Educate Yourself on Education Reform

by Kristi Lindsay

“We want to challenge everyone — parents, teachers, school administrators — to raise standards, by having the best teachers and principals, by tying student achievement to assessments of teachers, by making sure that there’s a focus on low-performing schools, by making sure our students are prepared for success in a competitive 21st century economy and workplace,” said President Obama.(http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/president-obama-announce-plans-race-top-expansion. March 1, 2010)

As a former educator and parent of three young children, I am conflicted by this referendum. The Obama administration’s Race to the Top initiative and funding program promises funds to states who improve their education systems. I’m all for improving and providing top quality educations for all students. But tying teachers’ jobs to students’ academic success bothers me.

As I read the ideals behind the Race to the Top federal plan, as a parent I say “yes that is what we should do.” But having been a teacher, I worry that top educators are going to leave the profession because they are being devalued and set up for failure.

Is it fair to fire a teacher whose students’ achievement scores are still failing, but improved from 20% to 65%? Is it fair to reward a teacher whose top students’ scores improved from 90% to 95%? Is it fair to assess an entire year’s worth of teaching on one standardized test with so many variables? So much weighs on so little.

Yes, we need major education reform. I want my own children to be taught by highly qualified educators. But when so much emphasis is placed on students’ achievements, will the strong and qualified teachers apply to work with those students with learning disabilities, ESL, or low performing students not labeled or too low for special education requirements?

During my teaching career, my classes were composed of 504, inclusion, and ESL students. Every year, my coworker had all of the Gifted and Talented students. Daily I struggled with behavioral problems, lesson modifications for special ed and ESL, and the tasks of teaching 22 different students at 22 different ability levels. My coworker had 10 students pulled each day to attend Challenge Class while she worked with the remaining 12. Would I have wanted my teaching skills, qualifications, and classroom management judged by my students’ performances on standardized tests? No. And would my students’ academic performances be a true assessment of all of the effort, energy, resources, and modifications I made daily? Should my coworker and I have been held to the same standards considering how completely different our teaching experiences were? I see so many gray areas with “tying student achievement to assessments of teachers.”

While I don’t have the answers or a better solution, I do feel that we should all be held accountable for our children’s education. Our future depends on these students, so we should all take active roles in ensuring their educational success. To learn more about the Race to the Top, visit the website http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/RTT_factsheet.pdf and research if and how your state is participating and what your school district is doing to improve education. Get educated about the policies affecting our future’s academic success.

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