Reply to IMPACT and compensation - does it really look like this?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]But I do think the only way to improve scores is to improve your pool of teachers.  [/quote]
[cutting out many interim posts]
What I don't understand is why do you think that improving test scores is a worthy goal?  Why don't we work on improving the quality of educational opportunities for all students?  That seems like a much more important goal to me.  Why this fixation on test scores?  I just don't get it.[/quote]
I'm not fixated on improving test scores.  My original quote above was part of a longer response to someone who was criticizing IMPACT by pointing out that it had not improved test scores by 10%.  She may be fixated on test scores, but I am not.

I agree with you that "improving the quality of educational opportunities" is a good goal.  And I think that part of the path to that goal is for DCPS to be willing and able to terminate ineffective teachers.  And although there is much debate about the best way to spot ineffective teachers, I think that one part of the analysis can be an evaluation of whether their students are improving their scores on standardized tests over time.

But do I care in the abstract that DCPS is improving its test scores relative to other school districts?  No not really.  I assume DCPS test scores will always be defined by factors like the SES of DC's population, just like every other school district in the nation.[/quote]

Being willing to fire incompetent teachers is one thing.  Holding an annual bloodbath where you fire over 200 teachers is quite another thing.  If standardized test scores were a valid or reliable way to measure quality of educational opportunities, then evaluating teachers using these score might be useful.  I don't think this data is valid or reliable.  Nor do I think that evaluating teachers using a rigid rubric is helpful either.  There is more than one way to teach.  Just because a teacher doesn't follow this particular formula doesn't mean he or she is "ineffective".[/quote]

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