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Re: Testing Math Teachers
Posted:
Apr 25, 2000 8:54 PM
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Here's a reaction from one Springfield school:
>Here's a letter we math teachers at Springfield's Central High School
are
>sending to various concerned parties.
> Springfield Central
>High School
> 1840 Roosevelt Ave.
> Springfield, MA 01109
> April 10, 2000
>
> We, the undersigned teachers in the mathematics department at
>Springfield Central High School, resent being scapegoated by
bureaucrats in
>the Department of Education and on the Board of Education. Segments
of
>the press and the business community have joined them in this tactic
with
>an apparent agenda of doing great harm to the public schools in the
>Commonwealth of Massachusetts. They have been putting forward such
schemes
>as making the MCAS a graduation requirement and proposals for
>teacher-testing, most recently and specifically the testing of
mathematics
>teachers in high schools such as our own, where MCAS "failure" rates
are
>high. These are clear attempts to make the students and teachers in
the
>public schools appear to be failing, thus paving the way for
privatization,
>for-profit charter schools, vouchers and the like.
>
> We are dedicated professionals, hardworking and skilled mathematics
>educators, nearly all with advanced degrees and scores of years of
>collective mathematics teaching experience. We have completed
extensive
>professional development programs in many areas of mathematics,
computers
>and such technologies as graphing calculators, as well as in
pedagogy.
>Many of us have facilitated these workshops ourselves.
>
> We teach in one of the state's poorest communities. Many of our
>students face innumerable social and economic pressures both in their
>neighborhoods and in the schools--obstacles not encountered by most
young
>people in the more affluent suburban communities. Getting a good
>education, getting to school on a daily basis, making time to study,
and
>even surviving are not the same here as in these wealthier
communities. We
>have always accepted the challenge to teach in this city's schools.
We try
>to be there on a daily basis for our students, providing quality
>mathematics instruction as well as the necessary support to motivate
our
>students to overcome these obstacles as best they can.
>
> In spite of these conditions and difficulties, 75% of Central's
>graduates go on to 2- and 4-year colleges each year. Yet only 25% of
last
>year's 10th graders would have been allowed to graduate based on
their
>mathematics scores on this MCAS exam. Our students do much better on
the
>proven, validated and nationally normed Iowa's and on the SAT's. Now
the
>Commonwealth wants to deny diplomas to 75% of future potential
graduates of
>our school.
>
> To add insult to injury, the Governor and the Board of Education
>want to test the math teachers in schools with a higher than 30%
"failure"
>rate on the MCAS. Naturally, we find this idea to be quite offensive
and
>preposterous in light of the previous information on our already
proven
>qualifications and on the job we are dedicated to do. Perhaps they
are
>trying to drive us out of Springfield to another community or to
another
>state where our services most likely would be in demand and perhaps
better
>appreciated. (There is a national shortage of trained, certified and
>experienced math teachers such as ourselves). We are tired of being
bashed
>and bullied. Let us do our job, and test the DOE (Department of
Education)
>bureaucrats, not the math teachers.
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
>Richard Annino Walter N. Brown James Carithers David Carlos
>
>Myron Follett Francis P. Funai Gladys T. Gagnon
> Lori Giacomoni
>
>Katrina Krach Denese Lakoma Lenny Lapon Nancy Mathras
>
>James J. Phaneuf Tim Renn Leroy Scott., Jr.
> Janet Settembro
>
>N. Everett Washington Jean Watson Carolyn Wikar
>
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