Reply to Soaring Child Poverty in DC

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Of course I believe that some teachers are better than others.  (FYI, not the PP)

But I don't think the reason for such ongoing poor performance in DC is because there are so many bad teachers who need to leave.  Nor do I think that replacing them with "good" teachers (assuming they can be accurately identified) is going to make a significant dent in achievement,  without attending to underlying problems.

Theoretically, improved teaching could make no dent at all if conditions were such that the good teachers couldn't teach effectively (e.g., school and neighborhood violence,  inadequate supplies, broken-down building, a poor principal, poor attendance, unsupportive parents, etc.) 
[/quote]

How many is "so many"?  Any?

So you concede that there are good/effective teachers, and there are bad/ineffective teachers.  But then you go on to argue that, if replacing every bad/ineffective teacher with a good/effective teacher were possible, then it would have no impact whatsoever on achievement.  In that case, the opposite must also be true:  replacing experienced teachers with inexperienced chair-warmers must not matter either.

I love how you list a long litany of factors that everyone else agrees should be attended to as well (get rid of poor principals, make sure supplies are adequate, make schools safe, fix the facilities, etc, etc...)  We want to address all those problems as well.  But strangely enough, you seem to think only the teaching component should be ignored.  Wonder why that is?[/quote]

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