Ever want a potent example of just how counterproductive our
‘efficiency’ society has become in Virginia and across the nation, then look no
further then Virginia’s public schools. There you’ll find the time consuming
and counterproductive practices of teacher
self-evaluations. And on Monday, during a Fairfax County school board
meeting, a survey was reviewed that showed teachers spend “at least” three
hours a week preparing for their evaluations.
According
to Rachel Baye at The Examiner, “School
board members expressed concern about the complaints they have been receiving
about the new system.” There’s a shocker.
Fairfax County Public Schools created the new
teacher evaluation system in 2012 to meet the requirements “of the Virginia
Department of Education’s waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind Law.
Under state rules, 40 percent of a teacher’s evaluation must be based on
student achievement.”
Thus, Fairfax County Public Schools and their teacher
evaluation system is not the only impediment to a better school system
throughout the Commonwealth, it is the restrictive and arbitrary nature of
Virginia’s own requirements that force teachers and teacher’s assistants to ‘teach
to the grade’, and not necessarily teach to student understanding in a manner
that each teacher deems appropriate.
Oh, and there’s also the point of taking up so much of a
teacher’s ‘personal time’ (uncompensated, of course) on job activities outside
of work. And then there is the factor of how underpaid and underappreciated so
many of Virginia’s teachers are. Add all of these points up (including the
restrictive method of teaching that Virginia’s teachers are being required to
abide by) and you have a perfect recipe for burnt-out and frustrated educators
and a classroom full of kids who are frustrated with the dry standards
of learning (SOL)-like curriculum. And there are still more reasons that
could be named!
It’s really no wonder that so many bemoan the downfall
of America’s system of education.
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