Imaging your teacher getting punished for you getting a bad score!

THEY ARE THE REAL JUDGES

NY to evaluate teachers by students’ test scores

Educators’ Efficiency Will Be Linked To Pupils’ Improvement

Jennifer Medina

New York: New York City has embarked on an ambitious experiment, yet to be announced, in which some 2,500 teachers are being measured on how much their students improve on annual standardised tests.
The move is so contentious that principals in some of the 140 schools participating have not told their teachers that they are being scrutinised based on student performance and improvement. While officials say it is too early to determine how they will use the data, which is already being collected, they say it could eventually be used to help make decisions on teacher tenure or as a significant element in performance evaluations and bonuses. And they hold out the possibility that the ratings for individual teachers could be made public.
The effort comes as educators nationwide are struggling to figure out how to find, train and measure good teachers. Many education experts say that until teacher quality improves in urban schools, student performance is likely to stagnate and the achievement gap between white and minority students will never be closed.
The United Federation of Teachers, the city’s teachers’ union, has known about the experiment for months, but has not been told which schools are involved, because the education department has promised those principals confidentiality.
Randi Weingarten, the union president, said she had grave reservations about the project, and would fight if the city tried to use the information for tenure or formal evaluations or even publicised it.
“There is no way that any of this current data could actually, fairly, honestly or with any integrity be used to isolate the contributions of an individual teacher,” Weingarten said. “If one permitted this, it would be one of the worst decisions of my professional life.”
Deputy schools chancellor Chris Cerf, who is overseeing the project, said that how students performed on tests would not be the only factor considered in any system to rate teachers. All decisions will include personal circumstances and experiences, he said, but the point will be to put a focus on whether or not students are improving. NYT NEWS SERVICE