Grading Gone Bad
Right now schools across New York are taking the Common Core state tests. Our teachers are getting graded based on what our scores on these tests are. This seems to be an unfair system of teacher evaluation. The way the evaluation process works, each teacher gets a number from 0 to 100 based on student performance. In addition, teachers are given a rating on the HEDI scale, which stands for Highly Effective, Effective, Developing, or Ineffective. These are taken into account when schools are evaluated for “adequate yearly progress.
” Since 2002 the education law No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has raised the bar each year for how many of a school’s students must pass. Also with New York recently starting the Common Core testing it makes the test harder for the kids and then the teachers get a worse grade. This could cause administrators and teachers to lose their jobs. An example of a teacher who lost her job because of the tests would be the math teacher, Ms. Pallos, who left because she was considered the worst math teacher in the state of New York after receiving her ratings from state tests. An example of schools having poorer ratings each year due to test difficulty is Fairfax Court Superintendent Jack Dale talking about the law under which 62% of Virginia’s schools fell short of the mark last year, compared to 39% the year before.
I think it is unfair to evaluate teachers based on the scores students get on Common Core state tests. There could be A plus students who “crack under pressure” and do bad on the test. Kids could have a test phobia and perform poorly. A teacher could receive a bad rating based on some good students performing poorly and they could lose their job even if they are doing what they are supposed to do. I understand that the states need to know how the teachers are doing and what they have taught us. But they shouldn’t be rated on how well or poorly students do on a test.
Their rating from testing shouldn’t be ignored, it should be just one factor in an evaluation that looks at how they did throughout the whole school year. I have been taking these tests since 4th grade and I think students and teachers should stand up and argue against having testing every year. The tests create stress and pressure for both teachers and students because of the length and content of them. It also takes a lot of time out of doing regular classroom work. It seems like Common Core state tests are not fair to everyone involved, but especially teachers who can actually lose their jobs over the rating they receive after test results are in.
