Current mood:

thoughtful

Teaching to the test

There has been much talk in the media of late by Education Minister Julie Bishop about giving teachers financial incentives for demonstrating student improvement. From what I can see, the only measurable way of doing this seems to be the application of nationwide testing.

I was interested to read a cross post in the New York news that mentions some heart-breaking results from the current national testing regime in the US. The report also raises the ugly and unfair bias that can creep in with grade inflation and only teaching to the test. [I have dropped blog link in this blog to the New York Times as their articles slip behind a user-pay firewall. Out of sight, out of reach. Instead, view The EducationTrust press release that was the basis for the news report.]

A key problem was whilst clear standards had been set, schools typically did not provide teachers with an idea of what 'on-standard' work looks like or time for them to collaborate so that they can align their assignments with the standards.

I would like to think that most teachers work hard to deliver results without linking their teaching outcomes to monetary rewards. in Victoria, we are moving to deploy a new "Outcomes" based curriculum model called the Essential Learning Standards or VELS. It should be an imperative for school administrations to provide sufficient funding and time to help better prepare and train teachers. As Kati Haycock, Education Trust President notes at the end of the report.

     “Just slapping new names on courses with weak curriculum and ill-prepared teachers won’t boost achievement.”