Does It Really Have To Be That Complicated?

Evaluating teachers is what's "in" today.  Determining teachers value.  Making sure teachers make a difference.  Identifying the good teachers from the bad.

The other hot topic is evaluating teachers based on student growth.  Using test data to determine how much on an impact teachers have had or are having with the students in their classrooms.

In our state we are required to make student growth a "significant" factor when evaluating teachers.

How hard can it be?  Give a couple of tests, look at the results, plug all that into a formula and there you have it.  An easy way to evaluate the impact of a teacher.

The New York Times had an interesting article that spoke about the teacher evaluation system in New York City.  This article suggests that evaluating a teacher is harder than it looks.

The article is a good read.  It provides some perspective on a really complicated issue.

Homework Isn't What It Used To Be

When I had math homework in high school, I dutifully took my book home and worked on the problems.  If I had a problem I usually waited until the next day in class to ask a question.

Now, students can access a variety of sites - like this one - where all you need to do is plop in the problem and it spits out the answer.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

It seems to me that it helps students who want to take shortcuts find those shortcuts.

In the end, students will need to be able to demonstrate their knowledge on tests where presumably they will not have access to programs like this.

It does seem that while this is a nifty site it complicates the task of teaching and learning.