Why Should Teacher Not Be Graded On Test Scores.
As we are sitting in class, waiting to take the test our teacher will be graded on, she is demanding high scores and seems quite nervous. Everyone is nervous, even me. I do not think I am going to meet her expectations because I am already not a good test taker, neither are my friends. Now that I know that this test determines whether our teacher is good or not, I feel pressured. I do not want it to be my fault that my teacher is in trouble for not teaching us good enough. It is not fair that our teachers have to depend on their students scores to determine whether they are good teachers or not. I believe that our teachers effectiveness should not be measured by their students test scores because …show more content…
A teacher’s job is to teach the information and review with students, not to force students to ace, or even pass, tests. Because teachers can not force students to do well, or even try, they should not be held accountable for their test scores. It is the student's responsibility to ask questions, ask for tutoring, do homework, and to study- not the teachers. The teacher should be able to encourage the student their grades will be their punishment. There are other factors, besides not being good test takers, that can influence test grades. Some students have parents who are “unable” to support their learning academically. Student test score gains are also influenced by “family resources, student health, family mobility, and the influence of neighborhood peers and of classmates who may be relatively more advantaged or disadvantaged” ("Problems with the Use of Student Test Scores to Evaluate Teachers”). Therefore, these students have an automatic disadvantage. The students with successful parents that are there to help them with homework and those who can afford to send them to camps or after school tutoring sessions have an automatic advantage. This difference strongly affects the way students tests and, unfortunately, affects their teacher’s grades. These studies show that the students’ lack of …show more content…
Peer evaluation, student portfolios, and teacher planning books could also measure a teacher's effectiveness, and even more efficiently. If teachers had random peer evaluations, where other teachers examine each other at random times, they would be evaluated in their true class. According to Linda Darling-Hammond from Center for American Progress, “Aside from teachers test, there is increasing in measuring teachers contributions by directly examining student achievement gains, and there are a number of efforts underway to create systems that incorporate value-added methods for examining student learning gains into teacher evaluation” (Hammond 6). Student portfolios will show student improvements as well as the amount of work they do in class. If a student shows signs of improvements, the teacher must be doing something right. Whether the students make the effort to stay after school for tutoring, or ask questions until they understand, the teacher makes himself/herself available. By using documentation of students activities throughout the year, the improvements clearly shows, or clearly does not show. If a student is unable to write a sentence or use proper grammar in the beginning of the year or semester, but towards the end they are writing full, grammatically correct sentences, they are obviously improving due to the effectiveness of the teacher. One of the most effective alternatives
As we are sitting in class, waiting to take the test our teacher will be graded on, she is demanding high scores and seems quite nervous. Everyone is nervous, even me. I do not think I am going to meet her expectations because I am already not a good test taker, neither are my friends. Now that I know that this test determines whether our teacher is good or not, I feel pressured. I do not want it to be my fault that my teacher is in trouble for not teaching us good enough. It is not fair that our teachers have to depend on their students scores to determine whether they are good teachers or not. I believe that our teachers effectiveness should not be measured by their students test scores because …show more content…
A teacher’s job is to teach the information and review with students, not to force students to ace, or even pass, tests. Because teachers can not force students to do well, or even try, they should not be held accountable for their test scores. It is the student's responsibility to ask questions, ask for tutoring, do homework, and to study- not the teachers. The teacher should be able to encourage the student their grades will be their punishment. There are other factors, besides not being good test takers, that can influence test grades. Some students have parents who are “unable” to support their learning academically. Student test score gains are also influenced by “family resources, student health, family mobility, and the influence of neighborhood peers and of classmates who may be relatively more advantaged or disadvantaged” ("Problems with the Use of Student Test Scores to Evaluate Teachers”). Therefore, these students have an automatic disadvantage. The students with successful parents that are there to help them with homework and those who can afford to send them to camps or after school tutoring sessions have an automatic advantage. This difference strongly affects the way students tests and, unfortunately, affects their teacher’s grades. These studies show that the students’ lack of …show more content…
Peer evaluation, student portfolios, and teacher planning books could also measure a teacher's effectiveness, and even more efficiently. If teachers had random peer evaluations, where other teachers examine each other at random times, they would be evaluated in their true class. According to Linda Darling-Hammond from Center for American Progress, “Aside from teachers test, there is increasing in measuring teachers contributions by directly examining student achievement gains, and there are a number of efforts underway to create systems that incorporate value-added methods for examining student learning gains into teacher evaluation” (Hammond 6). Student portfolios will show student improvements as well as the amount of work they do in class. If a student shows signs of improvements, the teacher must be doing something right. Whether the students make the effort to stay after school for tutoring, or ask questions until they understand, the teacher makes himself/herself available. By using documentation of students activities throughout the year, the improvements clearly shows, or clearly does not show. If a student is unable to write a sentence or use proper grammar in the beginning of the year or semester, but towards the end they are writing full, grammatically correct sentences, they are obviously improving due to the effectiveness of the teacher. One of the most effective alternatives