See Me After Class by Roxanna Elden

Q: If you could change one thing about the way the teaching profession works, what would it be?

A: There’s a big push right now to run schools according to a business model and hold teachers and schools accountable for “results.” It’s probably well-intentioned, but the business model assumes that educated children are our product. The way it plays out is that test scores are the product, and we’re treating students like employees at test score factories. They’re missing out on a lot of the activities that made learning fun for us, and teachers are frustrated at being forced to teach in ways that fit neither our students’ learning styles nor our own personalities. Another unintended consequence is that accountability measures scare teachers away from the kids who need the most attention. Read the rest of this entry »