Educators

Let me preface this post with two things. It will probably be long. Secondly, it is a rant, kind of.

I am an “educator.” I teach 5th grade Science. This is my 10th year teaching 5th grade science, although I taught both math and science for the first 7 years. I teach in Texas at a school in which over 85% of our students are on free or reduced lunch. I am alternatively certified, which means that I have a four year degree in something other than education and then completed a program specifically geared toward turning people who were not “educators” into “educators” through a rather rigorous 6 month course of study. I have since taken many more classes. I am certified as a Master Math Teacher due to a summer program of over 125 hours of Math and Math teaching education. I am also certified as a Master Science Teacher THROUGH a similar program. Each of these certifications required over 100 hours of workshops and a 5 hour test to prove my worthiness. I passed them both the first time. (It seems like bragging but I’m trying to prove a point.)

All of the above said, I have not qualified, in the last two years, for the supplemental pay given to teachers who are so excellent at their job that 80% or better of their students pass the state test at the end of the school year.

That must mean that I suck, right? I refer you to this article from the New York Times (Thank you for the link Jean.)

I give you this quote from the article, in case you don’t want to go and read it right now.

William L. Sanders, a senior research manager for a North Carolina company, SAS, that does value-added estimates for districts in North Carolina, Tennessee and other states, said that “if you use rigorous, robust methods and surround them with safeguards, you can reliably distinguish highly effective teachers from average teachers and from ineffective teachers.”

He is referring to statistical data based on state administered tests.

First off, and this may seem ignorant, but this guy isn’t really saying anything. He’s talking around the issue. But aside from that, I have seen, first hand, the “rigorous, and robust methods” that have been “surround(ed)” by “safeguards.” They do not take into account the fact that 5th grade, 8th grade, and Exit level are the only grades in Texas that have a Science Test. So, just humor me here, pretend that you are a third or fourth grade teacher whose job and money are dependent upon one test (not the science test). Which subject are you going to teach the most? Or better asked, which subject are you going to throw out the window? BUT! And this is a big BUT! The 5th grade science test covers 1st through 5th grade science material, some of which is not supposed to be taught in 5th grade. (Same goes for 8th and exit level.)

Also, it does not take into account that there are three blocks of fifth graders at our school and all of the “gifted and talented” students go to one block (except this year). Nor does it take into account the fact that of the 45 “English Language Learners” 25 of them are in my block. Nor the fact that, because I am known as a “good teacher” who is relatively “good at discipline”, that I also get the struggling students and the poorly behaved students. (This last part is a bit anecdotal because I may have been having smoke blown up my ass.)

Oh, and I should also mention that, in the 5th grade, the students are allowed to take the Math and Reading test three times but the Science is only given once. The first two administrations count for the Math and Reading teachers. So, if 60% of their students pass the first time, they don’t have to take it again. The other 40% get extra tutoring on their weakest objectives and then take the test again about a month later. The second time around the test is shorter because the field questions are removed. That means that the test just went from 50 to 52 questions to 40 to 42 depending on the subject. Oh, and the questions are the same as the first time around.

Ok, one final point. The teachers give the test to the students in a room, all by themselves. No administrators. No aides. No proctors. They give the test by themselves to their own students. We are told not to look at the test and “don’t cheat” because their will be legal consequences. I DON’T CHEAT. I never have and never will. This may lead to the loss of my job. I am ok with that because I would rather lose my job than cheat. But that doesn’t mean that other teachers don’t cheat. I’m just saying.

So, all of this to say that I think that merit pay based on how well my students do on one test, on one day, of one year is ridiculous. I have had students throw up on their desks on this day and have to go home and then their grades don’t count, if they didn’t finish. (Sometimes that’s a good thing.) A single block of 5th grade teachers on my campus qualified for the merit pay this year. The block with the “gifted and talented students.” They were given in excess of $1000 in one lump at a special meeting in which their “accomplishments” were celebrated while I was informed that I was expected at meetings and to work in my room. The money that I didn’t earn was put back in the pot and spread out among those who did.

A fix to this problem would be to administer a pre-test in September (since we are so test happy) and then another one at the end of the year and see how much the students’ knowledge has grown. We gave a pre-test this year based only on 3rd and 4th grade material. Of my 61 students who took the test, 7 passed.