tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post3816508964214306764..comments2024-03-24T11:39:28.574-04:00Comments on NYC Public School Parents: Breaking: the Lederman decision and Gallup poll: the beginning of the end of high-stakes testing?Patrick Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10631038958645725010noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-60847896908161091152016-05-18T01:15:24.635-04:002016-05-18T01:15:24.635-04:00Being a retired teacher I have always felt that me...Being a retired teacher I have always felt that merit pay would make a difference in whether or not teachers were considered bad or good. I was given my tenure in 2 yrs & the usual time was 4 yrs. Many teachers, unfortunately decide that once they have their tenure, it's merely a matter of time until they can retire on a good pension. They were always referred to as 'dead wood' & I have seen my share of teachers that could be considered 'dead wood' & I have always felt badly b/c the students didn't receive the quality of teaching that they deserved. I did my student teaching in an up scale suburb of Chicago & most of these youngsters came from homes where they were given just about all that they wanted. I'll never forget the day that I ordered a movie about Alexander Graham Bell & the children booed & hissed throughout the whole movie b/c it was black & white & they wanted a movie in color. That's what made me decide to go & teach in a district where many people were having a hard time economically & the children were grateful for all that I taught them & all that I did for them. In the past I had discussed merit pay with other teachers & yet they were against it b/c they were afraid that they wouldn't earn the income that they hoped to earn. I was also told I needed to join the NEA the first year that I started teaching. I 'had' to join & that was all that I was told. Well, when a group of teachers got together in order to strike against this district in order to get more pay & I was asked to join in. I told them that b/c I had signed a contract at the beginning of the year & I had agreed to salary that the school district agreed to give me, then I didn't feel it was right to ask for a different salary once I had agreed on the one that I was getting after I signed that contract. The teachers did not strike that year & I was glad b/c I had heard tales of teachers who had to cross the picket line & I was not looking forward to that. If I had to do that, then I would have, b/c I didn't feel it was to renege on the contract that I had signed when I was hired.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-64233917730230039322016-05-11T11:59:44.707-04:002016-05-11T11:59:44.707-04:00This ruling was very narrow. It could only be use...This ruling was very narrow. It could only be used as precedent in a case with similar facts:<br /><br />1. Single year VAMs<br /><br />2. Large proportion of students at high/low end of scale<br /><br />3. Teacher with a wildly fluctuating VAM<br /><br />For those that think the judge threw out VAMs, you've got another thing coming.<br /><br />I would invite Mr. Lederman to come down to Virginia to help the Virginia Education Association try to overturn Judge Hughes ruling ordering the release of Virginia SGP data. They desperately need your help as their attorneys have no clue. Bring all your witnesses too (Hammond, Rothstein, Beardsley - leave Burris at home though as she is only an "expert" at whining when organizations rate her high school objectively on classes they actually teach)<br /><br />As another comment said, we all know (including good teachers) that there are bad teachers in the schools. They continually get good evaluations despite their obvious ineffective instruction. When good teachers look the other way and even fight attempts to reassign/remove such teachers, that behavior can only be described as EVIL.VirginiaSGPhttp://www.facebook.com/virginiasgpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-36609138377811661482016-05-11T05:43:15.779-04:002016-05-11T05:43:15.779-04:00We could bring back teaching artifacts, student po...We could bring back teaching artifacts, student portfolios, and use evaluations by our peers as an addition to evaluations done by principals. When principals have 100% input there is too much power to be abused to destroy teachers for no good reason.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-35510232235727283992016-05-10T21:24:49.936-04:002016-05-10T21:24:49.936-04:00Not a fan of standard tests either, but then how d...Not a fan of standard tests either, but then how do we rate teachers???? There is too much dead weight in our school systems and the community can't afford these budgets anymore!!!!! Everyone is praising the verdict, but the underlying problem is bad teachers and school admins can't be fired easily, just like they can be fired in the real world. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00731955658071555254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-34800646263333826172016-05-10T18:28:46.370-04:002016-05-10T18:28:46.370-04:00Hallelujah! Hopefully, this is just the first ste...Hallelujah! Hopefully, this is just the first step in dismantling this awful, expensive, destructive, and distracting standardized testing machine our politicians have created, and the first step to returning our students' classrooms to a healthier place. Standardized tests were always meant to be diagnostic tools, not assessments.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-11548428230382479652016-05-10T18:21:02.379-04:002016-05-10T18:21:02.379-04:00As much as I am not a fan of using tests to rate t...As much as I am not a fan of using tests to rate teachers, I am also NOT a fan of having a principal have 100% input on teacher ratings. I guess there will never be a perfect way to rate us.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-53310830676145751722016-05-10T18:19:54.694-04:002016-05-10T18:19:54.694-04:00I agree with Alexandra Miletta. This will be a gre...I agree with Alexandra Miletta. This will be a great precedent for the present and future. However, the fight is still not over and we still need to push and constantly advocate. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-44688392838707062112016-05-10T17:42:17.547-04:002016-05-10T17:42:17.547-04:00This is certainly good news for opponents of the u...This is certainly good news for opponents of the use of standardized tests to evaluate teachers as it sets an important precedent with clear language about the bias inherent in using growth score models. But the fight against testing is far from over. My two cents here: http://alexandramiletta.blogspot.com/2016/05/good-news-about-lederman-lawsuit-on-appr.htmlAlexandra Milettahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06530499049125474646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-29918643448125464412016-05-10T16:30:16.351-04:002016-05-10T16:30:16.351-04:00This to me means it is time for Governor Cuomo and...This to me means it is time for Governor Cuomo and NYSED to admit the testing over the last several years where 70% of our New York State 3-8th grade students have failed, should be completely thrown out. So many of us have had flip flop evaluations due to these tests and have suffered such devaluation through it all. <br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15184993483784451841noreply@blogger.com