Teacher testing may get flunked

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ^ | December 30, 2002 | Kellie B. Gormly

[buzzyboop]

Educators from nearly a dozen local districts, along with others statewide, are awaiting results from a second round of state teacher tests, but the controversial program soon might be kicked out of school.

Former Gov. Tom Ridge had hoped to test the state's 125,000 teachers in mathematics and reading over the next five years under the initiative launched in the fall of 2001. But the future of the Professional Development Assistance Program looks shaky with Democratic Gov.-elect Ed Rendell set to take office Jan. 21.

Critics of the program — including the state teachers unions, which poured more than $400,000 into Rendell's campaign — are hopeful the new administration will flunk the program. A bill including a provision to abolish the program was vetoed last month by Gov. Schweiker. But that only ensures the program's existence until the new administration steps in.

[buzzyboop]

Somebody could do great on these tests but be a terrible teacher,"(David) Bradley (a policy analyst with the Keystone Research Center, a public-policy think tank) said. "It is also possible they could be great teachers but not do so well on the test."

Substituting "student" for "teacher" in the above quote illustrates how ludicrous the statement is. Tell me then, how do we nowadays measure abilities in not only teachers, but any so-called "professional"??

Even hairdressers have to pass a test. Do teachers then not consider themselves "professionals"??

[Physicist]

"It is also possible they could be great teachers but not do so well on the test."

No, it is not possible. These are basic competency skills. It is inconceivable that a teacher who does not have these skills could impart them to a student.

[Kuksool]

Isn't ironic that the NEA demands tight laws on homeschoolers because they are concerned about education neglect, yet the union opposes any kind of accountability on public schools?

[monkeyshine]

Even hairdressers have to pass a test.

LOL! That is a great analogy.

[Henchman]

BUMP! It seems the teachers and their union do not want the teachers accountable. The problem is always the parents, students from impovershed backgrounds, lack of funds and the inability of tests to be accurate.

Well, let's start with the tests and then evaluate the results for objectivity, say with an oral interview and opinions from those who pass the tests. Then lets fire some of the failing teachers and see if the students improve. I'll bet that the students improve with only a small "decimation" of the teachers.

[Salvation]

BTTT for testing of teachers.

I have been in classrooms where I have corrected (privately of course), spelling, grammar and content of lessons.

[MarkL]

The thought of having incompetant teachers in the classroom really gets me riled up, and I certainly had my share of them in the KCMO school district. In the 2 years that I spend in the district, I would hazzard a guess that there were only 4 teachers that I had that knew how to teach and/or the subject that they were supposed to be teaching!

I take this seriously, because I worked as an "educator" for a Novell Authorized Education Center, meaning that I taught people how to set up, run, and diagnose networks. I did this for 4 1/2 years, after having worked in the field for 4 1/2 years before that. I was hired because I knew the material inside and out, and had installed or worked on over 150 networks in that time. In order to teach the class, I had to attend a "train the trainer" course, and then take the same test the students had to take, but pass at a much higher level. It's sad that a software manufacturer takes more care in selecting the trainer for their products than our public school systems.

Mark

[Kenny Bunk]

These tests usually would appear ludicrously to any informed adult. The embarassingly painful fact of the matter is that the American teacher of today, and many are well-meaning, good, caring people, are often absolute numbnutzz when it comes to subject matter knowledge.

The Teacher's College Network which cranks them out owns a monopoly. They teach aspiring teachers no facts, for factual knowledge is known in the "Education" cult as "Contamination."

Their guiding philosophy is not "Education," but "Socialization."

[Kenny Bunk]

all informed adults: meant to say "ludicrously simple,"

[zook]

Hi Folks! Here's the problem with "teacher testing" in Pennsylvania. The tests would not measure teachers's basic knowledge of content, but be more slanted toward the use of "proper techniques" that involve so-called "constructivism," "cooperative learning," etc.

I've seen the state's exam for principal certification. It's biased toward a particular "liberal-humanistic" view of leadership and management. In other words, if you don't buy in to the current educational fads, you either lie or you fail the test.