Thank Goodness I graduated High School when I did!

So potentially, students can be penalized for having bad teachers that can't be fired?

I just saw on the Today show the other day some guy from k12.com saying that there is a big problem with bad teaches who can't be let go. I guess it's a union-type thing. I dunno.

Seems pretty lame that potentially good or great teachers are not able to take over a bad teachers' job. When someone has a direct effect on the future of children, they need to be held accountable. If they can't teach then they need to go get more training or something. Why they are allowed to remain is beyond me.

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I'd be more impressed with their stand if it wasn't on a practice test.

I am too old to have taken an "exit test" but my son's high school class took theirs when they were in 10th grade. That sort of defeats the purpose of the "exit test" considering there were still 2 1/2 years to go in their high school education. The main thing that test determined was which students to target for help so they could eventually pass the test.

Personally, from what I have heard, the tests are relatively easy (as was evidenced by the high number of kids easily passing the test in 10th grade). I don't see any real purpose. As with most standardized tests, the schools are now practicing for them which tends to defeat the purpose. Thus, they take away valuable class time to practice for these tests.

To digress a bit, I am all for accountability tests, but I'd rather see them taken the first week of school to see how the kids did the previous year. This will preclude the weeks and weeks of practice time schools spend on these tests so as to make the kids perform better.

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If they do not eliminate social promotion, then I am 100% in favor of having an exit exam. My mom is a teacher and her principal is trying to block her from failing kids in her fifth grade class that were caught cheating. The kids admitted that they were cheating. The schools do not want to seem like they are bad schools so they pass the kids along, even if they can't read or count or do anything scholastic. It is just the next teachers problem. Then we have a bunch of people out there in the workforce who do not have the skills to back up their diploma. Next thing you know they won't want to allow standardized tests for college admissions requirements. Bottom line - if you do the work, minimum basic skills test should not cause you any problems.

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"Of course, thats just my opinion, I could be wrong" -- Dennis Miller

 

You are absolutely correct, there have been countless times where teachers who should be fired use the union as a shield and get away with everything they do.

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Ceo of the Walt Williams and Lisa Malosky fan club.


atheistalliance.org

 

Teachers are paid like Fast-food workers, their union sucks.

Bad teachers usually can't be fired because the hiring pool would only contain worse teachers. Lesser of two evils.

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Founder and President of the Houston Homers Club(HHC) - Are you a homer? Join now!

The Rockets will be NBA champions. Believe.

 

BTW, teachers should be held accountable, but not to some testing agency in New Jersey. If you really want to hold teachers accountable, then hold them accountable to the students they teach and the parents of those students, hold them accountable for how well they teach the information in the course, not how well they can prepare a student to take a standardized test.

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Founder and President of the Houston Homers Club(HHC) - Are you a homer? Join now!

The Rockets will be NBA champions. Believe.

 

QUESTION: Do you think it would be a good Idea for teachers to move with their kids?

I mean get on a 6 year rotation.

You start with the kids in Kindergarden
and move with them until they leave
from 5th grade [or 4th] to the 6th grade.

Then do the same in Jr.High

Maybe the foundation of learning would be better.

Rocket River

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I admitadly didnt read the whole articlem but my father is an educator in NY and the testing thing is outta controll here too.

what I think is that if graduation comes down to merely passing one test than I would have taken it in 8th grade. hell I coasted through HS, and donr know if I actually learned anything new. maybe with the exception of Chemestry. I already got my Calc. in 7th and 8th grade, I just RE-learned all the world history. in english It was all reading books after 8th grade and its evil sentance diagramming(I HATED THAT CRAP). I would have graduated in 9th grade and wasted the extra 3 years drinking in college.

stupid testing. Luckily I am a superb test taker, I would be lucky, but people like my father would never have gotten out of elementary school(he got something like a 650 on the SATs but graduated magna c*m laude in college, got his masters with honors, and has taught 10's of thousands of kidds. if he had to take this test he would not have had the positive imnpact on the world that he has. THESE tests are a terrible idea

PEACE

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Hanta-Force Paintball
www.hanta-force.com

 

The tests are just to make sure that the kids have learned a little while in school. Ideally, this would be determined by grades, promotion, etc. However, as described above, schools are putting their own best interests (looking good) above the kids' by moving them from grade to grade. If you're functionally illiterate and hopelessly behind in your classes, you're not going to enjoy school very much (except as a place to meet your friends and torture your teachers).

I personally know several competent people who tried to be teachers and either couldn't take it, were pushed out, or both. They don't train them very well these days, often don't allow any effective punishment to be used on the kids, and the principals just care how good the school's numbers look. Maybe the union thing has something to do with it too... It's just ironic, because most of the teachers I had at that age were bad. And this was at a "good" school.

For those of you who have kids: putting them in public school is fine. No use hiding from the real world. However, don't expect the school to take care of all their education. Be teaching them, pushing, motivating them, using every occasion you can to teach them little things. Unfortunately, the school system does not care about your kid as an individual. I support testing because, the way things are now, you need some way of knowing how they're progressing. But (like in Texas) give them multiple chances to pass.

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Isabel,clutchcity.net lurker since 1996

All your base are belong to Heypartner.