Reader comments
Fix NCLB or junk it

Teacher accountability is the big, hard issue. We all want the good teachers to be paid more, and the bad teachers to get a pink slip. But deciding the criteria and procedure for deciding how is good and who is bad is a big hurdle. Then, you have the issue of a teacher shortage. If we're already having a hard time staffing all our classes, what happens when some get the boot?

I might speculate that if we can increase the quality of faculty, we might find the political will to pay them better. Also, as morale goes up (which isn't a given, but is possible if this is done right), retention goes up.

Misc. thoughts.....thanks for tuning in!

(And I can foresee the attacks on the unions for keeping bad teachers on the job; but I don't think the unions would balk if the procedure for dismissing ineffective teachers was objective and fair...I know I wouldn't, and I'm a union member).

Is this the feelings of the paper's owner Joe Cannon? Its not his brother's Rep. Cris Cannon

I know for a fact that the so called "union" in one large school district is very helpful in weeding out ineffective teachers before they gain tenure. The association is dedicated to excellence in education and does its utmost best to bring it about.

I wonder why it always comes back to teacher accountability. Why not student accountability. If Johnny can't operate on a 4th grade level, don't advance him. All of us have had teachers that we thought were very good. There are others that thought those same teachers were horrible. In the end, the student needs to be accountable for their education. Until they are, there is no use in utilizing their performance to determine the competence of schools and teachers.

How did the states insure accountability before NCLB? Let's go back to that. I don't see a huge difference to justify all the extra beauracracy. I do see teachers and administrator "teaching to the test" more and neglecting the horrible teaching in areas that aren't on the test(history, science, music, art, literature, geography, handwriting,...). We need schools to be accountable, not to some beauracrat, but to the parents. The free market insures improvement and acountablity, let's let it work in our schools. Can you imagine what the cars in the US would look like if the government ran that industry? (For an idea, check out East Germany under Russias rule.) Did you like it when we had a monopoly for our telecommunications? (Remember the slow to improve service, the limited options?) Why are we tolerating a monopoly in our education system. We need to copy what some European nations and New Zealand have done successfully: attach the money to the student and let the parents choose a school that best suits their child (public, private, or parochial)

J, that's an interesting thought. But grade retention has been shown to actually hurt students and schools in the long run (law of unintended consequences!) That's why most have abandoned it. And retention in later grades is meaningless; what matters is graduation. And the student is held accountable when it comes time to add up credits towards a diploma (whether you would like to tighten student accountability is another issue).

I suppose the bottom line is, teacher accountability is one important aspect of improving the system. It's not the only one. As you say, we need to look closely at student accountability, too. And also, as you say, holding teachers accountable merely by looking at students grades/tests isn't valid either. That's part of what I meant when I wrote of finding good, objective, fair criteria by which to hire, fire, and pay our teachers.

I think I am with you Joe. The system needs to address ALL of the parts, not just piecemeal. It just seems that legislation consistently regulates teacher accountability rather than ANY other accountability.
I think any school legislation aimed at accountability should be balanced. Students accountable for learning, and teachers accountable for teaching. If these are objectively assessed, then I think we are getting somewhere.

Picture this. A man goes into a doctor for a condition. The doctor gives a prescription, sets up for his physical therapy, and schedules to see the patient every two weeks for treatment. The patient does not take his meds, does not got to physical therapy, and never shows for his Doctor appointments. Two months later, the patient sues the doctor for negligence because his condition has not improved. This is the foundation of accountability in NCLB.

Accountability: Nice analogy! You illustrate why we have to be careful with teacher accountability measures. But we can't throw the baby out with the bathwater (the baby being teacher accountability, the bathwater being a focus purely on student test scores).