The State of Florida, Inc. ??

[BeachSiO2]

When I was growing up, I went to a normal, public, 4-year high school with just over 1,000 students. We had a wide diversity of students some with learning disabilities, some exceptional students who went Ivy League and to the service academies. We had numerous vo-tech opportunities and AP/College-prep placement opportunities. We also had speech & drama and debate while being one of the leaders in athletics.

And in our normal high school, the parents, administrators, other teachers and students knew which teachers were good and which ones weren't regardless of the student's needs and the classes that were taught. It wasn't rocket science (though one of my classmates became a rocket scientist).

I really liked SB's post about the minutae. I am ready for the Teachers to put forth their plan for evaluating themselves (just like many of us are ready to see the GOP plan for healthcare ;-)). It is time for them to step out front and say "based on our longstanding experience these "things" are important for teachers and more importantly, their students." They don't have to wait on government to invite them in, they can be leaders through their teachers union(s). They have a loud enough voice to be heard on their own.

 

[30ashopper]

Teachers hope Florida Legislature gives failing grade to Senate Bill 736 - POLL ? Naples Daily News

The union seems to feel "it aint broke, so don't fix anything."

 

[DuneAHH]

Here is an interesting PDF doc (published Oct. 2010) showing the states education performance against State Standards versus International Standards. Massachusetts and SC are the only states with world class education standards.

*The fig. graphs are easier to read if you "rotate view"

View attachment 18959

 

[scooterbug44]

When I was growing up, I went to a normal, public, 4-year high school with just over 1,000 students. We had a wide diversity of students some with learning disabilities, some exceptional students who went Ivy League and to the service academies. We had numerous vo-tech opportunities and AP/College-prep placement opportunities. We also had speech & drama and debate while being one of the leaders in athletics.

And in our normal high school, the parents, administrators, other teachers and students knew which teachers were good and which ones weren't regardless of the student's needs and the classes that were taught. It wasn't rocket science (though one of my classmates became a rocket scientist).

Same here - small public school (graduating class of 115) and wide variety of students - foster kids, autistic kids, genius kids, transfers, juvenile delinquents, pregnant girls .............. and they taught us all.

It CAN easily be done.

Teachers hope Florida Legislature gives failing grade to Senate Bill 736 - POLL ? Naples Daily News

The union seems to feel "it aint broke, so don't fix anything."

IMO the union is a large part of why it's broke.

 

[DuneAHH]

Some longtime teachers I know have said that the vast amounts of administrative paper work required to comply with various govt. funding programs takes massive amounts of time away from actual teaching.

 

[scooterbug44]

I'm sure bureaucracy is a true time suck - but that was what the administrative staff and the school board did, not the classroom teachers.

 

[DuneAHH]

I'm sure bureaucracy is a true time suck - but that was what the administrative staff and the school board did, not the classroom teachers.

I'm just relaying what I've heard from teachers who say this is one of the big differences from when they started teaching 20-25 years ago. I may not have understood correctly... but I got the impression a lot of these changes coincided with "No child left behind".

For all I know (and I don't), funding classroom size reduction mandates may have necessitated school budgets to reduce administrative staffing, thus the documentation requirements fell to the teachers.

 

[scooterbug44]

Quite possible - I just know my teachers' time was usually being wasted with teacher inservices and the unions.

Let's just bar code the kids and install scanners at the doorways.

 

[BeachSiO2]

Do any local schools perform exit interviews with Seniors about their high school experience? While it is highly likely that you would get some non-constructive feedback, it could be eye opening. You could target different segments of the school population who were engaged in different levels and activities and see what they thought were good and bad. I know that I would have been able to give some pretty clear assessments of my experience. It could likely be done anonymously and then the results could then be tabulated and shared with the teachers. Maybe everyone would learn something.

 

[scooterbug44]

We had to do teacher & TA evaluations at the end of every semester for every class in college.

Short standardized forms you filled out w/ a #2 so a computer could quickly and easily process them and a separate page for additional handwritten comments.

I brought extra paper for all my comments about one horrible teacher - but he had tenure, so it didn't do any good. :roll:

Great way to do feedback on course content, tests etc. and it took 15 minutes.