Exploring American Culture´s Dark Spot Essay

With cheating scandals becoming a reoccurring problem across the country, several states are rushing to put into place new testing etiquette before classes resume. In New York Education Commissioner, John B. King Jr., fabricated a task force last month to review all characteristics of student assessments. The Commissioner will be broadcasting a series of procedures to guarantee the integrity of our testing system before our students return to school in September. Specific measures haven 't been announced, but state officials said they want

Standardized testing creates a lot of stress on students and educators alike. Because of how much stress is put on them to prepare students for these tests, many excellent teachers quit their jobs everyday. In fact, in April, new federal data stated that 17 percent of new public school teachers leave their profession after four years due to stress and other reasons. Some teachers fail to teach students skills that go beyond the tests because they’re so pressured to get their students ready for these exams. This amount of stress can lead to feelings of negativity towards school and learning in general as well as cause negative health issues. Standardized tests places a large amount of stress on both teachers and students.

Also, these methods of test score fluctuation results in a false impression of the schools educational quality. Many parents seek to send their children to a highly ranked school district – often judged by standardized test scores – however, when educators partake in test day activities that raise their reputation as a “great teacher”, they are misrepresenting the true value of their classroom, and parents are sending their children into a classroom with high expectations in mind, and are ultimately being misled and deceived. This cycle also results in honest schools and districts loosing high performing students to these cheating misrepresented schools, causing the authentic schools test scores to lower, and for its funding to eventually be cut.

Everyone is evaluated by test scores. Principals are evaluated by the school board and teachers by the principals.

The increase of standardization in education in the years following the NCLB’s implementation brought more undesirable consequences, one of them being the pressure placed on teachers to perform well. More now than ever, teachers are accountable for the test scores and performances given by individual students (Wiliam, Dylan). In fact, the main purpose of standardized testing is not to assess the contextual knowledge of students, but rather to act as an assessment of teacher performance and quality. Teachers are held more accountable for the scores of their students than the students themselves are, despite the proven lack of control that teachers have over test scores. This particular facet of the American education system sets us apart other developing countries, where students are held as equally accountable to their scores as teachers are. According to Dylan Wiliam, two-thirds of the reasoning behind test scores can be traced back to socioeconomic factors, further showing that teachers have a small influence in a student’s test score, and that they should not be assessed based on them alone.

An incredible amount of pressure is placed on teachers to ensure an increase in achievement on standardized tests. This pressure is often increased by the administrators who review and draw attention to the test by reviewing scores with the entire staff and praising those who had the most amount of students with high test scores or reprimanding those who were not so fortunate to have such high test scores overall. This is extremely unfair to both the teachers and students, which will most often result in drill-and-practice-type method of

Imagine a world where a car dealer is assessed, not on his own work but on how many cars his colleagues sell? A pretty unfair world that would be, too bad it’s a reality for teachers. However, in this scenario, teachers are assessed by how well their students do on their standardized tests. Schools all around the globe use standardized tests to base their entire curriculum. If a teacher cannot “teach” their students the test, a poor few are eventually fired and replaced by another teacher who can “teach” the test better. Not only are children stressed about taking the test, but the teachers are as well. A post from a New York art teacher explained that he was judged on a subject that he didn’t even teach. His teaching score dropped from an

For the purpose of this research activity, I wanted to focuses on Missouri and California. I have worked at both states, and have found both states to have their own systems for evaluation teachers, but at the same time they are very similar. Both states, like many other states, agree that our previous evaluation systems have not helped teacher grow to their potential. Both evaluation systems as set in place to help teachers grow, improve their practice, allow them to grow professionally, and overall enhance student learning. The purpose of having an evaluation system is to ensure we see higher student learning. Both states aim to use their evaluation process with helping teachers become professional educators who can have the tools necessary to work on student academic growth.

Another problem seen today with standardized testing is teachers being evaluated based on how their students score. When looking at student test scores, if scores are not up to par, the district will occasionally make cuts in the mindset that the educator did not prepare their students enough for the standardized test, but it has been found that "student test scores alone are not sufficiently reliable and valid indicators of teacher effectiveness to be used in high-stakes personnel decisions" (Baker 2010). This has been decided because the standardized test scores are going to fluctuate from year to year, an educator that could be at the top of the effective educator list one year could be at the bottom of the list the following year. It has

After watching the video of Linda Darling-Hammond’s presentation, it was evident that she possesses a broad knowledge of the necessary components that are essential for quality teacher evaluation to take place. She reiterates that effective teachers implement diversified instruction, engage and build on students’ prior knowledge, and provide clear standards with constant feedback for their students. Key points from the video that stood out included the 5 approaches that make things worse when evaluating teachers. These include 1) focusing evaluation entirely after entry, 2) focusing on ranking teachers rather than improving teachers, 3) making decisions substantially based on value added state test scores, 4) putting all the weight on the school

It does seem a little strange that teachers most teachers are rated effective or highly effective, and according to the state the school is not doing well. This past school year was my first year doing walkthroughs for teachers. I evaluated all of the teachers in my building in a week. Other than it being my first time completing them, the most difficult part was using the districts pre-made evaluation tool. It is so vague and sometimes you really have to look at the language of each rating deeply to choose the right one.

An effective teacher evaluation system should measure strengths and weaknesses through an accurate and consistent process that provides

In investigating about the evaluation procedures for many different positions of a school, I learned a great deal about how, when, and why. There is a system in place for most employees and their evaluation procedures. Teachers are evaluated according to their license status and the previous year’s TVAAS score. This can mean they have anywhere between two to six evaluations throughout the year. Some will be scheduled but others are unannounced to allow for teacher accountability. On top of these evaluations, teachers are also check upon during Response to Intervention (RTI). These checks are called “fidelity checks” and are used to ensure teachers are following state procedures put into place regarding their tier and student needs.

In addition to cheating, students also miss out on a complete education due to Standardized Testing. With a system in place that requires Standardized Testing, the

A great evaluation is one that is well-designed and helps teachers improve at their job, ultimately improving education. This type of evaluation would need to be multi-faceted, and would include feedback from administrators, students, parents, and peers. It could include a portfolio put together every year, throughout the year, covering a multitude of areas, from test scores, discipline referrals, projects, lesson plans, leadership activities and various other types of data to show progress for both students and teachers. It should also include a regular journal of self evaluation and reflection to show possible growth, so that teachers can analyze their own performance and see their strengths, as well as, needed areas of improvement for which we are