Parent Martha Foote has submitted a brilliant piece to the New York Times. In a resounding defense of teachers she called for the end of teacher data reporting:
“TDRs are a four-letter word!” That was my son’s favorite slogan when the parents and teachers at his school, Public School 321 in Park Slope, held a rally in the fall of 2010 to protest the imminent release of the teacher data reports. We were not alone. Sister rallies were held the same day at Brooklyn’s Public School 24, Public School 29, Middle School 51, Public School 154, and the John Jay Campus Community, and more than 5,000 letters of protest were signed across all five boroughs condemning the public humiliation of teachers as well as the release of what we believed were inaccurate scores. Sadly, though, after months of legal appeals, the teacher data reports were finally made public last week. And what have we learned?
So what do we do now? How do we move forward? To begin, I believe we must stop these attacks on our teachers. It is no way to treat one another (did we learn nothing in kindergarten?), and it is no way to improve education. We must turn away from this punitive blame game and instead work in a collaborative endeavor for the greater good. Look to the models. Look to Finland, where teachers are respected and trusted, and continual professional development is paramount. Look to Montgomery County, Md., where a successful system of teacher evaluation consists of mentoring struggling teachers combined with a panel of teachers and principals to decide if a teacher must be fired. (I only hope that New York State’s new system of teacher evaluation does not preclude the use of such successful strategies.) And stop relying on a score from a single high-stakes test to trump all the other 180 days in the classroom.
As for parents, of course we want our children to have excellent teachers. But as we have learned, these rankings tell us nothing. It is time to rely on our own observations, both direct and indirect, to gauge our children’s learning experiences in the classroom. Look at the types of assignments our children receive, the kinds of books they bring home to read, the quality of feedback they receive on their written work. It is this type of information that will tell us whether our child has a great teacher – and whether we need to be advocating for changes in the classroom.
If only the media and politicians thought the same way.
Topical Teaching 