Value Analysis

To understand the building blocks of the education system, one must keep in mind the perspectives at hand.  In the 1800s, whether a child received an education or not used to be decided by their parents (for some people). For others, receiving an education was considered illegal.  For example, it was against the law for Black people to learn how to read.  Unfortunately, an unfair class system has formed over the years fueled by greed and superiority of particular peoples, which contributes to the state of education today.

For the majority, education was defined as a means for children to become good citizens.  Reading and math became the most important subjects for children to learn and teachers taught what they knew.  The backbone of our country had been formed on the values of freedom and liberty.  People lived to survive and to better the civilization of man.  With opportunity came the power of individualism, the ability to work hard and achieve the American dream.  America grew to require an education to understand her heritage and provide the tools to live.

However, in the past century, education has become a key component for the economic growth of the United States leading to better manufacturing, a greater workforce, and a reputation of being the most prosperous nation in the world. Therefore, state standards and high-stakes testing have become a governmental tool to motivate teachers and students to do their best.   However, is it working?  Holding teachers accountable is a strategy being used to improve education, and it's only part of a larger plan. Unfortunately, there are many values that are inherent to the issue of teacher accountability. 
 

If we look at the state of education as a puzzle, we can begin to identify the different perspectives of teachers, administrators, parents, students, and politicians.  Through my eyes as a teacher, quality versus efficiency has been a value conflict plaguing the education system for years.  All educators want the best for our kids.  In this situation, I'm saying an educator is every person that makes decisions that directly affect a child's education.  The quality of education is part of the foundation of a successful school, but the motivating question is why is it important.  Is it to keep the United States above other industrialized nations?  Is it to grow a child to become an effective and responsible citizen?  Perhaps and perhaps not.     

When it comes to teacher accountability and high-stakes testing, teachers have two things weighing on their minds.  Do they teach to the test or teach to the needs of the students?  The heart of an effective teacher wants to teach to the needs of a child, however, the negative pressures of losing their job or value-added analysis may drive teachers to stay on the safe side and decide to teach to the test. However, the good teacher has nothing to worry about when they can teach to the needs of children, but also love them enough to help them succeed on the test.  Quality takes the form of high expectations, higher standards, and high qualified teachers to get the job done.

Administrators want the best teachers, but sometimes they cannot afford the best.  High-stakes testing and teacher transparency have thrown another curve ball at school districts.  In order to weed out the bad teachers, high-stakes testing will show if students improve or not which could make good teachers look bad. On the other hand, good administrators know that high-stakes testing is only one way to show the effectiveness of a teacher.  Now, we're in the mess of comparing schools and identifying which ones are improving test scores in order to gain rewards (money).  How does this affect teacher accountability?  Teachers may or may not receive merit pay based on the school's overall performance.  Quality is at stake, because the good teachers may end up leaving for a better performing school.  

Equity comes into play as we discuss teacher accountability and the effect it has on students' education.  Under Ms. Rhee, D.C.'s school Chancellor http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jul/13/dc-relies-on-charter-schools-as-training-tool/?page=2, charter schools are improving the quality of education for children who are often called the minority. Hispanic and Black students make up the majority population of her school district coming from a low poverty level.  The current method of teacher accountability rewards schools that achieve "improvement".  Sometimes, that is difficult when considering the background of the student population.  More one-on-one instruction is needed when students have not had the proper preparation at the primary levels, which includes preschool and kindergarten.    

Another set of values that compete against one another is equality and efficiency.  In order to hold teachers accountable, much money is spent to provide high-stakes testing, which may not be the best way to evaluate the progress of every student because there are many factors that come into play when discussing the effectiveness of high-stakes testing.  Children’s family life, their background knowledge, poverty level, and how they are prepared for the test can affect the results of high-stakes testing.  In other words, the resources available must be distributed fairly, which brings the value of equality at hand.   

The method as to how to hold teachers accountable is a growing controversy between teachers, parents, administrators, and politicians.  Values of such individuals come into play when making decisions for our schools.  Some teachers hold the belief that the quality of education will improve if they do differentiated instruction instead of following scripted curriculum.  Others want higher standards of excellence so students will perform better on high-stakes testing. Some politicians want lower costs but higher expectations of students and teachers.  This makes it difficult for teachers who need more money to operate smaller classrooms, implement one-on-one instruction, and purchase new textbooks.  Taking away special programs such as music, art, and after school activities cause children to lose interest in their schooling, which leads to poor performance in class. Which leads us to the question of whose perspective is right and which one is going to best serve the students of America?