AJC: Teacher Evaluations

The AJC just published an article about Georgia's teacher evaluations.

First, I hate AJC's new format. The comments are placed in alphabetical (by commenter) order so you cannot follow the conversation.

Let's see. I am going to be judged in large part by how well my students do. The longer I teach I find a larger and larger group who refuses to do any work and then are appalled that they fail the test. And what am I (the teacher) going to do to fix it? That is the cry from the administration, the parents, the students, the district, the state, the federal government.

Add to that, that this year all of my classes will take the Georgia Milestones (the new name for the new test measuring the new math course for the new teacher evaluation). That would be the Georgia Milestones that will measure the student growth on which I am to be evaluated. The same Georgia Milestones that do not count for students this year because they will not be scored in time.

And of course, since they will not count for the students, the students will put forth their best effort on the test.

Wait, if they won't come back in time for the students, how will they come back in time for the teachers?

Keep them engaged - unless I can figure out how to do all my teaching in 144 character segments via twitter, I have no idea.

I teach the shrinking minority who want to learn and encourage the others to go take online classes. I mean, if you can finish all the parts of a year long course in 2 weeks, you obviously have gotten the same thing out of it that you would in a year-long course, meeting every day, and doing the course work as required.

What are we going to do about The Other Generation?

As I read this article, I was struck by a couple of things.

1) A 14 year old was in downtown Atlanta at midnight with friends. (Implied in the article was that the friends were of the same age).

2) His mother didn't know he was downtown.

It is no wonder we are having the crisis in education when parents are that out of touch with their children.

Add that Georgia will now use the students' test scores in the teachers' evaluation and I can tell it is going to be a banner year.

I have students who do not come to school to take their graduation tests (forget taking them seriously, they don't take them) when they cannot graduate without passing the test. Yep, I want my efforts judged on their efforts.

"The Other Generation" Flower Drum Song, Rogers and Hammerstein
What are we going to do about
The Other Generation?
How will ever communicate
Without communication?
You can't account for what they'll say or do.
And what peculiar thoughts they think
They never reveal to you.

A very discouraging problem is
The Other Generation.
They want to lead a life that's all their own.
Perhaps we ought to let them,
Forsake them and forget them!
But then we'd only find ourselves alone.--With one another!--
I don't believe we'd like to be alone!

What are we going to do about
The Other Generation?
They never take the blame for one mistake.--Oh no!--
Their parents are responsible
For ev'ry mistake they make!

A very discouraging problem is
The Other Generation.
And soon there'll be another one as well!
And when our out of hand sons
Are bringing up our grandsons,
I hope our grandsons give their fathers hell!--Can't wait to see it!--
I hope our grandsons give their fathers hell!

(Reprise)

Well, the more I see of grownups
The less I want to grow.
The more I see what they have learned
The less I want to know.
And yet we've got to all grow up,
There's no place else to go.
I wonder why we're all so poor
And they've got all the dough!
What are we going to do about
The Other Generation?
How will ever communicate
Without communication?
When we are using words the modern way,
They're much too big to try to dig
The colorful things we say.

If we could take over the training of
The Other Generation,
We know we could improve them quite a lot.
But they will never let us.

They stay the way they met us,
And so we're simply stuck with what we've got.--You can't improve them.--
The kids are simply stuck with what they've got.

What are we going to do about
The Other Generation?
How are we going to stop them when
They start an explanation
Of 'What is used to mean to be a kid!'
The clean and wholesome fun they had,
The innocent things they did!

They all had a wonderful childhood in
The Other Generation.
The games they played were bright and gay and loud.
They used to shout 'Red Rover,
Red Rover please come over!'
They must have been an awful droopy crowd when they were younger.
They must have been an awful droopy crowd.