Indeed, letting teachers decide what to do on the basis of what's rasiest and most convenient for them is bound to have a 1:1 correspondence with the best way for people to learn.
> Indeed, letting teachers decide what to do on the basis of what's rasiest and most convenient for them is bound to have a 1:1 correspondence with the best way for people to learn.
I consider myself a professional educator, so I will treat this statement as if you were aiming it directly at me.
I'm not yet 10 years into my career, but I daresay I have a solid understanding of what facilitates effective learning among my students. I can quickly, accurately, and individually asses and guide my students on a path which best suits their needs.
There is nothing a standardized test in my subject area can tell me about my class that I don't already know, and there is much that a standardized test will not reveal about the individuals within my class that I and my colleagues already know.
I would like to see my students freed from wasting their valuable time preparing for absurd tests which do not serve them in any useful or meaningful fashion. My admins know how my students are doing because they receive reports directly from me. They know my word is good because I am a professional.
The implementation of my wish to eliminate meaningless standardized testing and have more control over my curriculum would not earn me one more cent than I currently make. (I make less than 45k / year and I'm 6 years into it with a masters degree.)
I love my work and seeing my students succeed is why I do it.
Allow experienced professional educators to shape education policy.
What in particular is stopping experienced professional educators from shaping educational policy now? What are some of the policies that you expect would look different if your suggestion were implemented?
> What in particular is stopping experienced professional educators from shaping educational policy now?
Overwork, bureaucracy, an anti-teacher and anti-intellect culture to name a few.
> What are some of the policies that you expect would look different if your suggestion were implemented?
NCLB and RTTT would be eliminated. Equity of access to schooling which facilitates critical thinking would be made a paramount goal. Long story short -- educators would try to shape our system to model Finland's philosophies.
How would you implement this? Would you eleminate all elected officials from education policy, such as local boards of education? Who would determine what qualifies as an "expereinced, proffessional educator"?
Include experienced professional educators in on the creation and updating of NCLB, RTTT, or any policy aimed at education.
> Would you eleminate all elected officials from education policy, such as local boards of education?
No.
> Who would determine what qualifies as an "experienced, professional educator"?
Similar to what happens within the law, medical,or any other professional community -- a team of professional, accomplished people within the specific field would set the bar and determines who qualifies.