How should teachers be held accountable for the teaching they do each year? What makes a teacher a “good teacher” versus a “bad teacher”? In recent years, education and teacher accountability has changed due to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law that was signed in January 2002. With this law, schools are now looked at as being a “good school” or “bad school” from the standardized tests that the students take. Are we only worried about test scores now? What message are we sending our students…that only Reading and Math matter because they are the tested subjects? Because the arts, history and science are not tested, they do not matter and should not be valued? Students, teachers, principals and schools are to this day judged based on the test scores because of NCLB. Is this fair? Is this reforming education?
The media, politicians and general public like this idea of evaluating teachers based on test scores as it seems very practical to them. They do not see and understand that many children are living in terrible conditions, being abused, are surrounded by drugs and gangs each day and are going hungry. As a result, these children are not capable of performing on the tests and yet it becomes the teacher’s responsibility and problem. Reform is a slow process. In the Diane Ravitch video, she mentions that in order for reform to happen there are certain “things” that schools need. She says that “schools need a rich and balanced curriculum, a good environment for teaching and learning, activities (the arts) for students, a stable and experienced teaching staff, good teachers, able leadership, willing students and the freedom to use tests diagnostically to help students and teachers rather than to give out bonuses and punishments for the standardized test scores”. All too often these standardized tests have become “the curriculum” at many schools because teachers are feeling the pressure to have their students perform each year. There are too many classrooms where the environment and learning is all “test preparation” and as a result, fear has been instilled in the students’ minds.
So, what is a “good teacher”? Is a “good teacher” one who has soaring test scores or is a “good teacher” one who instills lifelong learning into students? As an eighth grade teacher, my personal goal for my students is that they all become lifelong readers through independent reading. I spend much of my time as a teacher writing grants so that I have an extensive classroom library where students cannot wait to read the latest and greatest young adult novels.
A love of reading is cherished and eventually spreads to all the students during the school year. As a teacher, there is no better sight than having a box of books arrive and students begging to open up the box to check out the new books. I have never once had a student not read for me in my four years of teaching. Many of them come into eighth grade saying they hate reading and will never read a whole book, but they all eventually have a shift in thinking as they spend more time in my room. Recently, the eighth graders were asked to write about their greatest achievement in 8th grade or what they are most proud of. Out of 96 students, 18 students chose to write about reading being their greatest achievement this year. Keep in mind, I teach in a school where books are not in the homes, many students have never read “for fun”, and most of my students are far below grade level in reading. Also, that 8th graders are very hard to please J Read some of their responses:
· “My best achievement in 8th grade is learning how to love reading. It made me realize that I can open up a different world and I can imagine and can be creative. It can help me in life because it changed my attitude about reading. It was a good influence on me because finally a teacher did not stop believing in me. Ms. S—she kept pushing me and I started to get into reading.” RC
· “My greatest achievement in 8th grade is reading. I think it’s awesome because I’ve never read a book in my life. Every time I see a book and it looks good on the front, I read it and it’s really boring. This year really changed the way I pick out books and read books. I will change the way I read forever—it probably changed my life.” RR
· “My greatest achievement in 8th grade is improving my reading. I improved my reading by choosing different genres and harder adult books. I used to read books that were too easy, but now I read books at my lexile level. I have Ms. S to thank for that. Hopefully when I get older or graduate, I will keep improving my reading and never stop.” VG
· “One of my greatest achievements in 8th grade is that I actually read books. I have never really enjoyed reading until 8th grade but I think that’s because I never had somebody show me such a wide variety of books like Ms. S and I really like her and her class. I don’t just fake read, I really read them. That’s what I used to do—fake read because I wasn’t into my books. Now I’m always 100% into all the books.” AB
· “I’m most proud that in 8th grade I was able to find a teacher that loved reading as much as me Ms. S’s library was a dream come true. I love her books. She showed me authors and books I would never in my life read. It has opened my eyes to many things.” SD
What makes a teacher a “good teacher”? Is a “good teacher” one who helps children love school and love reading, or is it the teacher who drills the students and has high test scores? Am I a “bad teacher” because my test scores are nothing to celebrate? Or, am I a “good teacher” because I’ve helped change the opinions of many teenagers regarding school and reading?Ms. S
In today's world, television and video games are what students do during their free time. Rarely does a student pick up a book. What Ms. S does in supplying current and applicable books to her students is to be commended. She is teaching them a lifelong skill --learning to find answers and entertainment from literature. Ms. S is enriching her students with another form of education that will carry on long after that game console spins it last disk. Ms. S is introducing her students to the art of reading for pleasure. Not only will they learn to identify with a character in a book or be inspired by a moral lesson from that novel, they will expand their vocabulary by tenfold. It is my hope that Ms. S is able to continue to update her library with funding from her school or other source so that each class of new students is exposed to current forms of literature. My hat is off to Ms. S for taking her formal instruction a step beyond the norm and supplying her students with the extras they don't find at home or in their school library. Your students are very lucky to have you, Ms. S.
ReplyDeleteThe question you ask in this post is one that I think many teachers ask themselves these days. It's a sad commentary on just how pervasive the idea that high test scores equal good teaching has become. With the intense pressure that many teachers feel, it's easy for them to get caught up in the push for higher scores and to lose sight of the things that drew them to teaching in the first place--even if they know it's not in the best interest of their students, even if it goes against what they believe.
ReplyDeleteSo it's great to hear that you are resisting that pressure and focusing on things that, to me at least, are more meaningful: giving kids access to quality literature, giving them choice, and helping them see how reading can open up their world. I taught eighth grade reading for a number of years, and for me one of the most important pieces in helping students to improve as readers was just what you describe: finding good books that would interest and engage my students. You get better at reading by reading, so the more you can provide kids with books that speak to their experiences or intrigue them in other ways, the more likely they are to read more.
Of course, I do think we also have to keep an eye on "academic" reading--the kind of reading students will be expected to do in high school and college--because they need those tools as well. And as far as test scores go, my experience is that if kids read a lot, and read books that challenge them, the test scores will take care of themselves.