Ranking Teachers Is NOT The Answer!

So, it seems that the road continues to get harder for teachers.  Not only do they have to deal with the pressure to hit test standards because of NCLB, now they would like to brand them by listing their "overall quality of teaching" ranking publicly.  So, they are going to list from 1-10, our childrens mentors, and our children can look it up and say hmmm "I wonder why Ms. Cannon is number 10 and Ms. Jones is number 1?  Gosh, they teach the same grade and everything...what is wrong with Ms. Cannon I wonder...maybe I should not listen or respect Ms. Cannon as much as Ms. Jones..."  Okay.  It may sound like a stretch...but is it?  The same thought processes could go through the minds of parents.  "Do they really know what they are talking about in conferences?  Should I trust them with teaching my child?"  I mean, I know that there are some teachers that just should not be teaching, but their "ranking" is a private matter.  They are not professional athletes who have their stats posted publicly...waiting for the next trade or whatever they do.  As a country, we need to let our teachers teach!  We need to let them be creative and not feel the constant pressure of our government.  Yes.  We do not want any child left behind, but a quote from several teachers I have spoken to recently really opened my eyes...they said..."No child left behind, is leaving every child behind."  Below is part of an article from the NY Times about this "ranking" issue. 

Shame Is Not the Solution

By BILL GATES

Published: February 22, 2012

"LAST week, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled that teachers’ individual performance assessments could be made public. I have no opinion on the ruling as a matter of law, but as a harbinger of education policy in the United States, it is a big mistake.

I am a strong proponent of measuring teachers’ effectiveness, and my foundation works with many schools to help make sure that such evaluations improve the overall quality of teaching. But publicly ranking teachers by name will not help them get better at their jobs or improve student learning. On the contrary, it will make it a lot harder to implement teacher evaluation systems that work" (Gates, 2012, NY Times). http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/opinion/for-teachers-shame-is-no-solution.html?src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB 

Read the rest of the article and you decide, but I think it is ridiculous. 

-Amy