A teacher despondent over poor rating takes his own life, reopening the debate over public rankings based on student test scores
We have not discussed in depth the controversial LA Times project in which the newspaper obtained student test scores, correlated them with teachers and then rated teachers accordingly as effective or ineffective. The project is back in the news after the suicide of a teacher despondent over his rating by the newspaper.
The teacher’s death is reopening the debate about public disclosure of teacher performance based solely on test scores. I do think a compilation of test scores tell you something about a teacher, as long as you also know something about the students as well.
In explaining what it did, the LA Times wrote:
About 6,000 Los Angeles elementary school teachers and 470 elementary schools are included in The Times’ database of “value-added” ratings. Third-, fourth- and fifth-grade teachers who taught at least 60 students from the 2002-03 through 2008-09 academic years were evaluated in the Times analysis. Most of Los Angeles Unified School District’s elementary schools are included. Test scores for charter schools that do not report directly to the district were not available.
A teacher’s value-added rating is based on his or her students’ progress on the California Standards Tests for English and math. The difference between a student’s expected growth and actual performance is the “value” a teacher added or subtracted during the year. A school’s value-added rating is based on the performance of all students tested there during that period.
I remain uncertain about how much of a role test scores should play in teacher evaluations, although I believe they ought to play some role. (Any student scores used to assess a teacher should reflect student progress/growth rather than any absolute numbers.)
Any suicide is a tragedy. I have written in the past about suicide and know that there is typically a history of depression in adult suicides and that it is very difficult to pinpoint one single event as the sole cause. I think it is clear that 39-year-old Rigoberto Ruelas Jr., a fifth-grade teacher, was upset over his rating, but I am not sure that anyone can quantify how much of a factor the rating was in his apparent decision to take his own life.
He sounds like a great teacher. His death is a loss to his family and his school community.
Here is the very good AP story by reporter Christina Hoag:
The Los Angeles Times should remove teacher performance ratings from its website after the apparent suicide of a teacher despondent over his score, which was published in August, the union representing Los Angeles school teachers said.
United Teachers Los Angeles has also asked school administrators to join with them in the request to the newspaper, union president AJ Duffy said.
The body of 39-year-old Rigoberto Ruelas Jr., a fifth-grade teacher at Miramonte Elementary School, was found Sunday at the foot of a remote forest bridge. Investigators believe he jumped to his death, although the inquiry is continuing, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said.
The motive for Ruelas taking his own life is far from clear. But union officials said he had been upset since the Times published his district ranking as a “less effective” teacher based on his students’ standardized English and math test scores.
Ruelas scored “average” in getting his students up to acceptable levels in English, but “less effective” in math, and “less effective” overall. The school itself ranked as “least effective” in raising test scores, and only five of Miramonte’s 35 teachers were ranked as average.
The Times’ publication of individual rankings for elementary school teachers sparked widespread outrage among teachers. The rankings ranged from least and less effective to average, more effective and most effective.
The union protested in front of the newspaper’s downtown headquarters and called for a boycott of the Times, which published the rankings as part of a push for a better method to evaluate teacher effectiveness.
Although other factors may have been at play in Ruelas’ death, union official Mathew Taylor said Monday he believed the ranking was a contributing factor based on conversations with teachers at the school. Principals have been using the rankings to crack down on teachers, he said.
“He was a very well-respected teacher,” Taylor said. “He took the pressure being applied to him to heart.”
In a brief statement Sunday, the Times extended its condolences to the family and noted the death is under investigation.
Superintendent Ramon Cortines has said the type of teacher rankings published by the Times, known as “value-added,” shouldn’t be used as the sole criteria to measure effectiveness. The school board last month authorized the district to start developing a new method for evaluating teachers that incorporates value-added rankings, as well as in-classroom observation and other measures.
Detractors say value-added rankings place too much emphasis on test-score teaching, especially in schools like Miramonte, a large school in an impoverished, gang-plagued neighborhood about six miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. About 60 percent of Miramonte students are Spanish-speaking English-language learners.
“Test scores are directly related to the socio-economic status of the student population,” said Taylor. “The best teachers are given the toughest kids. This man had won many awards.”
By all accounts, Ruelas did not shy away from problem kids.
Parents and former students described him as a mentor to youth tempted to join gangs and a tireless booster that low-income children could make it to college. He often stayed after school to tutor struggling kids and offer counseling so they stayed on the straight and narrow.
“He took the worse students and tried to change their lives,” said Ismael Delgado, a 20-year-old former student. “I had friends who wanted to be gangsters, but he talked them out of it. He treated you like family.”
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200 comments Add your comment
Paddy O
September 28th, 2010
11:50 am
@padie o – YOU ARE NOT A STATE EMPLOYEE. You are employed by a local government. I have worked for a local government for 10 years, & I dont earn over $40,000 nor do I only work “180″ days – I work closer to 240 days – this is why the insulated teacher universe needs a rude awakening – try to find a job in the private sector with the perks and pay you receive!
Paddy O
September 28th, 2010
11:51 am
teacher – the CRCT evaluates THE CURRICULUM – that should be the focus of what you are teaching, should it not? Or, is the curriculum that total garbage? PLease, make your argument have some sort of basis for logic.
@Padie O
September 28th, 2010
11:51 am
“…you are paid for a year of work, you just have a whole lot of off time…”
Just because you keep saying it, doesn’t make it so. Teachers are only paid for their contracted days. Even the state agrees, because when teachers were laid off, they were able to start collecting unemployment after the last day of their contract – the summer money is for work already completed.
White Man
September 28th, 2010
11:51 am
Fact – Teachers are under paid, under appreciated and over worked. Plain and Simple.
Paddy O
September 28th, 2010
11:52 am
most city managers, police chief, financial officers, planners, in bigger cities human resources, etc., etc,.
Paddy O
September 28th, 2010
11:53 am
white man – remove yourself from utopia – you are having he common sense suffocated out of you. White man – tell us what the average teacher with 10 years experience is earning for their 180 days, please.
White Man
September 28th, 2010
11:54 am
I would guess $55 -$60k?
White Man
September 28th, 2010
11:54 am
Paddy O – Why do you hate teachers and their pay scale so much? Are you jealous or something?
Paddy O
September 28th, 2010
11:55 am
So, since 180 days is 72% of the normal working government employee, your salary should really be less than $40,000, right? Then with those other 2 months , or 16% of the year, you would be able to supplement your own income with consulting fees, yes?
Katie
September 28th, 2010
11:55 am
Jan wrote,
“Yesterday I heard it again: you don’t go into teaching for the money. I dare to say, why not?”
Jan, you are absolutely correct. If we really valued education in this country, salaries would be stellar, teachers wouldn’t have to work two or three jobs just to keep their families afloat (and no, Paddy O, we’re NOT off during the summer; we’re working to keep up after furloughs), and the competition to become a teacher would be so stiff that only the best would be considered. Until teachers are paid what they’re worth as the second-most important job on the planet (following parent), we will not get the best and brightest into the classroom. The saddest thing is that our lack of respect for teachers and teaching masks the real truth: in this country, we do not value children. Thus, we do not value teachers.
Until we have a fundeamental shift in values, therefore, nothing will change.
White Man
September 28th, 2010
11:56 am
Paddy 0 Who says that anyone needs to work 300 days or more a year to earn an income. Your philosophy is ridiculous.
Vince
September 28th, 2010
11:56 am
@ Paddy-o
Glad we are in agreement about the CRCT. I wish the people who make decisions about such stuff could see the light.
AS far as benefits, my insurance premiums are high and, I guess luckily, I never get to see any benefits of insurance coverage. My deductibles and copays are so high that I never get to the point where insurance helps me. Ina twisted way, I guess that is agood thing, but it doesn’t say much about my benefits.
Days off? I get the standard federal holidays…MLK, Labor, Memorial, July 4th, etc. I also get Thanksgiving, Christmas, Christmas Eve, etc. Other than that I have a 245 day work schedule much like everyone else.
As far as salary, I do okay, but with my furlough days, no raises, etc I am making 24,000 less this year than I was scheduled to.
Teacher GA
September 28th, 2010
11:57 am
Paddy O, what I am talking about is basing a person’s pay on the performance of the student. There are unintended consequences for doing that.
You try to make the argument that it is soley the fault of the teacher if the student is failing. I am saying it is not. Your logic is not sound. Everyone on this board is saying that there is not a direct corollary between students passing the CRCT and teacher performance. It is part of the equation but not the entire equation. You cannot put that directly on the shoulders of the teacher. Parents are part of the equation too.
@Padie O
September 28th, 2010
11:59 am
I have served in the military and worked in the private sector for both a large corporation and a small family-owned company. I have also run my own business. I’ve done it all, and I can say honestly that EVERY job has its pros and cons. The best benefits I had with the best working conditions were actually for a major corporation – I am insulated from nothing. While my contract days are 190, I can guarantee you that I, like most teachers, work for more than that.
We are in a weird position as we hired by our local district, but partially funded by the state. Our health insurance is part of the State Health Benefit Plan that all state workers have. You are complaining about your pay – do you have a college degree? If you don’t like what you are doing, then you can become a teacher for all the time off and great benefits – what’s stopping you? They just launched a new website to attract people to the profession – see Maureen’s posts from yesterday.
For the record, the parent hasn’t shown – I need to go do something else. Have a good day.
White Man
September 28th, 2010
12:00 pm
Any Gwinnett Teachers?
White Man
September 28th, 2010
12:01 pm
I have a question…How come most teachers both married and single seem to be real partiers?
Jan
September 28th, 2010
12:01 pm
I am a certified Mathematics teacher who graduated with a 3.96 GPA. I worked hard after leaving the corporate world to get my certification and I claim I could do a great job on the middle school/high school level, teaching students to think for themselves (= Mathematics). I wish I could answer you in more detail but time and space is limited so I have to give you this somewhat unsatisfying answer (sorry). The salary (half of my last salary in the corporate world with a contract for a year and no effective path to promotions) and conditions (paperwork, homeroom, discipline, athletic privileges, good old boys/girls mentality, absence of continued training) and the fact that I should not do it for the money (as if I don’t have to provide as well as possible for my family) made me decide to continue a graduate study in a different direction.
unclefast
September 28th, 2010
12:01 pm
Seenitall,
There is a major difference: This teacher’s name was published in the newspapers for all to see. In GA, ineffective teachers’ problems are dealt with confidentially.
unclefast
September 28th, 2010
12:02 pm
Enter your comments here
GetReal
September 28th, 2010
12:12 pm
Paddy O-
1. When teachers can be backed up for disciplinary problems in the classroom in GA, you will see test scores rise. Teachers hands are TIED behind their back with spineless administrators that do not want to hire a lawyer to defend the schools when the right decisions are made regarding discipline.
2. When teachers can actually be allowed to follow through on just ONE reform to see if it works, scores will rise. Do you have any idea how many “magic bullets” are fired to fix scores, but then abandoned midstream because another “bullet” looks better?
3. In your “two months off work” argument, do you take into account the classes teachers have to take to keep certification – the ones they get to pay for? Do you take into account the planning a teacher does UNPAID? The grading of essays outside of the school day that is UNPAID? Or, do you take into account the parent calls MANDATED by administration to be made at home during UNPAID time? How about the UNPAID time teachers have to put in for after school conferences to PLEAD with parents to talk to their children to behave better?
4. Benefits? Are you kidding? Have you even looked at real data about those? Can you cite these “wonderful” benefits? I have yet to see them.
It will take a little more than the luck of the Irish to get your proverbial head out of your nether regions, I realize. You try to get 35 kids, with IEPs, Gifted Students, Spoiled Students all in one class, to do something productive first and then you can speak of teaching. Until then, stick to what you know.
It's My Doctor's Fault
September 28th, 2010
12:16 pm
My test scores (weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol) are absolutely horrible! It’s obvious that my highly trained and skilled physician should be taken to task for my poor state of health and removed from the profession if he can’t improve my scores.
Granted, against his advice, I do enjoy consuming large quantities of alcohol (video games), absolutely hate to exercise so I don’t do it (homework), I love my fried foods and rich desserts (after-school activities are way more important than studying). And even though he thinks that I should try to break my two pack a day smoking habit, he can’t force me to do it. In fact, he really can’t force me to do anything that I don’t want to do. Oh he tries, but I just ignore him.
Despite that fact that I spend my valuable time visiting him each year, nothing seems to change. He tries over and over to get me to change, but it’s pointless. I mean, HE gets paid to make sure I’m healthy, not ME. It’s his responsibility and his alone. DON’T BLAME ME, OR MY FAMILY, OR MY HOME LIFE for my poor scores!
All I know is that HE had better shape up in a hurry and get my scores where they need to be or HE will be looking for a new line of work.
Now, as for my kid’s teachers, I believe they must think that they are doctors.
td
September 28th, 2010
12:17 pm
Paddy O, I agree with you on having a type of measurement for evaluating teachers should be student based. I do think teachers are for the most part compensated fairly, although I do not think they should be paid more for getting advanced degrees at some of these on-line colleges.
A great deal of people go into government service jobs knowing they will not make as much money as they could in the private sector but know they will have a more secure job and benefits should be a little better in than the private sector. This is no longer true because the benefits are being cut left and right and pay is not as good. This is an issue that will have to be addressed in the next few years or you are not going to have enough people to man these jobs (teachers, fire fighters, police, social services caseworkers). What are we as a state going to do then?
HS Public Teacher
September 28th, 2010
12:18 pm
I am so torn with this issue.
On one hand, I feel that we, as professionals, really do know when a teacher is doing their job. Anyone with any education knowledge (pedagogy) can usually tell within 10 minutes of observing a class if what is happening is true opportunities for learning. Because of this, the current method of evaluating teachers based on observations should be valid.
However, too often those people DOING the observations will play favorites and not observe properly. A good teacher that they don’t like may not do well on the observation. A bad teacher that is their friend may do well on the observation. This is the fatal flaw in this process.
As long as the one DOING the observations is fair and just, it is really a good tool. However, that is usually not the case unfortunately.
I do like the ‘data based’ evaluation to a degree. My students regularly do perform very well and a lot above average on all standardized tests (EOCT, HSGT, etc.). However, I can clearly see the arguement that THEIR performance really should not be used to measure MY performance. It is unfair for a great teacher in a poorly performing school to have a bad evaluation because her students were not prepared for the class and yet were thrown in her class anyway.
By and large, however, I feel that teacher quality is just not a main cause at all regarding education. Studies have shown time and again that the MAIN variable is home life (parental involvement, parental support, food/clothing/shelter, etc.). I just don’t understand why so much time and energy is spent worrying about teacher quality and it is a very minor variable in the equation.
The Truth
September 28th, 2010
12:26 pm
Obama’s great idea: More school days, because their parents don’t have books at home. In other words, we better put them in school around teachers who have the ability to make a better influence on their lives rather than their sorry parents who are more interested in _____________ (fill in the blank). I wonder what percentage of LA public school districts students are sons and daughters of illegals? How many have their actual father in the home? Coincidence? You decide. Liberals, stay out of this discussion. America is sick and tired of your political correctness, socialism, and policies that are wrapped really pretty but full of CRAP.
td
September 28th, 2010
12:31 pm
I hear over and over again that the main reason students fail is due to either the teachers or the parents. I have read some material that says a child does worse when they are living with a single parent vs living with both parents.
I would like to see a study to look at the numbers of children in GA living in a single parent household and their test scores vs. children in two parent households. I would then like to see these measurement made for all the other states to compare them as well.
the reason why
September 28th, 2010
12:34 pm
whiteman-
The reason we’re partiers is that it’s an escape from seeing how horrible our society is becoming. Public schools are pretty much the best way to look at a cross section of America. It’s today’s best melting pot to disect to see how American culture is progressing, er, or was progressing. We are no longer progressing and our children are paying the price for it. The children who are in school right now are complacent, bored and for the most part spoiled. They have never had to want for much. They mostly have no drive and their work ethic is absolutely disgusting. Today, the AJC published an article talking about the gap between poor and rich in America and Georgia, explaining that the gap has grown to a size larger than we’ve seen since probably the days of Slavery. If the kids I see on a daily basis stay as complacent, it’s only going to get worse. And that fact alone is a great reason to party…..because if there’s no hope, you might as well get wasted.
td
September 28th, 2010
12:35 pm
To follow up on my above post: Do we have more children in single parent households in GA then say Conn (or any other high ranked state). How does our single parent households scores compare to theirs and how does our two parent households compare? This may solve the argument about is it the teacher or the parent and let us stop debating and really focus on the failing point in the system.
What if
September 28th, 2010
12:52 pm
So much to think about. Remember the local principal several years ago who committed suicide because her (excellent) school ended up on the truly random assignment “AYP” list. As long as naive and incompetent policymakers – AND REPORTERS – use what the experts KNOW to be virtually random data (including single measure test scores – which includes the LA “value-added” differences) to punish teachers and their schools capriciously (a lay term for total lack of validity), there are people with their hearts and souls devoted to helping kids who will be devastated – no matter the unfairness. It suggests that the people driving these so-called “reforms” don’t actually care about kids, teachers, improving learning, – - or the future of our society.
Maureen Downey
September 28th, 2010
1:03 pm
@td, I think you can find that in the Kids Count data reports put out by the Casey Foundation every year.
Paddy O
September 28th, 2010
1:04 pm
it is not hate, it is cost benefit; plus, how many people think that their property taxes for the operation of the local BOE are too low? When you factor the cost in with the SAT test scores, it seems we are paying for a cadillac and getting a Yugo.
V for Vendetta
September 28th, 2010
1:17 pm
HS Public Teacher,
It’s no different in any other profession where people are evaluated less on the merits and more on the personalities. I agree with you. We all know who the bad teachers are, which is why it is so frustrating that they continue to soldier on with jobs that should go to others more qualified.
Paddy O
September 28th, 2010
1:20 pm
white man – you misquote statements, can you not read? the standard work year days is about 250. the contract calls for 180. Vince corrected me – the teacher health benefits are typical. But, no one mentions the pension – which is very good.Katie: The second most important job after parents? First, parenting should not be perceived as a job. Secondly, I would say ALL the military jobs are more important, all the guys working on the dangerous wells in the Gulf, all the people who operate nuclear facilities, farmers, the list goes on & on. It is attitudes like that which demonstrate the insulated universe that teachers operate in (and which indicate many do not have a very broad understanding of the society & economy they live in). Also, how do you fund your utopian vision of super high salaries? More taxes? Classes with 50 kids in it? Vince – you state you are making 24,000 less than scheduled, but not what your actual annual compensation is – you are cherry picking a little data to persuade people, but for the most part your arguments are persuasive. I doubt most of the continuing education requirements for teachers have any benefit – but teachers need to argue that point – plus, how do most teachers fulfill this? Seminars or summer classes? @ padio – I am not complaining about my salary, in the market I work in, it is terrific. I complain about insulated teachers in rural areas thinking their $45,000 a year (average most counties) salary with all the scheduled time off is tough to live on – it is not – go work for Budweiser, or a carpet mill – or be a cop in Atlanta, or state patrolmen in high speed chase. The teachers average day should not be very stressful, outside of middle & high school.
Paddy O
September 28th, 2010
1:21 pm
teachers are challenged by the red neck rebel disrespect for authority, but that is the state we all live in.
Paddy O
September 28th, 2010
1:31 pm
what if – your statements indicate you have a persecution complex. The CRCT passing rates per teacher in GA should be utilized to gauge teacher efficacy. If a teacher has less than 80% 2 consecutive years, you might want to look into the caliber of their teaching methods. It was also give parents ammunition to request that their kid be moved to the teacher with 100%.
Paddy O
September 28th, 2010
1:33 pm
it is unarguable that home life affects students aptitude. But the good teachers should be able to overcome this adequately so the child passes the CRCT test. I know of one teacher where I live who has had 100% of their kids pass for the past 3 years – that is good teaching.
Batgirl
September 28th, 2010
1:45 pm
I’m sure that this poor man had other issues, but being publicly humiliated by being called “less effective” would probably be enough to push someone over the edge. I wonder how those of you who are critical of him would like it if a newspaper published the scores of individual students. Maybe they could also include things like the parents’ marital status, education and income levels. I’m guessing this wouldn’t go over too well.
@PaddyO, I have a master’s degree and am in my thirteenth year of teaching. I make about $52,000/year for the third year in a row. I should have gotten a step increase this year, but that did not happen. Yes, I do better than most people in my small town because I chose this field. Others are free to choose it, too. And, yes, I do make more than other local government employess such as law officers and sanitation workers. Their jobs do not require degrees, although I think that law officers who put their lives in danger should make at least as much, if not more, than I do.
Booklover
September 28th, 2010
2:08 pm
@Paddy O:
1. As a taxpayer, I am wondering how you have ALL DAY to sit on this blog if you are supposed to be “working” your government job? You must take a lot of “breaks.”
2. Teachers lend money to the local government every year because we work August-June but the school board doesn’t finish paying us until August of that year… should teachers begin charging local gov’t interest on that loan?
Teacher GA
September 28th, 2010
2:08 pm
So Paddy O thinks that teaching is not stressful unless you are teaching high school or middle school? Wow…you become more illogical the more you post.
LLL
September 28th, 2010
2:09 pm
Teachers as a whole are not good at handling criticims – and it goes both way, giving and receiving critcisms. Too often, they just say “that’s was wonderful,” even if they didn’t think it was anywhere but wonderful. From that perspective, when they hear someone say that they are terrible, they get upset because they are not used to criticisms.
Teaching in general have to become much more critical of itself and teachers learn to deal with criticisms much more effectively.
Booklover
September 28th, 2010
2:16 pm
As a teacher, I have to counsel myself sometimes: I am only responsible for what happens in my classroom; I can only control what my students experience while they are with me. I can give them tools for real life, but I only see them for 90 minutes for 18 weeks. There is only so much I can control. At times, this is depressing and overwhelming.
This is why I am a big advocate of teachers living balanced lives. I stay after as long as my kids need me… TWO days a week. The other three days, I leave at contract time (I still take work home) and then I go work out because I have to keep myself healthy in order to perform optimally. I made some games and activities but not all; I need a life too, away from school, with non-teacher friends.
The last two years, I learned some harsh lessons. I gave a lot, financially, emotionally, time-wise, to my students and my profession, and I learned that when the going gets tough, my salary is first on the chopping block and nobody gives a sh*t about my well-being. I’ve always worked two jobs; now, if my significant other wasn’t helping me with bills, I wouldn’t be able to make it without going further into debt. This year: no supplies paid for out of my pocket. Teachers, we are responsible for ourselves, and we need to set some boundaries. This poor man didn’t do that.
What if
September 28th, 2010
2:27 pm
Paddy: I’m a measurement Ph.D. I ran state testing programs in another state. So many people seem to think that these tests are, in my terms, reliable – that is to say accurate. THEY ARE NOT. For not even the tip of the iceberg starters, especially in schools in low income areas, kids DO NOT CARE about taking the tests – even if they are not hungry, have not been shot at on the way to school, have not been beat up by bullies, have not been lead poisoned by the paint on the walls or the solder in the pipes, and even if they have two parents, life has many more things to worry them than sitting down in front of some low-bid poorly made test once a year. Even when everything is “perfect,” the test results for one kid will be amazingly different from one testing to the next because of the ’sampling’ of the questions. For the kids who actually care, why do you think they take the SAT over and over again? The biggest difference in their scores from one testing to the next is not preparation, but the random match of their knowledge against the selection of the few questions on a given test form from the pool of many thousands of questions. Tests are NOT even remotely close to the accuracy of a ruler or a weight scale – even poorly made ones. It’s why teachers take MANY, MANY measures (tests, papers, quizzes, etc. etc.) over a year.
Bruce Kendall
September 28th, 2010
2:49 pm
Everybody should ignore Paddy O. Paddy O reminds me of someone I know who joins a blog like this and takes up positions like Paddy O has done today. Why? He thinks it is funny.
Nikole
September 28th, 2010
2:55 pm
ATTN TEACHERS: Your self-esteem should NOT be based on test scores. Do your job, and do it well. The rest is up to your students.
Worth Repeating
September 28th, 2010
2:58 pm
As a teacher, I have to counsel myself sometimes: I am only responsible for what happens in my classroom; I can only control what my students experience while they are with me. I can give them tools for real life, but I only see them for 90 minutes for 18 weeks. There is only so much I can control. At times, this is depressing and overwhelming.
This is why I am a big advocate of teachers living balanced lives. I stay after as long as my kids need me… TWO days a week. The other three days, I leave at contract time (I still take work home) and then I go work out because I have to keep myself healthy in order to perform optimally. I made some games and activities but not all; I need a life too, away from school, with non-teacher friends.
The last two years, I learned some harsh lessons. I gave a lot, financially, emotionally, time-wise, to my students and my profession, and I learned that when the going gets tough, my salary is first on the chopping block and nobody gives a sh*t about my well-being. I’ve always worked two jobs; now, if my significant other wasn’t helping me with bills, I wouldn’t be able to make it without going further into debt. This year: no supplies paid for out of my pocket. Teachers, we are responsible for ourselves, and we need to set some boundaries. This poor man didn’t do that.
THANKS FOR THIS COMMENT BOOK LOVER!
Bruce Kendall
September 28th, 2010
3:07 pm
Maureen, I am not always sure how you chose blogs to post, but I want to thank you.
William Casey
September 28th, 2010
3:09 pm
Something to think about: what kind of pure fools are schools going to get to replace the inadequate teachers fired under the ludicrous “value added” system. I know that my son, currently doing double degrees in Mathematics and Philosophy, wouldn’t take the kind of abuse being dished out to teachers if they started him out at $100K per year. I (or most any other teacher with 30+ years experience) could design a real evaluation program. It’s needed. But schools want to evaluate “on the cheap,” hence “value added.”
HS Public Teacher
September 28th, 2010
3:10 pm
@What if…
While you have done the statistics one way in another State, that does not mean that GA does it the same way.
I do know of a couple of people that work with those State tests in GA. They ensure that each and every question is statistically reliable before it “counts” towards a student score. They place practice questions embedded in the test to see if students are able to get them right or not.
As a high school teacher, I have seen questions on these tests and I can say that I very very rarely see a question that is not reasonable for an average student to get them right.
Teacher GA
September 28th, 2010
3:11 pm
What if – you are right on. I am glad you are taking time for yourself. You should.
Katie
September 28th, 2010
3:27 pm
Paddy O,
All the jobs you listed are, of course, vitally important. And in every case, someone taught those people how to do those jobs. Thus, I stand behind my comment.
What if
September 28th, 2010
3:40 pm
Teacher GA: No, Paddy only seems illogical because like so many, he finds it easy to speak of things he knows little about. Things always look simpler that way. Knowing enough to know when you don’t know enough is a rare trait.