mice droppings and one test

so teachers in grades four through eight will be evaluated in a huge system called impact this year. the impact is one which will be felt with many as we are educating students in a school system that is the most broken, if not the worst in the country. the chancellor, who was seen by many on the cover of Time magazine holding a broom in a classroom, appears to want to sweep the whole public school system clean of teachers that she deems inadequate.

talk about not holding the right people responsible. i am all for being held responsible for part of my student's success. however, fifty five percent of my evaluation scores-of which three will be done by my asst. principal, and two will be done by an outside source...a so-called "Master Educator. one of each evaluation from each person will be scheduled one day ahead of time. for the remaining three, we will not be notified.

the score on ONE test...will turn the results in either a direction enabling me to teach again next year for the district, or having me lose my job for not being adequate.
ONE test...which is a grade level assessment, when NONE of my kids that i have in my classroom are at grade level to begin with. three are brand new to the united states and do not even speak a complete sentence in english.

the other clincher is that the results do not even come out until august, which means that many of us will believe we have a position and then depending on the test results, may find ourselves without a job right before school begins.

what the chancellor does not seem to want to acknowledge is the fact that the majority of students in these classrooms across the district are eligible for free lunch. most come from homes where parenting is not well established and education as well as behavior seems to be expected to be taught only in school.
this type of parenting runs rampant in public education.
however, the chancellor really is bringing out her industrial sized broom for this one.

hire amazing teachers with experience, or teachers in teach for america or fellowship programs and then have them gone based on ONE test. what will you be left with. for most of these students, the test is not the most important thing on the table for them. the most important thing is that their home life is disastrous, some do not have breakfast before leaving home, and many do not spend much time at all with their parents. do these children visit the library? do they see their parents curling up with a good book at night?

just take a glance at their language and behavior on the schoolyard one day. what you will see from even first graders will shock you.

this makes me think of a quote heard before..."i care because i teach..."
yes, and i have mice droppings on my desk in the morning as i log in to check my dc gov email in my classroom.