Teacher Compensation, Testing Alternatives and more
1. Stimulate Equitable Teacher Compensation: Implement aggressive incentive programs for states or districts to implement something like DC Chancellor Rhee’s compensation program, offering teachers the option to lose tenure, be evaluated based on achievement growth data, and be given compensation on par with their colleagues in the private sector, OR continue along with the status quo compensation and evaluation plan. Give unions and teachers the option to earn more $$, and help seed this idea to help recruit the next generation of teachers away from other industries with competitive compensation.
2. Create incentives for districts to use open-source digital content instead of expensive and heavy 20th century textbooks, saving districts thousands of dollars and bringing our schools into the 21st century.
3. Consider alternatives to multiple-choice assessments that allow us to measure achievement and hold schools and teachers accountable in more “authentic” ways. Invest R&D into valid, un-biased, and fair assessments using portfolios and other authentic work that teachers and students can embrace and support. Ask unions to participate in this R&D.
4. Encourage the use of Web 2.0 tools to design teacher professional development experiences that leverage modern technology and teacher work-hours.
5. Consider creating a set of national standards for what students should know and be able to do, and national criteria for teacher certification instead of the state-by-state system that currently exists. Create a committee of Chief State School Officers to develop these national standards to ensure that each state has input in the process. The current system is good for assessment companies but causes wasted time and money for educators, families, and CMO’s doing work in more than one state.
6. Create incentives for states to increase the numbers of charters granted to qualified schools.
7. Explore ways to overhaul the property-tax-based school funding system to find more equitable ways to fund schools so all children have access to a high-quality education.
8. Ensure that our schools observe the Constitution’s provision of a separation of Church and State, providing that schools do not engage in the teaching of any specific religious doctrine, such as so-called “Intelligent Design” and “Abstinence Only.” Religious teachings such as these may, of course, be discussed as options and their role in our society analyzed in a social science context, but have no place in a biology or health classroom.
This post was submitted by Doug Roberts.
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