P3: Teacher Evaluations

I understand that teachers need to be evaluated, but in my opinion, the tests are being taken a little too far. I don’t think that teachers should be evaluated on the tests that their students take. Some students are better learners than others, so how should that affect how good or bad a teacher is? A teacher should be evaluated on the improvement of his or her students. I also disagree with the rankings being released to the public. I understand that parents would like to know how the teachers that are in control of their children during the day are ranking, but they can know by their children’s grades by looking at the report cards. By seeing these rankings, they are practically asking to see how the other students are doing. Teachers are under enough stress being watched by administrators to begin with. Why add the stress to present their findings to the entire public? I think that the each teacher should be presented with the findings of administrators, and be told what they need to improve on or what they did improve on. Teachers also shouldn’t be losing their job over what the student’s capabilities. The students can also choose not to perform well, so why should their teachers job or ranking in a school be based upon those who would rather slack off? If I were a teacher, I wouldn’t want my evaluations being shared with the public. I don’t think it is fair to them at all.