Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The Absurdity of Basing Teacher Pay on Test Scores

On the surface, it makes a great deal of sense. Today's general population public education student is judged almost entirely by their scores on yearly standardized tests, so it seems rational to establish a teacher pay system based upon how successful students are on those tests.

Teachers whose students perform exceedingly well on the tests are obviously doing a great job, and deserve to have a raise to go along with that job. After all, executives in corporate America get performance-based pay, why shouldn't teachers, whose job is so much more important?

All things being equal, that seems perfectly fair.

But all things are NOT equal. In fact, things are anything BUT equal.

I recently volunteered at a Dallas ISD high school, where I've been doing some work to help administration deal with their most challenging students. I got to know a few of the "bad kids," and really there weren't too many surprises. Basically, once a student has been labeled as a "bad kid" we find that teachers tend to look for ways to keep them out of their classrooms, even to the extent of causing an altercation in the hall before class as an excuse to send the student to the office rather than welcome them into the class.

There are bad eggs in every profession, and teaching is absolutely not an exception.

This "bad kid" scenario has taken a nasty turn for the worse now, however, in the light of test scores being used as a primary means of evaluating teacher performance.

One of the students I was working with was so polite, so eager to learn and so responsible that I pulled the principal aside between activities to ask what on earth got the young man labeled a "bad kid." He said the teacher who sent him out of class that day does so every day, and the primary reason why is because this student doesn't do well on the standardized test.

In my day teachers spent EXTRA time with students who were struggling with the material, they didn't send them to office on some bogus discipline charge to avoid having the student in class at all.

Welcome to the age of test-based pay.

Standardized test are a poor excuse for good teaching, and a standardized curriculum is a poor substitute for education. These methods are driving good teachers away from the field, and what's left are either unimaginative, lazy people who just want the time off, and the dwindling number of incredibly committed teachers who refuse to abandon their posts even in the light of more and more ridiculous educational programs.

Basing teacher pay on test scores may seem like a good idea, but when you're out there in the classroom, where national and  even state level administration types dare not go, you see that it's undermining a public education system that was already in steep decline.

If we're going to rescue education in America we're going to have to ask teachers to think outside of the box, not keep stuffing them inside the tired old box that never fit to begin with.

Should Every Kid Get A Trophy?

There's an interesting trend in the relm of competition among kids, something that seems positive at first, but could actually be having a definite negative impact on society.

It sounds great to say that every kid should get a trophy. Whether it's a scouting event, a junior sports event or some other kind of competition, these days the thinking seems to be that win, lose or draw every participant should receive a trophy.

Sounds good, right? I'm sure adult leaders all over the country pat themselves on that back every time they hand a "Great Attitude" trophy to a kid who just came in last. Congratulations for finding a way to raise the self esteem of children everywhere!

Or not.

You see, there's a fine line between helping build a child's self esteem and sabotaging their work ethic and spirit of competition. Giving every participant a trophy may maintain a certain level of self esteem, but it also undermines a child's inherent drive to succeed.

Ask any teacher, especially in an inner city situation, and you'll find that one of the biggest challenges they face on a daily basis is the sense of entitlement that has taken over the student population. From a very early age they are taught that grades are gifts, not something they earn, that showing up for school is optional, as is following directions from adults once they get there. Parents often side with their children against school personnel, even when the child is clearly in the wrong, which completely undermines the authority of the adults who are charged with, among other things, teaching students to respect authority.

I'm not sure what has brought about this radical change in thinking since I was a kid, some 30 years ago. Motivation was king in those days, and my parents always set goals and incentives for me. It wasn't just about school, either. If I mowed the lawn or washed the family cars there were rewards. If I had a particular number of A's on my report card there was a reward. There was also a strong disincentive if there happened to be a "C" on my report card, and disincentives are every bit as important as incentives.

The primary objective in parenting and teaching is to prepare our young people to survive in the real world, where competition is still very much king and nothing worth having is ever given away for free. Knowing this, who came up with the idea that every child should have a trophy?

The real world simply doesn't work like that.

In the real world, the most committed and qualified applicant gets the job. If they show up late, dress inappropriately, or choose not to show, they get fired. There are no second chances and there is no reward. There is no trophy for second place, and instilling that sense of competition and pride in accomplishments from an early age is supremely important as we look to prepare our kids to be successful adults.

Giving every child a trophy might sound good on the surface, but the truth is that rewarding mediocrity and even failure actually handicaps our the very children we are looking to build up.


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