Moving best teachers won't solve the problem
Let me see if I understand Terry Grier's latest plan. Place our best teachers in the low-performing schools. I guess we would then have to ship our worst teachers to the high-performing schools (to fill those vacancies). Having our best teachers in the low-performing schools should raise their test scores and the high-performing schools (which lost their best teachers) would see their scores drop.
If you are just looking at the numbers (which Grier and the school board are so focused on), things should about even out. Since budgets and pay raises are awarded on statistics (not children), everyone in school administration would be ecstatic and we may have an added bonus of closing the achievement gap.
But, suppose the quality of our teachers was never the problem in the first place. What if the real problem in our low-performing schools is some low-performing parents.
What's Grier's next plan ... "Trading Spouses"?
Jack Johnson
Gibsonville
Comments (3)
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Mission Possible is all about the money. Take a look at this program, and you'll see why Grier is pushing this plan as he always foes when there is grant money involved, whether it is good for the district, including teachers and students, or not.
Teacher Incentive Fund -- CFDA# 84.374A
The specific goals of the Teacher Incentive Fund include: Improving student achievement by increasing teacher and principal effectiveness; reforming teacher and principal compensation systems so that teachers and principals are rewarded for increases in student achievement;
increasing the number of effective teachers teaching poor, minority, and disadvantaged students in hard-to-staff subjects; and
creating...
RECENT "NOTICES INVITING APPLICATIONS" (grant opportunities) from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) include those related to:
* Enhanced Assessment Instruments -- CFDA# 84.368
* Teacher Incentive Fund -- CFDA# 84.374A
* Technology and Media Services for Individuals with Disabilities -- CFDA# 84.327N
Information about ED funding opportunities, including discretionary grant application packages, are at:
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Below is information from the notice inviting applications. For more complete information, please see the notice itself; however, please note that while we *try* to ensure that the version on the web and the Federal Register notice are the same, the Federal Register notice is the one to consult for complete and authoritative information. *******************************************************************
Enhanced Assessment Instruments (Federal Register: May 1, 2006 (CFDA# 84.368])
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Teacher Incentive Fund (Federal Register: May 1, 2006 [CFDA# 84.374A])
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Purpose of Program: The purpose of the Teacher Incentive Fund, authorized as part of the FY 2006 Department of Education Appropriations Act, Public Law 109-149, is to support programs that develop and implement performance-based teacher and principal compensation systems in high-need schools. The specific goals of the Teacher Incentive Fund include: Improving student achievement by increasing teacher and principal effectiveness; reforming teacher and principal compensation systems so that teachers and
principals are rewarded for increases in student achievement; increasing the number of effective teachers teaching poor, minority, and disadvantaged students in hard-to-staff subjects; and creating...
Additional Information: Applicable regulations, priorities, and other information are available in the Federal Register notice. Additional information is available online at:
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/2006-2/050106e.html
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Technology and Media Services for Individuals with Disabilities
-- Captioned and Described Educational Media: Selection, Closed Captioning, Video Description, and Distribution (Federal Register: May 4, 2006 [CFDA# 84.327N])
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Purpose of Program: The purpose of this program is to: (1) Improve results for children with disabilities by promoting the development, demonstration, and use of technology, (2) support
Additional Information: Applicable regulations, priorities, and other information are available in the Federal Register notice.
Additional information is available online at:
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/2006-2/050406a.html
Posted on May 6, 2006 12:41 PM
Next plan is probably more of Trading children!
Posted on May 7, 2006 10:26 AM
I would venture a guess that the "best" teachers are already at the low performing schools.
I argue that if you move the teachers that Grier deems are "best", the scores will not improve. Students either accept or reject education; students either have the intelligence to learn or they do not. We are not all created equal.
I also wonder how we decide who are the "best" teachers. Do we use their students' test scores? Do we look at classroom management? Do we look at the degrees they have obtained? Do we look at how much the kids like or respect them?
I would also venture a guess that those teachers who apply for a school which has the highest supplement might not be the "best" but the most greedy. To use the lines from Master Card "Good teachers, priceless"
Posted on May 7, 2006 1:19 PM