three questions...
1. When US test scores are compared to other nations, are the tests exactly the same?
2. When other nations test their students, is the entire school population tested or just a certain set of students?
3. What do parents/community members consider as qualities of a good teacher? (please sit this one out teachers...we have our own point of view?
1. The tests are all the same.
2. Only a select group of students take the test in any country (5600 took it in the U.S.)
Things that in my opinion make a good teacher
1. Know the material- If we spend everyday in class reading out of the textbook then what is the teacher there for. The textbook should be used for help on homework at home. Also, it would be nice to have a teacher every once in a while that could have a discussion with the class or student without needing the textbook. This is one of my favorite things about going to my school where teachers have degrees in a field relating to what their teaching rather than an educational degree.
2. Do their best to challenge every student in the class- This is something I can give some slack to teachers on because I would imagine its difficult to challenge the top end of the class while teaching the low end. I think this is an instance where more blame needs to go towards the administration and them not properly deciding whom to put in honors classes and who goes in regular.
Those two things are pretty much the two most important things to qualify as an effective teacher. Basically the teachers job is to improve the intellectual abilities of all students.
Also i want to finish by saying that I don't put all of the responsebility on the teacher. Great teachers are wasted if you don't have good students. But I would bet a lot of good students have been taken down at the hand of poor teachers as well.
Also what I said about the educational degree was referring to high school (probably advanced courses) teachers. I do think that elementary and probably middle school teachers should have educational degrees because I think for younger children its important the teachers understand the process of learning for children and different learning styles as well as learning disabilities.
