LA Times publicizes Teachers Effectiveness

[ChicagoFitnessClub]

Every class I ever took had the majority of the students doing what they needed to do to succeed. That included doing homework, participating in class, interacting with the teacher, etc. Yes there were always some bad seeds but the majority of the kids were there to learn.

I think it's just an excuse to say, "oh well there might be situations at home that prevent the student from .. blah blah blah." Those situations are few and far between and if most of the kids are scoring well, the teacher is doing their job. You're gonna tell me that when 90% of a teachers students score poorly, all of those kids have issues at home that prevent their learning? Get outta here... that's why education in the country has gone down the absolute tube the past 20 years.

 

[creativeamanda]

I teach children with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Long story short, they aren't going to be able to do well on standardized tests. I just want them to be able to live as independently as possible. Publishing stuff like that doesn't take into account situations like mine that aren't the norm, but I promise that if you walk into my classroom at any given time, students are engaged in learning.

When did we get to the point where school boards and the public can't look towards their administrators (who they hired) to determine who is doing their job? The one thing I hate more than anything in any location I've worked, is blanketing everyone when what needs to be done is addressing that 1-2% of poor workers who aren't doing their job.

Yes, we need to get rid of ineffective teachers? Why don't we try stopping into their classrooms. I can name 3 in the district where I work right now who are ineffective teachers just from observing them. And you know what? They are on the chopping block right now! Perhaps we need to go back to the tried and true methods and administrators do their jobs rather than this junk where we tie test scores in with performance.

 

[gina2000]

Let's see....divorce, drugs, alcohol, physical abuse, one parent households, two parents working, lack of employment, add, adhd, shelter living, aspergers,etc.

Come visit my decidedly middle class school and see for yourself. Watch the kid crying because his parents just broke up. Watch the kid who is writing her heart out because she lives and has mostly every lived in a shelter. Watch the kid whose add/adhd is so pronounced that he can't concentrate and his parents can't or won't medicate. Watch the kid whose parents are fighting every evening and as a result he can't concentrate. These kids are the ones who drop out....the ones we are striving to keep in school so that they can have a better future than their parent(s).

You may be surprised at how little support kids have from parents these days.

Quite frankly, you're just poking holes. Anyone can poke holes and argue for the sake of arguing. Come visit a middle class school district and see what goes on. I wouldn't even suggest going to a lower class district with a transient population. You might feel a bit differently about the classroom experience after evaluating.

And before you respond attacking my lack of knowledge of the real world, be advised that I have worked in the private sector for far longer than in education. I see the pitfalls and fallacies of both.

 

[palavra]

Every class I ever took had the majority of the students doing what they needed to do to succeed. That included doing homework, participating in class, interacting with the teacher, etc. Yes there were always some bad seeds but the majority of the kids were there to learn.

I think it's just an excuse to say, "oh well there might be situations at home that prevent the student from .. blah blah blah." Those situations are few and far between and if most of the kids are scoring well, the teacher is doing their job. You're gonna tell me that when 90% of a teachers students score poorly, all of those kids have issues at home that prevent their learning? Get outta here... that's why education in the country has gone down the absolute tube the past 20 years.

Is this a serious post? Do you really believe that 90% of students do homework, participate in class and interact well with the teacher?
I work in a private school in an upper middle class area, and I certainly don't have 90% of my students doing everything they can to do well in school. In the past year I had a student whose dad was arrested for trying to kill her mother, 2 students whose parents were diagnosed with cancer, several students whose parents got a divorce, a student whose sister died and one who was diagnosed with a serious illness. Believe me, these things do affect a student's school performance. And I teach in a school with a lot of parental involvement.

 

[npcougar]

Every class I ever took had the majority of the students doing what they needed to do to succeed. That included doing homework, participating in class, interacting with the teacher, etc. Yes there were always some bad seeds but the majority of the kids were there to learn.

I think it's just an excuse to say, "oh well there might be situations at home that prevent the student from .. blah blah blah." Those situations are few and far between and if most of the kids are scoring well, the teacher is doing their job. You're gonna tell me that when 90% of a teachers students score poorly, all of those kids have issues at home that prevent their learning? Get outta here... that's why education in the country has gone down the absolute tube the past 20 years.

I'm not sure where you went to school or how long ago you went to school but here is a thumbnail sketch of my previous middle school:

42% free and reduced.
28% LD students

The school had ~425 students. I would estimate on an average day 40% of the students were having issues. Mom and kids sleeping on porch because dad kicked them out of the house, had to walk to school because they got kicked off the bus and no working car at home, mom divorces dad to marry grand dad and so many molestations and drug abuse cases. It is a small community and so I knew these stories were true. Currently we are enduring a streak of suicides. Many of these students simply are not emotionally supported at home and can barely function let alone learn on a daily basis. I would say that 90% is high but I would say 60% of the poor scores were nearly unavoidable. That is the state of education in my area.

 

[creativeamanda]

I can't speak for LA, but I can speak for the state of South Carolina, where I teach. Look at these:

http://www.corridorofshame.com/case.php

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=7535

http://www.metafilter.com/51520/But-What-About-Us-Student-Photographs-from-the-Corridor-of-Shame

You tell me after looking at those last pictures that kids can learn in that environment? I don't think so. You want to improve education? Make sure poor children receive the same education as rich children. That multibillion LA school on the news last week is a disgrace.

You know, 90% of children in those schools aren't failing because of the teachers. They are failing because they look at their surroundings and ask if they should care since no one else seems to care.

 

[ChicagoFitnessClub]

Let's see....divorce, drugs, alcohol, physical abuse, one parent households, two parents working, lack of employment, add, adhd, shelter living, aspergers,etc.

Come visit my decidedly middle class school and see for yourself. Watch the kid crying because his parents just broke up. Watch the kid who is writing her heart out because she lives and has mostly every lived in a shelter. Watch the kid whose add/adhd is so pronounced that he can't concentrate and his parents can't or won't medicate. Watch the kid whose parents are fighting every evening and as a result he can't concentrate. These kids are the ones who drop out....the ones we are striving to keep in school so that they can have a better future than their parent(s).

You may be surprised at how little support kids have from parents these days.

Quite frankly, you're just poking holes. Anyone can poke holes and argue for the sake of arguing. Come visit a middle class school district and see what goes on. I wouldn't even suggest going to a lower class district with a transient population. You might feel a bit differently about the classroom experience after evaluating.

And before you respond attacking my lack of knowledge of the real world, be advised that I have worked in the private sector for far longer than in education. I see the pitfalls and fallacies of both.

I attended middle class schools my entire life so I can speak to exactly what is and what is not happening.

 

[palavra]

I attended middle class schools my entire life so I can speak to exactly what is and what is not happening.

And you attended these schools yesterday?

 

[ChicagoFitnessClub]

Is this a serious post? Do you really believe that 90% of students do homework, participate in class and interact well with the teacher?
I work in a private school in an upper middle class area, and I certainly don't have 90% of my students doing everything they can to do well in school. In the past year I had a student whose dad was arrested for trying to kill her mother, 2 students whose parents were diagnosed with cancer, several students whose parents got a divorce, a student whose sister died and one who was diagnosed with a serious illness. Believe me, these things do affect a student's school performance. And I teach in a school with a lot of parental involvement.

Excuses can be made 24-7, that's not going to change the educational system for the better, but rather will just make it worse.

 

[ChicagoFitnessClub]

And you attended these schools yesterday?

In the 90s actually!

 

[palavra]

Excuses can be made 24-7, that's not going to change the educational system for the better, but rather will just make it worse.

No excuses here-it simply is a statement of fact. I can teach the he** out of a subject, and if Johnny comes to school on test day crying and upset because his dad beat his mom up and was arrested the night before, Johnny likely doesn't give a care about the test and won't do well.

 

[creativeamanda]

In the 90s actually!

That is laughable. You cannot compare education in the 1990s to education today. That was 20 years ago!

 

[ChicagoFitnessClub]

That is laughable. You cannot compare education in the 1990s to education today. That was 20 years ago!

Your posts are laughable and are an example of why environments that aim for mediocrity can be allowed to thrive.

 

[palavra]

Your posts are laughable and are an example of why environments that aim for mediocrity can be allowed to thrive.

I think this person is a troll just trying to stir up trouble.

 

[npcougar]

I attended middle class schools my entire life so I can speak to exactly what is and what is not happening.

So your school that you attended over 10 years ago represents all middle class schools across America today?

 

[ChicagoFitnessClub]

I think this person is a troll just trying to stir up trouble.

No you're the one stirring up trouble. Calm down with your posts seriously.

 

[npcougar]

I think this person is a troll just trying to stir up trouble.

Probably, sometimes you can feed a troll so much just to see it pop.

 

[Hannathy]

No excuses here-it simply is a statement of fact. I can teach the he** out of a subject, and if Johnny comes to school on test day crying and upset because his dad beat his mom up and was arrested the night before, Johnny likely doesn't give a care about the test and won't do well.

But this stuff was happening since the start of time. In fact I would guess there was much more of it in the 40's and 50's? How about during the depression when people were actually starving? there were no free lunches then? Much more spousal abuse and even child abuse yet the literacy rates were higher. Do you really think all the good students have rosy home lives?

 

[eliza61]

Excuses can be made 24-7, that's not going to change the educational system for the better, but rather will just make it worse.

And some how you think making these pissant rules that defy logic will?
First, you can't fix a problem if you refuse to even acknowledge that there is a problem. Pretending that societal ills do not effect learning is pretty much akin to believing that if you click your heels 3 times you can fly.

Thinking that teaching to a "test" prepares you for any thing but passing the test has worked so well for us hasn't it.

I laughed at that school in Rhode Island, let's see they have some thing like a 48% drop out rate so they fire all their teachers, then rehire them back and make them have mandatory after school tutoring.

Uhem excuse me, you can't get 1/2 of you population to show up for class yet you think some how they are going to show up for tutoring AFTER class.

Oh yeah Chicago, that's a brillant solution.
We don't want a solution, we want a cheap fix immediately. As my poppop used to say, "when you buy a 14K gold watch for 5 bucks don't be surprised when you get a watch that ain't worth much".

When your solution to the lousy education is to publicize teachers scores don't be surprised when you end up with a education system the scores lousy.

 

[ChicagoFitnessClub]

So your school that you attended over 10 years ago represents all middle class schools across America today?

It is an example of and I doubt your qualified to speak on behalf of all middle class schools around America