2006-01-13

Houston Teachers' Pay Now Tied to Scores

I think this is a great idea that's been long overdue. It'll be interesting to see how it works out.
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4 comments:

Paul Hue said...

This might just work. It might cause teachers to stop agreeing with the epidemic of time wasters (pep rallies, career awareness and self-esteem seminars) and non-academic classes. This might even cause teachers to stop accomidating the needs of their schools' sports programs. I am a very big fan of standardized tests in the current climate of un-educated teachers, and the consequencial dummy curriculum. You cannot fool a standardized test into giving a high score to a dummy. (This is not to say that you cannot create a stupid test that tricks smart, educated students into making poor scores.)

9:35 AM
Paul Hue said...

School vouchers can have the same effect as this.

9:35 AM
Paul Hue said...

A predictable objection from the teachers is that math and reading teachers are eligable for more bonuses. This is as it should be, just as quarterbacks make more than punters on the football team. Teachers of academic subjects should have more prestige than teachers of "office sciences" or "shop." So should teachers with scholarly degrees. The current education system is a socialist system, with the inevitable result not just of mediocrity, but abject failure.

I suggest much higher rewards, even greater focus of the rewards on the subjects that the tests cover, and greater linkage between those scores and individual teachers, rather than "all math" or "all reading" teachers.

I think that would lead to:

1. Teachers with real academic degrees tending to show the most effectiveness, and thus getting the biggest bonuses. This will cause more potential teachers to choose academic majors.

2. More potential teachers will elect to teach academic classes, rather than the dummy classes.

3. Schools that cut the non-academic classes will show the biggest improvements. This will cause schools to cut dummy classes and dummy activities.

9:45 AM
Nadir said...

Drop-Out Data Grim in Texas
http://www.idra.org/attrition/index_shp.htm

"Texas schools lose a student every four minutes. Since 1986, 2.2 million Texas students have dropped out -- leaving the state with an estimated net loss of $500 billion, according to the 2004-05 attrition study by the Intercultural Development Research Association. The study includes attrition data for each Texas county, as well as components of strong school holding power."

This will only increase if teacher pay is tied to test scores. Schools will force underacheiving students out of class instead of helping them improve. That would require too much work.

11:51 PM

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