Letter to the Editor by Jocelyn Huber, DFER Director of Teacher Advocacy
(From The Post-Standard, January 15th, 2012)
To the Editor:
Providing an excellent education for Syracuse’s students is impossible without excellent teachers. Teacher quality is one of the most important determinants of whether a child succeeds not only in academic pursuits, but in life beyond school.
In fact, a new study by researchers at Harvard and Columbia examines the link between great teachers and successful students, singling out a teacher’s impact on student test scores to assess teacher performance. The study found that students assigned to high-performing teachers — those who increased their students’ test scores — “are more likely to attend college, earn higher salaries, live in better neighborhoods and save more for retirement. They are also less likely to have children as teenagers.” The researchers found that a teacher’s ability to raise test scores resulted in similar gains in long-term outcomes for students from both low- and high-income families.
While the state, city and teachers’ union tussle and posture over implementing a fair and rigorous evaluation system, the students and teachers of Syracuse are paying the price. When we have no good way to evaluate, identify and reward our best teachers, more kids go without what they need most to succeed in school.
Standardized tests may be a work in progress, but as the Harvard and Columbia study proves, the scores matter. The scores are a crucial measure and predictor of students’ academic success. We cannot effectively evaluate teachers without taking into consideration an objective measure of their impact on student learning.
The benefits for children of a rigorous teacher evaluation system are obvious. But a fair, objective system of evaluation also benefits teachers. As a former public elementary school teacher, I understand how frustrated teachers can be by the lack of constructive feedback and guidance available in current evaluation systems. And I can appreciate the hesitance to trust or take seriously yet another intervention from outside school walls. But I also know how discouraging it is to see a teacher fail his or her students and to watch the damage resonate throughout the school.
Every outstanding educator deserves to be treated like a professional and rewarded for his or her hard work and excellence. A strong evaluation system allows school districts to identify, reward and support strong teachers, aid those who are struggling and replace those who are consistently letting our children down. A strong evaluation system also provides a clear and reasonable appeal process for teachers who feel they may have been unfairly evaluated.