Knopes Network of Promoting Educators

A Professor Proclaims-Public Education is not a Business!

22 Jan 2012 1 Comment

by AndiLynnKn in Department of Education, students, teachers Tags: Data-Driven Instruction, Department of Education, Education Reform, Knopes Network of Promoting Educators, No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, students, Students are People too, teachers, tests

From a NY College Professor (Mark Naison):
“In the increasingly Orwellian world of ‘Education Reform’ a new term has achieved a particular cachet- ‘Data Driven Instruction.’ With deadly seriousness, school chancellors and superintendents hold workshops on how to do this for their principals and teachers, offering euphemistic language for something really quite crude and brutal- TEACHING TO THE TEST! And why are they doing this? It’s because the US Department of Education, through No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, threatens to close schools, and fire teachers and principals, who do not produce the proper data! Anyone who thinks this approach is going to improve the quality of instruction, and create better relationships between teacher, students and parents, is sorely mistaken. It will increase the stress level on all concerned and squeeze out compassion, empathy and community building along with creative instruction. But the school reformers don’t care. They are determined to bring a ‘business atmosphere’ into public education, with teachers poring over test scores the way executives pore over sales data!”
Moreover, in this “Data Driven Instruction”, at first it may seem like a goal-oriented principle for teacher to use to help students reach success. Teachers are asked, “How many students do you think can reach the benchmark?” in the form of a percentage. Teachers are given a few ideas as to how they can help students reach the benchmark scores, but nevertheless, they are NOT given the time and support they need to achieve the goals with overcrowded classrooms and a myriad of demands to meet!