the Black and White cookie

The title sounds like something NO ONE could possibly disagree with, “Bonus Pay for Teachers,” which reminds me straight away of No Child Left Behind.  Which is supposed to make you cringe.  Sure, sign me up for a bonus, why not?

The catchis that this story that aired on national news tonight glossed over the real point of contention, standardized test scores do not equal an education.  I made a few hundred extra my second year teaching in FL by completing a ‘Pay for Performance’ goal, documentation and then submitting FCAT scores.  Because this money is administered through the states the instrument chosen to report gains are state produced tests, criterion referenced - not norm referenced (criterion means to criteria the state sets and writes the instrument for / norm meaning comparing kids to all other kids taking this test, putting everyone on one huge bell curve).  State tests are written by the state DOE and are a product of people policing themselves, interested in gains, educational inbreeding as it were.   The instance reported in TX showed Houston schools increasing scores on standardized tests by ten points over two points state wide.  By just looking at that data you realize there is always gain on standardized tests as teachers and students learn the test (you get negative growth overall usually only when a test is revamped/changed). 

Aren’t there any other quantitative OR qualitative measures to judge by, let’s say the standards, the curriculum, whatever your local school boards calls it that they deem essential for students to learn?  That would be authentic, valid work to assess growth upon, but that would take time which is money and states are just looking to appease teachers and pat them selves on the back in the same motion. 

When those large companies ,that were trotted out for this comparison on the point of bonuses, want to attract the best they PAY better and offer better benefits.  You could find some bad teachers out there, but mostly you will find teachers that want to do better, but are shackled by Lunch/Recess/Bus Duty, playing nurse/secretary/referee and spending their personal money on supplies/treats/science materials for their students.  Based on that type of multitasking I’d bet we could increase test scores if we just alleviated all non-teaching tasks from teachers lives!

A new federal initiative will give bonus pay to teachers in certain states if students’ test scores improve.

A Poll from ABC News:
Should teachers get merit pay?

They should just get better pay overall.

63

No way. It’s their job to help kids succeed.

17

Definitely, they deserve a bonus for their good work.

9

Total Vote: 89

Thirteen Things GOOGLE Says About ME! I googled my first name and some verb & look at the results: 1. Penny Loves Kenny Footwear 2. When Penny eats out now, she’s not afraid to request her food to be made exactly how she wants it. 3. Penny needs to switch meds. 4. Penny SaysDe Beers doesn’t regard the emergence of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto… 5. Thus the Penny Should be abolished 6. Penny looks like an option 7. Penny Wants to meet 13 people. 8. Yet, 18 months after Penny died, there has been no review of the performance of the doctors who treated her. 9. The diameter of the penny can be easily obtained by using a ruler. 10. Penny Will 11. Penny never really guards her stuff. 12. A bad bad penny OUght to know what I liar I am 13. A group dedicated to keeping the penny, called Americans for Common Cents Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

I had missed having a corporate party to go to, the outfit, the nice meal, the usual.  This Christmas party promised to be special because it was at the Gerogia Aquarium.  Among the handouts at the door was this:

So, we left our fishing poles in the car, but were obviously disappointed.  In spite of the early disappointment the evening turned out great.  My personal highlight was meeting a mom that just two weeks earlier had tried giving me a hard time about her kids, she was sloshed and spilled her pork on my exposed toes.  I would have liked to tak it one step further and demand an apology since I was Jewish (except I’m not of course), but the husbands intervened and I am just left with lotsa HAND….(The Pez Dispenser):

George: No everything is *not* going good. I’m very uncomfortable. I have

no power. I mean, why should she have the upper hand. *Once* in

my life I would like the upper hand. I have no hand– no hand at

all. She has the hand; I have *no* hand…

George: How do I get the hand?

Jerry: We all want the hand. Hand is tough to get. You gotta get the

hand right from the opening.