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Saturday, January 14, 2012

“HIGHLY EFFECTIVE” VS “LESS EFFECTIVE” « Teachers Fight Back

“HIGHLY EFFECTIVE” VS “LESS EFFECTIVE” « Teachers Fight Back:

“HIGHLY EFFECTIVE” VS “LESS EFFECTIVE”

New York City teachers rated “highly effective” for two years in a row would get a $20,000 raise under a proposal by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg in his annual State of the City address focused heavily on education, challenging the United Federation of Teachers to accept his approach to weeding out teachers deemed “less effective”. The starting salary for a New York City teacher is $45,530.

Here we go again. Money as a motivator of teachers. Who wouldn’t want an extra $20,000? If I was a “less effective” teacher, I sure would want to be a “highly effective” one. What constitutes an effective or an ineffective teacher? Is that based on test scores? I would have a problem with that. Is it based on observations? Is based on a combination of test scores and observations? Is it a matter of taking more education courses?

I believe most teachers fall into one of three categories. Teachers are either incompetent, average, or excellent.