Saturday, March 10, 2012

Value-less System

The Chicago Tribune editorial increases distrust, assigns blame and avoids responsibility. The so called "value-added system" for education adds no value, creates more problems and shifts attention away from student- centered learning. Every human services professional knows that beyond a basic salary, pay does not motivate employees over time especially when they are highly educated like teachers. Assigning teachers all the blame for low student performance ignores all the decades of data that show poverty accurately predicts student achievement. Poverty means society is to blame, not individuals. Poverty means people do not have jobs that pay well enough for parents to have the resources to help their children.

"A value-added system will help Illinois educators do a better job identifying and rewarding the most highly effective teachers with, we can hope, markedly higher salaries. The information also can help schools replace educators who simply aren't advancing their students' academic performance."

"Grading teachers, Illinois parents, demand this vital data"
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-teacher-0303-20120303,0,6644359.story

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