Teachers counter education reform ideas on tests, pay

Education reformers have long dreamed of a day when schools could rate every K-12 teacher in the USA based on how his or her students perform on a standardized test.

It’s a simple, bipartisan dream that has captivated both President Bush (it’s a cornerstone of his 2002 No Child Left Behind education law) and President Obama, who’s putting test scores squarely at the center of his emerging education agenda.

But a new, large-scale survey finds that only one in 14 teachers thinks it’s a "very accurate measure" of teacher performance. They give more credence to kids’ evaluations, actually.

"For me, student achievement means performing at levels which will prepare (students) for college and for the real world — it doesn’t necessarily mean which band on the standardized test they’re performing at," says Cate Dossetti, an English teacher at Fresno, Calif., High School.

By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY

Full Story: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-03-03-teachersurvey03_st_N.htm