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Friday, January 18, 2013

CHICAGO PRINCIPALS FALL VICTIM TO SILLY REFORMS « Teachers Fight Back

CHICAGO PRINCIPALS FALL VICTIM TO SILLY REFORMS « Teachers Fight Back:


CHICAGO PRINCIPALS FALL VICTIM TO SILLY REFORMS

Student achievement will now account for 50 percent on a principal’s evaluation in Chicago Public Schools. What a ridiculous concept. If students do well compared with national standards, principals will be rewarded with bonuses and other incentives. District officials didn’t make clear what would happen if students don’t improve their scores. One can only imagine.
Does anyone familiar with our education system actually think a principal can make a meaningful difference in the test scores of students ?  Do you think at least 50 percent of a principals’ job is about student test scores ?  Fifty percent ?  No way.
Clarice Berry, president of the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association, said principals have mixed feelings about the evaluations being based so highly on student gains. “Mixed feelings” ? Ah, the typical tactful and politically correct response from administrators who must always be extremely careful about what they say publicly. I can imagine what principals are saying in private, and I doubt it is anything fit to print in a family