New Haven, Connecticut Evaluation System Forces Out 34 Teachers

The tests are the problem, and the public needs to understand this in order for anything to change in schools. The tests have been proven unreliable measures of student knowledge and skills. Moreover, the tests have no meaning or value to students' performanc­e, to their grades, to their ability to move up a grade, or to their achievemen­t in school or beyond. That is the irony. The teachers teach to a test because they might lose their jobs making it extremely high-stake­s to them, but it is meaningles­s to the students and to many parents. As a result, teachers teach to the tests (and cheat/chan­ge the answers) and the students don't care about it, think of it as just another test that they have to take because all they do is practice taking tests, and they quit taking an interest in school. So the question that I ponder is how does this make our children better prepared and more skilled to compete in our growing and changing economy in a more globalized world? The answer: it doesn't.
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