Should teachers get paid according to how well students perform on standardized

1. 73

   HeatherH104posted 11 years ago

   Should teachers get paid according to how well students perform on standardized tests?
   
   

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2. 68

   Charles Jamesposted 11 years ago

   If you have good students they will perform well on average anyway. Poor students will do badly.
   So my payment is pretty closely related to the quality of the students I teach. If I am a good teacher I will not be able to improve on the 100% pass rate my good students would have achieved anyway.
   What you need is some form of "value added" measurement. That is much more complicated to do. Possible, but not quite as easy as one might think.

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      HeatherH104posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I think the problem is that not all people are great test takers. The tests are designed for those good at memorizing/deducing which in no way determines success in life. We definitely need standards but a better way to test them and if teacher

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   johnsonrallenposted 11 years ago

   No, absolutely not. There were some school districts locally and in another place I lived previously that gave bonuses to teachers in this way and guess what? Cheating by teachers rose dramatically. Some students just won't perform up to their capabilities and it's unfair to punish the teacher for this.

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      HeatherH104posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I agree and like janshares said you don't know what happened with the kids at home before the test that will effect their concentration or ability to perform.
      Thank you for your answer!

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4. 84

   jansharesposted 11 years ago

   I don't think it's fair to pay teachers according to students' performance on standardized tests. There are too many factors that affect a child's performance that are completely out of the teacher's control. How can a teacher be held responsible for outside factors that affect a child's ability to focus, concentrate, retain, recall, sit still, or stop dissociating about a beating that took place the night before a test? Teachers should be paid for an honest day's work and given raises when they are due. I think it's one of the hardest jobs in the world, maybe in the top five most difficult.

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      HeatherH104posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I totally agree. You don't know what's going on in the child's life that might effect their concentration. Teachers have so much on their plate without the pressure of losing pay over how well their kids test.
      Thanks for your comment.

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   Ben Blackwellposted 11 years ago

   There is real evidence that when this has been tried, teachers have helped their students unfairly by having them study the answers to the test (1 is A, 2 is C, etc), having them take very easy tests, or by outright changing their scores.  It is bad for the students and the people paying their salaries.

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      HeatherH104posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I've heard this as well. I've read your hubs on education and I think you've commented on some of mine. I think we're on the same page.
      Thanks for the comment.

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      Ben Blackwellposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      No problem.

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