http://onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.com/2008/01/22/educational-measurements-i-am-so-sick-of-it/ Serving Park Slope and Beyond Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:17:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 http://onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.com/2008/01/22/educational-measurements-i-am-so-sick-of-it/comment-page-1/#comment-2745 Steve in Brooklyn Wed, 23 Jan 2008 01:58:18 +0000 http://onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.addresszero.com/?p=4956#comment-2745 I also laugh at your turn-of-phrase "quantitative spin". This sort of quantitative effort is an an attempt to remove the influence of QUALITATIVE spin that infects all large social systems. I also laugh at your turn-of-phrase “quantitative spin”. This sort of quantitative effort is an an attempt to remove the influence of QUALITATIVE spin that infects all large social systems.

]]> http://onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.com/2008/01/22/educational-measurements-i-am-so-sick-of-it/comment-page-1/#comment-2744 Steve in Brooklyn Wed, 23 Jan 2008 01:55:57 +0000 http://onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.addresszero.com/?p=4956#comment-2744 While I can fully grasp the difficulties inherent in attempting to quantify teaching in this way, I feel an appropriate answer to your question "How do you measure that stuff?" is to ask "How can you NOT measure that stuff?" Every other profession is held to peer review and public servants should be held to public scrutiny. All too often, teaching is a lonely, isolated profession with little direct oversight and with politicized, self-interested organizations left to police themselves. The result has been an evolving disaster for the past several decades. Your arguement against a more standardized approach to judging teaching performance misses the necessity for a universal, unsubjective approach to collect relevant data in such a large system as NYC schools. The only people who fear this sort of information gathering are those who have something to hide about their own lazy teaching or their own failing school. Better information = better judgement. I'd rather have this info added to the public sphere than be forced to solely rely on some beaurocrat's "Gut feeling" on who's teaching well. While I can fully grasp the difficulties inherent in attempting to quantify teaching in this way, I feel an appropriate answer to your question “How do you measure that stuff?” is to ask “How can you NOT measure that stuff?”
Every other profession is held to peer review and public servants should be held to public scrutiny. All too often, teaching is a lonely, isolated profession with little direct oversight and with politicized, self-interested organizations left to police themselves. The result has been an evolving disaster for the past several decades. Your arguement against a more standardized approach to judging teaching performance misses the necessity for a universal, unsubjective approach to collect relevant data in such a large system as NYC schools. The only people who fear this sort of information gathering are those who have something to hide about their own lazy teaching or their own failing school.
Better information = better judgement. I’d rather have this info added to the public sphere than be forced to solely rely on some beaurocrat’s “Gut feeling” on who’s teaching well.

]]> http://onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.com/2008/01/22/educational-measurements-i-am-so-sick-of-it/comment-page-1/#comment-2743 tpy Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:30:34 +0000 http://onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.addresszero.com/?p=4956#comment-2743 It is not a problem to read the data. The problem is what on earth does it reflect?! That our children and their teachers are molded to respond certain questions certain way? And how much time do they all spend on preparing for those tests? What is their curriculum besides preparing to those tests? Who are those people who evaluate teachers' work and students' tests? Where can I see the actual work of my children during those tests? How about ambiguity of the material of those tests? There is no way for parents and teachers to discuss and correct them - how about that? It is not a problem to read the data. The problem is what on earth does it reflect?! That our children and their teachers are molded to respond certain questions certain way? And how much time do they all spend on preparing for those tests? What is their curriculum besides preparing to those tests? Who are those people who evaluate teachers’ work and students’ tests? Where can I see the actual work of my children during those tests? How about ambiguity of the material of those tests? There is no way for parents and teachers to discuss and correct them – how about that?

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