Students: the Achilles heel of test-based teacher evaluation?
Paul Hafemann, a 7th/8th Grade social studies teacher at Mahopac Middle School in Mahopac, NY, sent me an email with the following story, or, rather, lesson about standardized tests. It points to a a major, and little discussed, issue about the push to evaluate, pay and retain teachers based on the standardized test scores of their students. Hafemann gave me permission to share it.
From Paul Hafemann:
We have read about all of the “cheating scandals” across our nation and how the tests need to be made more “secure.” I want to take a