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I teach writing and literature at a local community college. Tying teacher pay to student test scores begs a key question. It assumes that all important knowledge is "measurable" in a "test." It also assumes that students' performance on test scores accurately measures what they do indeed know.

As all educators know, learning is a process. Light bulbs go off while learners are riding on the bus, waiting in line, watching a movie. I can't believe that anyone does their best thinking in a test environment. In the same way that teachers measure a student's learning in many ways (tests, class discussion, projects, group work), teachers should be evaluated in a variety of ways: peer observation, student evaluations, self-evaluation, etc.

posted 5 years ago
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