Kudos to the district and its teachers for taking this big step forward. A study that appears in the September 2000 edition of the Education Policy Analysis Archives argues that scores on standardized test are at best a gross approximation of the instructional quality of a school and should not be used to evaluate schools. His conclusions, however, are based on the subjective judgments of parents and educators who were asked to review a single standardized achievement test. Granted, identifying effective schools is a tricky endeavor. However, we cannot scrap the idea of objectively measuring performance simply because we have not fully developed the ultimate rating system.
School districts continue to turn up the heat on low-performing teachers.
In a memo sent last week, the Chancellor of New York City's school system instructed principals to be more aggressive in rating teachers unsatisfactory. In Montgomery County, Maryland, the school district has notified over 80 teachers that they were not meeting the district s standards, and assigned them to an intensive intervention program. A study in the September edition of Education Policy Analysis Archives reveals four myths related to teacher supply and demand. One reason why Bill Gates is not a teacher - Dr. Myron Lieberman, in his weekly column published by the Education Policy Institute, argues against the stifling single salary schedule by which most teachers are compensated, suggesting that it will discourage many talented candidates from choosing the profession.