birthday celebrations in home room, crossing guard duties or things that make school a tolerable place to be for adolescents that don't have shit else to look forward to because some genius in the government added up the numbers and found out that my rewarding a student that showed up to class 80% of the time by shooting hoops with him/her once a week (which may be the ONLY reason they are even at school to begin with) takes away from the time they could be studying concepts that they will see again in March on the state test. When students lose interest entirely in school (certainly it wont be a large number but it will be more than it is now) how much better off will society be? It's all good though...out here we'll just build more prisons to hosue those individuals. Do you know how some states calculate the number of beds to have in their prison systems? By looking at the results of elementary state assessment scores.
Perhaps what we should do is apply this to other professions? Maybe doctors should operate under similar guidelines? Wait a minute.....that wouldn't work so well for cancer specialists now would it? Ok....maybe lawyers? Lawyers get paid according to their success rate. Maybe fire fighters? That'd be good stuff there. Way to go Colorado. Must be that Rocky mountain high eh? Pissed off? You bet. I LOVE teaching and feel that it's the most opportune way for me to make a difference in this world. Worried about whether or not I can continue to do so? You bet.
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