Intended to be funny, this item goes overboard a bit ("His face had turned red, and from the way he was clenching and unclenching his jaws...") but the message is sound and the analogy useful: just as we would not evaluate dentists based on the number of cavities their patients have, so also should we not evaluate teachers based on their students' test results. In each case, too many factors are beyond their control: some parents don't send kids to the dentists until it's too late, for example, some eat candy and sweets, and some live in areas without flouridated water. In a similar fashion, children of professional parents come to school with better background knowledge, better resources and better attitudes toward education, and so teachers of these students will be ranked as more proficient than teachers who work with students from lower income households. The article sets up a false dilemma, though, suggesting that the only alternative is to observe the teacher teaching: there ought to be a middle ground, a method of evaluation that will yield reliable results and also won't drain the school board's budget.
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