Dogs, Ponies and Teacher Evaluation
In a recent incarnation of the endless (and mostly pointless) Twitter skirmishes re: test scores as reliable indicators of teacher quality, a "reformer" described the "dog and pony shows" he used to stage for the benefit of his evaluation-by-administrator. Ergo, he indicated, face to face appraisal of teachers' practice could not be trusted to represent the ordinary, everyday teaching in that classroom. We must rely on subsequent, externally created tests to precisely measure what learning has transpired, lest we fall prey to being dazzled by showmanship, not regular teaching.
I can't even express just how irritated that Tweet made me. Like "disruptor" and "choice" and--most unfortunately-- "the civil rights issue of our time," I am seriously torqued by the casually deceptive language people throw around when it comes to teaching, learning and the way public schools should work. Especially when that bold language is utilized to promote some misguided policy, such as assessing teachers' value to an organization based on their students' test data.
Have I heard teachers refer to The Lesson Where the Principal Shows Up as a dog and pony show? Many times. And my first thought was always: If that was their staged and fluffed-up best, what are they doing the rest of the time?
Some thoughts on the examined, observed lesson:
- To some extent--and with some strong qualifiers--all teaching is rightfully a dog and pony show. That doesn't mean that teachers are obligated to entertain their students--they emphatically are not. Only that on any given day, good teachers read the classroom atmosphere just as actors and tap dancers read the audience, and tailor instruction toward, you know, getting something accomplished in the time allotted. Sometimes that involves a little passion, a provocative question, something to wake them up--in many classrooms, the dog and pony make regular appearances. Is that bad?
- Teachers are obligated to engage their students, an increasingly difficult tap dance that never ends. The tools they use to do this are varied--and differ from class to class, Dogs, Ponies and Teacher Evaluation - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:
