Should K-12 grade teachers be given yearly academic comprehension tests by the state or federal government?

Question

In light of the No Child Left Behind Act, I believe that the false teachers are now being exposed, you know the ones. I believe that our teachers should now be held more accountable for our children's exposure to knowledge and truth, exspecially since our children are being tested stately to see how much knowledge of a grade level they understand. I mean, or our teachers making an honest and ethical effort to teach each and every student, and not make the excuse that our children will and choose not to learn. Teachers are now required to obtain their master's degree, which is a higher degress of education that some of us have met in our lives. This degree is saying that they are better than the regular teacher, that there opinons weigh more than the parent. We need to test the people that educate our future because we all see more and more of them violating the ethical truth and respect of being an educator. Such as those caught in internet child porn scams. Should they be tested

Answer 1

Yes!

Answer 2

No, I don't believe testing would prove what you want to know. You mention being ethical. A test would not prove I am ethical- only knowledgeable. I believe on site observations by the principal or other district staff can determine what is really important such as knowledge and interaction with the students. If a teacher is found to be inappropriate for the classroom for whatever reason, then the district should have easier means to remove that person.
I am not sure how a Masters degree makes a teacher better than a "regular' teacher or a parent. I have my Master's degree but never thought I was better than anyone else. Teaching is an art form and the best teachers care, work hard, and continue to improve their knowledge of their subject areas or educational theories and practices.
I do believe teachers should have access to continuing education classes and be required to have so many hours each year like a pharmacist does. These classes could be on line, conducted in the summer months, or on in-service days.

Answer 3

Your question seems to be biased, yet it contradicts itself.

I have no problem with some sort of annual or semi-annual assessment of teachers in the sense that doctors must continually update their credentials. However, a test designed to "sniff out the fakers," is bound to be unfair. It smells a bit like fascism to me. It is the kind of thing that movies are made of that would make even you angry at the system.

In addition, a required masters degree is a way to update credentials. To use that as an argument that there is a greater need for more "proof" of accountability is counter-intuitive. Also, when the students are tested every year, in fact the greatest test is that of the teacher. If a teacher's students consistently do poorly, then there is a pretty clear indication that something is wrong. In other words, the teachers are already being tested, though I doubt the validity of the kinds of tests that are being given. They are arbitrary and do not test the students' ability to apply their knowledge in real world situations.

Until you have taught in school for more than a week, say, you really have no clue what you are talking about. Studies have shown that teaching is one of the most stressful jobs there is. If you really want to improve education in the US you will have to make some very drastic changes. First, you will need to reduce the student/teacher ratio. Second, you will need to reduce teachers' in-class work load so that they may have more time for planning, assessing, and reporting. Third, parents will need to be held more accountable for their children's behavior. Teachers are now expected to teach everything starting from how to share, to get along with others, to take responsibility, to respect other people and their property, etc., etc., etc., yet there is no support for that in the home. In fact, when a child is disciplined for being rude or not doing their homework or cheating or hitting another child or spitting or destroying property, and so on, the parents actually have the gall to question the disciplinary actions, and society is actually backwards enough to allow this and to treat every situation like a court of law where the teacher's word and the student's word are equal. If you were well-raised, like I was, no matter what the teacher said, not only did your parents believe it, they reacted as though it were fact. Even if the teacher was wrong, unless he or she were actually abusing you, it didn't do you any harm for your parents to side with the teacher. And most of the time, the teacher was right anyway, and you deserved to be disciplined. Today, we reward minimal expectations and celebrate mediocrity, and that is due directly to parents who are more concerned with their child's feelings than with teaching them right from wrong. Parents today are too lazy to face the displeasure of their children, and so they are raising a bunch of useless, maladjusted, socially inept, spoiled brats. No one takes responsibility for their own actions. It is always the government's fault or the teacher's fault or the fault of big business or the fault of the weather or the fault of God. Get over it. You are the only person you can count on to do what is right, and if you don't do what is right, how can you expect anyone else to. Be the best you can be and be satisfied with that!

Studies have been done about the difference in children who attend parochial schools in poor, inner-city areas, and children who attend public schools in those same areas. The public schools have more funding and so the facilities are newer and better, and the teachers are paid more, yet the students in the parochial schools end up finishing and going on to further education in greater percentages than those in the public schools. They come from the same socio-economic backgrounds, the only difference is that the parents of the students in parochial schools are supportive and have higher expectations, so much so that they are willing to pay the nominal tuition fees to send their children to the parochial schools.

Parents are the first front, and until we change the attitudes of parents, we will never change the attitudes of the students. No matter how good or bad a teacher is, if the student wants to learn, he will. If he doesn't want to learn, he won't. (Of course it goes without saying that a student who wants to learn will learn more from an effective teacher than from an ineffective teacher.)

As for the teachers involved in porn scandals, they should be held to the harshest standards of the law, (which aren't harsh enough in these cases in my opinion,) but they are no different from doctors, lawyers, judges, plumbers, electricians, garbage collectors, drug addicts, bums, preachers, accountants, astronauts, nurses, computer programmers, professors, truck drivers, auto mechanics, etc., who are pedophiles. They are all sick and, in my opinion, the death penalty is the only answer for them.

Answer 4

No, I don't believe so. Testing is another cost that means that taxes will need to be raised or funds diverted for the testing. Most teachers are not required to have master's degree. They usually have a master's degree because it elevates them on the pay scale. The problem with education is that most teachers don't care and if they do have too many students per class (over 25 in one of my classes, which added to about 125 students). So, I had a 1/25 time per student per class. Parents need to become more involved in their kids education and less reliant on teachers because only the parent really cares about their kids.

Answer 5

A significant part of the problem of all of this is that people are criticizing our mass education system based on customized expectations. While I have significant concerns about No Child Left Behind, I’m one of the few teachers I know who supports its general direction (which was widely supported on a bi-partisan basis when it passed), and is willing to say so openly. People cannot expect custom results in a mass bureaucratic system. Until we’re willing to commit the resources necessary to have an individualized education system, with individualized evaluation, few will be satisfied with any means of evaluation used – but that doesn’t mean we don’t need the evaluation. What it means is that we need to continue to evaluate while remaining cognizant of the limitations of all mass evaluation systems and while remaining open to additional means of evaluation. How sad is it that it took No Child Left Behind for teachers to be required to be qualified to teach a subject in order to teach it? As far as evaluating teachers is concerned, I personally think that it probably would be a good thing for teachers to have to pass some form of subject knowledge, possibly every 5 years or so. Should this be required as a part of our pay? Well, I think the current system that bases my pay (which I view as reasonably good these days) solely on the number of college academic units I have ever taken, and the amount of time I’ve been teaching, is seriously flawed, so I’d say it would be reasonable to include an indication of a teacher’s subject competency as one part of their compensation.

Answer 6

It seems the more we hold teachers accountable for what children are capable of learning the more we neglect to see where the real problems lie. for example local governments need to have more involvement in it school systems and background check teachers at the time of being hired. It is unfair for us to sit back and blame teachers who only make 30,000$ a year sometimes less for the outcome of every student/childs mental capacity for learning. Overfilled class rooms, are to blame, and illegal immigration laws are not enforced making any students incapable of true learning experience and the teacher is held accountable. Why don't we blame firemen for not putting huge fires before they spred to over 250 acres. Its the same thing. Teachers must have credentials and pass several test and exams in a college career before they are aloud to teach. To re-test them is a slap in the face to the accomplishments they've achieved in their life.

danger.

Answer 7

instructors are salaried, no longer hourly. The revenues varies from city to city, county to county, state to state, us of a to us of a. It varies on the years of adventure and tutorial history as well. instructors in Idaho would commence at 25,000 per 12 months even as in ny they'd commence at 40 5,000 per 12 months. Why do human beings consistently ask "What do instructors make?" like each and absolutely everyone makes the very same element? all people else ill of this question? Why do not human beings merely look on the internet web site of the district they prefer to coach in and discover the instructor pay scale for that district?

Answer 8

Do you have a higher education degree? Were you not tested to obtain that degree? Are you tested annually to prove that you are competent to carry out your job? Just checking!

Answer 9

Yes of course

Answer 10

Yes, teachers should actually understand what they're teaching.