Here are a few good school reform articles and posts that have appeared over the past few days:
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Test Scorer by Dan DiMaggio. I’m adding it to The Best Posts On How To Prepare For Standardized Tests (And Why They’re Bad).
Wealthy Amateur Advises Decision-makers about Class Size is by Larry Cuban. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About How Class Size Does Matter and to The Best Posts Responding To Bill Gates’ Appallingly Clueless Op-Ed Piece.
Restocking teachers: The math doesn’t add up by Dennis Van Roekel. I’m adding it to The Best Articles For Helping To Understand Both Why Teacher Tenure Is Important & The Reasons Behind Seniority-Based Layoffs.
Valarie Strauss’ column is rhetoric, not reason. Reading her, one would think that there are people who believe that every time a personnel decision has to be made, the veteran teacher should be fired and the newbie should be kept. I don’t think that any sensible principal or policy maker is actually saying that. The push is to have retention decided by merit and ability, not solely by seniority. Yes, it is true that a more senior teacher has experience and knowledge that a newer teacher does not. However, it is certainly possible that more senior teachers have reached burnout or are not putting in the effort that they once did, and it is just as possible that a newer teacher bring a tremendous amount to the classroom. By imputing to some people the view that they want personnel decisions made based on a lack of seniority, she actually shows how ridiculous it is to base those decisions on having seniority.