Some Predictions as the New School Year Arrives…
With the arrival of the new school year, what can we expect? Here are 6 predictions and a big question.
Prediction #1. More school districts will back away from relying heavily on standardized test scores to hold teachers accountable. It seems to me that many educators and other leaders are aware what often results from ‘test-based accountability’: cheating, low morale, higher absenteeism/truancy, and growth in homeschooling.
When Washington, DC, Chancellor Kaya Henderson announced that she was putting her system’s method of judging and firing teachers (based primarily on bubble scores) on hold, the US Department of Education expressed dismay, but Henderson deserves credit for acknowledging that the approach [1]was causing more trouble than it was worth. Not only has DC’s central office budget been bloated by the cadre of highly-paid ‘inspectors,’ but test scores have flattened, while cheating incidents continue to be an issue.
Henderson cited the support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for a moratorium. In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo now supports a moratorium on the use of test scores, something long advocated by the American Federation of Teachers and their state and local affiliates in the state.
I think we will see more of this. Whether the Department of Education wakes up to a new reality is the big unknown.
I believe that the best possible outcome of a widespread moratorium would be a concerted effort to create a useful and reliable way of judging teachers and the schools they work in. “Multiple measures” rolls easily off the tongue, but we need to agree on what those measures are.[2]
Prediction #2. The tide may turn in the ongoing ‘war against teachers.’ We will hear more from Diane Ravitch and other defenders of the profession, and less from the attacking crowd.
Diane Ravitch is energized. Her blog recently received its 14 millionth page view. That remarkable Some Predictions as the New School Year Arrives… | Taking Note:
