Houston To Tie Teachers' Pay To Student Test Scores

[The Straight Story]

Houston To Tie Teachers' Pay To Student Test Scores

POSTED: 4:51 pm EST January 11, 2006

HOUSTON -- Houston is about to become the biggest school district in the nation to tie teachers' pay to their students' test scores.

School Superintendent Abe Saavedra wants to offer teachers as much as $3,000 more per school year if their students improve on state and national tests. The program could eventually grow to as much as $10,000 in merit pay.

The school board is set to vote on the plan Thursday. Five of the nine board members have said they support it.

"School systems traditionally have been paying the best teacher the same amount as we pay the worst teacher, based on the number of years they have been teaching," Saavedra said. "It doesn't make sense that we would pay the best what we're paying the worst. That's why it's going to change."

http://www.local6.com/news/6006693/detail.html

[Atman]

1. Now instead of just cheating students, we'll have cheating teachers

Whose fucking brilliant idea was THIS?

[txindy]

11. Even worse, we'll have teachers teaching to the test even more

They spend far too much time doing that, as it is. Now that their pay would be dependent on the results, though, every day will be about the test in some way, shape, or form.

Absolutely wonderful. :grr:

[LincolnMcGrath]

2. That simplifies the course outline for the whole year.

TEACH THE TEST. Nothing more! :mad:

[Bjornsdotter]

9. They've been teaching the test

...for years in our district. Not so smart kids are given a "movie day" in the library while the others take the test.

Our district had the nerve to call me and ask for my son's test scores so they could factor them in for the district. I said "NO".

Cheers!

[liberalnurse]

3. So, does the Teacher Union Contract

agree to the teachers working on commission??????????????????????? That's exactly what this ruling identifies.

[Arkana]

4. Possibly the worst idea in public education history.

That is absolutely horrendous. So if you have a class of fuckups, then you get docked in pay because they don't give a shit about school? Great. Fair. Real fair.

Boy, I didn't think it was possible to feel any worse for Texas DUers than I do, but this did it.

[demosincebirth]

5. What happens if a good teacher has lousy students?

[Divernan]

6. Texas teachers have been forced to "teach to the test" for years.

A friend's dtr. taught in the Houston area about 5 years ago and was disgusted that the teachers had to spend all their class time preparing students for the standardized testing. She quit and moved to another state. Texas turned grade schools into the year long equivalents of SAT preparation/cram programs. But there wasn't money in the budget for basic supplies for the kids - she often paid for them herself.

[Bigmack]

7. "Screw those kids who have...

.. learning disabilities or shitty home lives or handicaps.

I'm gonna teach only the nice, white, upwardly mobile kids.

I got enough seniority that I'm gonna teach the Honors or Advanced Placement classes."

You've got good teachers nearing retirement age....why the hell would they want to collect maybe $60 less per month for life.

To improve the teachers... and the scores... will take money. We're pissing away enough money in Iraq to change our education system radically.

[mike_c]

8. when will these bastards ever learn that education doesn't work...

...like a production line, and that these kinds of "merit pay" schemes rarely work? Two successive chancellors have tried something like this since I've been with the CSU, and both schemes were abandoned after a couple of years. They're just not effective, and they hurt morale, piss people off, etc more than anything-- plus they add a whole new layer of potential favortism and inequity.

[seabeyond]

10. 5th grade son detention on a 96 test, forgot to get it signed

he thought afternoon detention, i looked at slip in morning and i had minutes to get him there. three minutes late, so detention monday. didnt get his behavior folder they just started signed, forgot it. got a detention tomorrow. cant find folder so still not signed, has another detention friday. the kid is a straight A student, but this school is a hard ass. has the highest scores thru out texas, and especially this area, why i got the kids in the school, they are serious. but...... man, they are tough on the kids. this is our first year in this school and we are getting used to it. i am seeing good, but.... with pay being tied into these tests, this really concerns me, especially with school like this where the principle just does not mess around. i dont have issue with what is happening with son. doesnt hurt him at all to have this toughness. he is a little einstein, totally brilliant, and totally obtuse in life. maybe this can help him to focus a bit. i am really not likely this though. and as someone pointed out, waht about the good teacher that is in a district of children that have been left behond, that dont have th emotivation nor the help from the parent. what about the child that is just average, or god forbid the children that are below average.

[Lisa]

12. interesting -- when I ask people about things they learned in school ...

... which had major positive impacts on their lives, they almost never talk about test scores for a particular year!

Sometimes, students get turned onto a particular area of study, due to a long-term research project, or being allowed to investigate something which they're interested in, but which isn't on the mandatory syllabus. I know a number of people who've either ended up getting advanced degrees in things like physics, music, or archeology as a result of this -- as well as those who now have jobs at places like the EPA, Doctors Without Borders, the Red Cross, or the United Nations. As a college lecturer, a few times a year I hear from former students who are now pursuing degrees, working, or have just gotten interested in concepts we covered in class. Most of the time they are not the ones who got A+ grades in my class, but felt they learned something useful anyway. (When I get that kind of praise from people years later, it feels really good ... I'm willing to settle for that rather than performance bonuses based on student grades or their year-end assessments of me!)

One of the best teaching experiences I ever had was working with a woman who'd flunked 2 statistics courses and was convinced that she was stupid. I reframed the concepts in terms of social issues (rates of illness in poor and wealthy neighborhoods, etc.) and when she could see the problems as "is this government study lying to me?", or "is this pharmaceutical company trying to hide something?", it meant a lot more to her. She ended up with a "C" grade, and it took a lot of time, from both of us. Most of this was getting her confident enough so she could say, "I think someone's up to something here, so what can I use to look into this?". Whenever I give people extra help in learning how to write or do research, I know what it's going to involve -- but even if they don't go on and become scientists or policymakers, it makes me feel good, knowing that they are better-equipped as citizens.


p.s. I realize that I am spoiled rotten because for the most part, the students really want to be here (even in the less-popular mandatory courses). And the people who need extra help are asking for it -- I don't have to force them. Even dealing with situations where people are having trouble because of financial issues, illness, or family problems is not as tough as what most public high school teachers have to carry. But even a lot of the HS teachers I've spoken with are doing it because they really love teaching, and having to rote-march the class through the test often gets in the way of doing the kinds of things which will help individual students connect with the ideas being presented ... or learning life skills which are even more important.

[spindrifter]

13. They need to scrape the horse-manure out

of their freakin' brains! My daughter has been teaching at her school for about 5 years now. She has taught both "Highly Capable" and "regular" classes. The regular classes include a high percent of mainstreamed special ed. kids, so she often has kids that are pretty marginal. They do not test as well as the Hi-Caps, woiuld you believe it! So why should she be paid on the basis of whether she is teaching the smarties or the less than smarties? Seems like it provides even less incentive for bright, energetic teachers who would like to pay off their loans --or even better--pay for the extra classes necessary for the permanent teaching certificate, to want to teach anything but highly capable kids.