Dear Charleston Teachers, the P&C is wrong
Sep 26th, 2010 by Cathy Jo Nelson
There was an article today in Charleston, SC’s Post and Courier that not only shocks me, but also saddens me.You see, CCSD used MAP Scores to identify the top teachers, opening the door for the media scrutiny to do the same to identify the bottom teachers, all based on MAP data.
I wonder…
- how many parents will call or show up demanding the removal of their child from so and so’s class now?
- how many teachers will reap the rewards for this onslaught for the rest of this year?
- how will the school district implement damage control?
Fair or not, those who don’t teach 2nd through 8th grade reading and math dodged a bullet. I am awaiting the outcome tomorrow–for surely the fallout will be phone systems bogged down with parents making some outrageous demands for weeks to come.
Here are some quotes from the article that bother me the most:
…was one of only three TOP teachers recognized this spring for helping at least 80 percent of her stuodents meet their growth goals in reading and math for two consecutive years.
Okay not much to go on there, but that TYPO is not one of mine, though the bold print is. Maybe the writer of this article did not do so well on tests in school, particularly spelling. (I know, that was a mean jab.)
Mann knew some of those teachers, and she would have asked for her children to be moved to a different class…She wants her children to have a good teacher, and she’s gone as far as meeting with prospective teachers to see which ones would be the best match…
Does this mean that CCSD allows parents to “interview” teachers and select them for their child’s school year? Sounds like it. So who is making the decisions here? Begs a lot of questions that we can only speculate about.
I have to confess now…
Confession: My quotes here are pulled out of context JUST LIKE the Post and Courier has done in their article that they have used to vilify a group of teachers.
What’s good for the gander is good for the goose, no?
Post & Courier Writers–Let’s see your report cards!
Oh, can we see the performance evaluations of the writers for the Post and Courier for the last three years? Can we also have a look see at their SAT scores and college transcripts? Will you post a Top and Bottom list for us, and the speculate as to why it is the way it is? Where does the top editor fall when comparing all that data?
What really gripes my gander is that MAP isn’t a true test. It is “SUPPOSED” to predict how well students will perform on the “REAL” test (in our case HSAP), but I’ve been in the room when students take MAP. They don’t take it seriously – why should they? They aren’t graded by the test. They christmas tree their answers, don’t read any of the questions, spend less than five minutes “answering” the questions.
I understand that there has to be some kind of apples to apples assessment for students across the nation, but our students spend more time taking test than our teacher are teaching – at least that is how it appears to me. We are doing our students a disservice by teaching to the test vs teaching them the skills.