Diane Ravitch once said "imagine that a town decides that crime rates have to go down and if the police FAIL to bring down crime rates, then they start firing the cops." It's her analogy for the teaching-test score insanity. So if test scores don't go up, let's not help the teachers, let's just fire them. Because THAT will absolutely help the students, right? Here's another analogy that highlights the short-sightedness that has become the hallmark of much US educational policy: http://mannahattamamma.com/2011/03/if-your-dinner-guests-dont-behave-does-that-make-you-an-ineffective-hostess/
On The Evil Economics Of Judging Teachers
Diane Ravitch once said "imagine that a town decides that crime rates have to go down and if the police FAIL to bring down crime rates, then they start firing the cops." It's her analogy for the teaching-test score insanity. So if test scores don't go up, let's not help the teachers, let's just fire them. Because THAT will absolutely help the students, right? Here's another analogy that highlights the short-sightedness that has become the hallmark of much US educational policy: http://mannahattamamma.com/2011/03/if-your-dinner-guests-dont-behave-does-that-make-you-an-ineffective-hostess/