Evaluations Are Better Than No Evaluations
Eric "Rick" Hanushek continues a blog conversation with Deborah Meier this week.
Dear Deborah,
In our conversations about accountability, we have skirted around the issue that I think drives the most heated debate—namely, that accountability involves evaluation of teachers and administrators. And teachers and administrators are "agin it," period.
Can't we pare through some of the smoke and move the discussion forward to a better place?
It is curious, for example, that there is a sudden uproar about high-stakes testing with school accountability, but that there were essentially no complaints when only students were subject to high-stakes testing. The standardized SAT test—to say nothing of the entrance exams for medical, law, and business schools—have been fine.
Moreover, there is an inordinate amount of distortion in the discussion. While citing a litany of potential flaws in
Dear Deborah,
In our conversations about accountability, we have skirted around the issue that I think drives the most heated debate—namely, that accountability involves evaluation of teachers and administrators. And teachers and administrators are "agin it," period.
Can't we pare through some of the smoke and move the discussion forward to a better place?
It is curious, for example, that there is a sudden uproar about high-stakes testing with school accountability, but that there were essentially no complaints when only students were subject to high-stakes testing. The standardized SAT test—to say nothing of the entrance exams for medical, law, and business schools—have been fine.
Moreover, there is an inordinate amount of distortion in the discussion. While citing a litany of potential flaws in