History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
The real qualities of teacher excellence
- 03-17-2011
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Guest blog by Joanne Yatvin/Washington Post
Most of us, I think, can name the qualities that go into being a good cook, a good friend, or a good worker. But could we quantify those qualities? Would each quality have the same weight? And what if our two best friends had different qualities that when tallied up showed a wide discrepancy? All of this must seem hopelessly complicated and, very likely, inane. Who would want to measure one friend against another? But that is exactly the inanity going on in states and school districts bent on measuring the quality of teachers so some can be awarded merit pay and others can be fired. To make matters worse, the people setting up the measurement formulas don’t seem to know what the qualities of a good teacher are. Most of them can name only the ability to generate high student test scores, while the rest go blank after adding the ability to manage classroom behavior. Although I can’t resolve the numbers dilemma, I can, from my own long experience as a teacher and a principal, name a set of qualities that I believe mark excellence in a teacher, and I want to do that here. (more...)
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