How can teacher accountability have a positive and a negative influence on the classroom environment?

Answer 1

Positive:
Some (about 1/3) complacent teachers might be motivated to make their lessons more relevant and work harder at helping students learn.

Negative:
The grades of students who couldn't care less about their work, are behavioral problems, are frequently truant and/or refuse to allow themselves to be motivated will bring down the class average. This sheds a negative and unfair light on a teacher's classroom performance. In other words, it is not an accurate reflection of the teacher's skill, dedication and competence levels.

Negative:
In order to save themselves trouble and extra work, some teachers may take shortcuts and simply "teach the test" instead of teaching concepts that students can apply themselves and implement the rest of their lives.

Answer 2

WOW... Well let's just deal with this. the Positive is that they have to be teaching not just doing worksheets. They have to show progress. The first 5 years, that's the case. Its after they are tenure, that you run into complacency. the "I've done it this way for X years and no one is going to tell me what to do". The negative is the pressure, but, I'm sorry to say, that comes with the territory. Either you are a good teacher or you aren't. There really isn't any middle ground. I've met some good ones, but, I've also met some really bad ones and I wonder how the heck they keep their jobs.

Answer 3

Positive: teachers know they must teach certain things to the best of their ability like basic math skills

Negative: teachers will feel very pressed to teach specific things and will lose creativity in what and how to teach which will likely decrease the total amount learned.

Answer 4

positive: keep looking at those state standards and following the "plan" keeps me focused on what the state feels this class needs.
Negative: all my creative talents wasted as I teach to tests, and complete volumes of paperwork