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Originally posted by Spanky
Then how would you approach the drafting of state legislation that would attempt to create tests to determine teacher performance, that would make social promotion rare, and to help schools get rid of bad teachers?
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I'm not sure I would, as I am not sure that these are problems that can really be solved at the statewide level. And I am not convinced the heart of the problem for struggling schools is bad teachers who just need to be fired.
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What factors do you think are the main obstacles to effective education and how would you address the problems through state legislation?
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I think the main obstacles are povery, unstable families, a culture that doesn't value education, and an influx of children whose native language isn't English. I think only the last of these can be meaningfully address with state legislation to provide for more ESL training and bilingual education (although this is probably an issue that has been addressed in California).
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Do you think the lobbyists from the teachers unions would agree with the statement; "Testing can help measure teacher performance, Schools should be able to fire bad teachers, and Social promotion should be a rare exception rather than the norm." And do you think they would support legislation that would make this concept become a practical reality?
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I think they would prefer that testing be used to identify student performance, as, afterall, that is what is being tested. Testing can be helpful to identify those students who need extra help, and I think the unions might support it if it was being proposed in connection with a program that would provide more tutoring, diversion programs, and targetted help for students who are falling behind.
These things, of course, would also have the benefit of reducing social promotion. Although ultimately the only way I can see to reduce social promotion and limit its use judiciously is to have in place a school administration that agrees that social promotion should be limited, and perhaps puts in place structures to help teachers decide when to use it (perhaps faculty committees or some such).
As for firing bad teachers, again, mostly I think you need to expect your administrators to do their jobs. You will have a very hard time getting the teachers union to agree to simply banning tenure (or extending the period before which it accrues, as you have suggested). I'm just not sure this one is worth the fight because I am not convinced that it is a primary problem with schools. That said, you may be able to acheive similar results by adopting training or mentoring programs for teachers that are not living up to expectations, and you may be able to provide incentives for teachers that come up with innovative curricula. Things like that may have the twin effect of helping teachers improve themselves and encouraging them to move on if things are not working.
But again, I am not sure that any of these things are really appropriate for state legislation.
