Traditionally, education has lagged behind other industries in innovation and accountability. This axiom, evident in casual observation and corroborated by formal research efforts, has stigmatized professional educators like teachers, principles, and superintendents for decades. Albeit slowly, within the past 25 years, major and sweeping changes have affected the educational consortium and, more specifically, the manner in which administrators supervise and evaluate; one may trace this quarter-century sea change to the “A Nation at Risk” report. Published in 1983 by the National Commission on Excellence in Education, the authors of “A Nation at Risk” used brusque language to drum up support for standards-based teaching and assessment. Under the umbrella of learning standards, the report suggested a boost in educational accountability previously unheard of. In many ways, “A Nation at Risk,” by advocating high academic expectations and accountability for all stakeholders in America’s educational realm, was a precursor to the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993. “A Nation at Risk” also laid the groundwork for dramatic shifts in the principalship.
Although passed well over a decade after the release of “A Nation at Risk,” the Education Reform Act codified the standards movement in Massachusetts, introducing charter schools, curriculum frameworks, and highly prescribed standardized testing (the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) into Massachusetts public schools. According to the Massachusetts Department of Education (DOE), the Education Reform Act also expanded professional development expectations, the role of principals, and the system of teacher testing (the Massachusetts Test for Educator Licensure) (D...
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... both of the above questions is a resounding no.
Works Cited
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Massachusetts Department of Education. (2007). Retrieved June 3, 2007, from http://www.doe.mass.edu/edreform.
National Commission on Excellence in Education. (1983). “A Nation at Risk.” Retrieved June 2, 2007, from http://www.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/index.html.
Tucker, Pamela D. & Stronge, James H. (2005). Linking Teacher Evaluation and Student Learning. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
In 2010, Charlotte Danielson wrote an article, “Evaluations That Help Teachers”, for the magazine The Effective Educator. The purpose of this article was to explain how a teacher evaluation system, such as her own Framework for Teaching, should and can actually foster teacher learning rather than just measure teacher competence, which is what most other teacher evaluation systems do. This topic is especially critical to decision-making school leaders. Many of the popular teacher evaluation systems fail to help schools link teacher performance with meaningful opportunities for the teachers to reflect on and learn from in order to grow professionally. With the increased attention on the need for more rigorous student standards, this then is an enormous opportunity missed. Students can only achieve such rigorous expectations if their teachers can effectively teach them, and research has shown that teachers who are evaluated by systems that hold them to accountability and provide them for continuous support and growth will actually teach more effectively.
Leadership training programs allow for teachers to use their professional experience as an educator and combine it with the academic and hands on experience of being a leader by providing a comprehensive program. Leadership “…is learnable by providing real world leadership training” (Ramsey, 2006, p.xx). The training program prepares educators to be leaders and equips them with the tools necessary to be an effective leader. There is a need for an “,,,infusion ...
The proposed Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act identifies key factors for college and career-ready students. The act asks that states adopt rigorous college and career ready standards in English/language arts and mathematics along with assessments aligned to these standards. In June of 2010, the NGA Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) released the Common Core State Standards which 45 out of 50 states have currently adopted. Additionally, states are required to develop a system of accountability that rewards successful schools, requires interventions for the lowest-perfor...
Since the U.S. Congress passed the No Child Left Behind program, standardized testing has become the norm for American schools. Under this system, each child attending a school is required to take a standardized test at specific grade points to assess their level of comprehension. Parents, scholars and all stakeholders involved take part in constant discussions over its effectiveness in evaluating students’ comprehension, teachers’ competency and the effects of the test on the education system. Though these tests were put in place to create equality, experts note that they have created more inequality in the classroom. In efforts to explore this issue further, this essay reviews two articles on standardized testing. This essay reviews the sentiments of the authors and their insight into standardized examination. The articles provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that standardized tests are not effective at measuring a teacher’s competency because they do not take into account the school environment and its effect on the students.
Worthen, Blaine R., and Vicki Spandel. "Putting the Standardized Testing Debate in Perspective." Educational Leadership Feb. 1991: 65-69. ASCD. 1 Dec. 2013
Smolin, Andrea, and Jennifer Clayton. "Standardized Testing: How Prepared Are We?." Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership. 12(4). (2009): 29-36. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
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In 1997, President Bill Clinton stated that the United States needed, “ a national crusade for education standards - not federal government standards, but national standards, representing what all our students must know to succeed in the knowledge economy of the twenty-first century”(http://books.nap.edu/books/0309062802/html/13.html). The way to succeed in this journey is through standardized testing that results in consequences for teachers and students.
Hills, J. (1991). Issues in research on instructional supervision: A contribution to the discussion. Journal Of Curriculum & Supervision, 7(1), 1-12.
So all students were given a standardized test to compile data for campuses. But, what do these standardized test show? According to Kohn (2000), “the main thing they tell us is how big the students’ house are.” The standardized test has become problematic in regards to retaining highly qualified teachers. For example, as highly qualified teachers understood the connection between wealth and academic performance, teachers begin to turn away from schools of lower socioeconomic status. As a result, many quality teachers began to leave lower socioeconomic schools to teach students with big houses. Research shows lower socio economic campuses tend to have less experienced teachers, and a high turnover rate among teachers. What professional wants to be labeled as a “bad worker” due to the labeling created by the NCLB? One of the objectives of the NCLB was to create accountability through standardized testing. However, this tool of measurement has served as a hindrance to true improvement. The standardized testing of NCLB has had a negative impact on the quality of educators for those that live in “smaller houses.” Standardized test also can impact the health of those the NCLB is trying to
The role of teacher leader has been defined as “teachers who aspire to stretch beyond their classrooms to engage in leadership roles that take many shapes and forms, both “informal and formal”. (ECS, 2010). Teacher leadership has also been described as “the process by which teachers, individually and collectively, influence their colleagues, principals, and other members of the school community to improve learning practices with the aim of increased student learning and achievement.” (ECS, 2010). In years past, a majority of teacher leadership roles took the form of department chair, committee chair, grade level chair, etc. It was more of a representative role versus a leadership role. Their responsibility primarily involved dispersing information from administration to their counterparts and taking information back to administration from the group. Their position lacked decision-making power and true leadership that brings about “real” change. These tasks are still viewed as opportunities for teacher leadership; however, recently, the
The state’s new evaluation system was in response to administrators who produced, “superficial and capricious teacher evaluation systems that often don't even directly address the quality of instruction, much less measure students' learning” (Toch, 2008). Too often, the “good-ol-boy” attitude would insure mediocre educators would remain employed. Realizing this was often more the rule then the exception, the governor created educational mandates to focus, “on supporting and training effective teachers to drive student achievement” (Marzano Center, 2013). Initially, they expected the school districts and the teachers would have issues and experience growing pains, but in the end the goal was, “to improve teacher performance, year by year, with a corresponding rise in student achievement” (Marzano Center, 2013).
Education is a very important aspect in the life of a child. The level of success a student has in the classroom is greatly influenced by their teachers. Students, as well as their parents, depend on the teachers to guide them through their education. But who guides a teacher to perform successfully in the classroom? Principals and teachers play an important role in schools. A good relationship among school leaders and teachers is necessary and play an important role in making improvements in the school. Leadership refers to the “process in which one person successfully exerts influence over others to reach desired objectives”. (Okoji, 2015) Good leadership involves honesty, vision, confidence and commitment. It is the ability to inspire a
Doyle, Terry. Evaluation Teacher Effectiveness--Research Summary. Centering for Teaching and Learning, 30 Oct. 2002. Web. 5 Dec. 2010. http://www.ferris.edu/fctl/Teaching_and_Learning_Tips/Research%20on%20Students'%20Evalution%20of%20Faculty%20Teaching/EvalTeachEffec.htm.
York-Barr, J. & K. Duke (2004) what do we know about teacher leadership? Findings from two decades of scholarship. Review of educational research 74(3), 255-316.