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Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
For example, one of those bullets had to do with IT. Maybe the administration spends its budget on new computers for K-2, but higher grades have to use older stuff that doesn't work. Use a little imagination and you'll see that there are all sorts of things beyond an individual teacher's control.
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You are blowing this stuff way out of proportion. I can imagine that it may not make it to work tomorrow because I may get hit by a car (or imagine many other things), but how probable is it? How much of a boost in education is a computer going to make for one year in a students life when it comes to basic math and reading. Teachers taught this stuff for years without computers. Yes a computer might help a little, but don't you think the effectiveness of the teacher will be signficantly more determinant in what the student will learn. And if computers are given out to all the K-2 classes, then the grades can be compared to classes that get them. And you won't get new conputers every year so if there was a spike because of computers that year, all the other years won't have that same spike. Schools don't change that much every year, and the teacher is the biggest factor that changes.
Quote:
Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
OK. So who do you fire? The principal? Everyone?
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People wonder why I repeat myself, but I keep getting asked the same question. You look for patterns over time. You move a principle around, and if schools keep performing less well after he is put in you know he is bad principle. Just like with teachers you don't go with just one year. But over the years you will see which teachers consistenly out do their collegues and which ones don't.
Quote:
Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
That sounds great in the business world. If that worked in education, maybe it would be a business instead of a government-provided service.
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So whatever works in Business doesn't work in education because education is not a busines. That is absurd. What makes running a school so different from running a successful business that would make this one factor so different? Yes, in one your goal is not profits, but in both you have a goal and you want people that help you achieve that goal. In a company you want people that help you make good widgets efficiently and in a school you want people that will help you effectively teach students. This need of identifying which employees are helping you achieve your goal would seem to apply to both situations. Are you saying it wouldn't be helpful, or would have no effect, to be able to determine which teachers are using the tools given them more effectively than others in their goal of providing an education for children?
