Recent news reports of pay tied to test scores has troubled
me greatly. In my short career, I have had many opportunities to reflect upon
the reasons why I am an educator, what makes me an effective educator, and how
I go about doing what I do. When I write about these things, test scores are
rarely mentioned. You know what is mentioned? The kids who give us that little
smile a kid gives us when we make a connection with them, the excitement we
infuse into our students with an excellent lesson, or the passion behind why we
do what we do. Do I want my kids to do well on their tests? Absolutely. And,
you bet that many do perform well. Some don’t, though. And some don’t even grow,
unfortunately…some regress. I believe in accountability; we have to have it. People
that aren’t in the trenches with us, pouring our hearts out, using all our mental
energy until we are brain dead at the end of the day don’t understand this
battle. But, they still try to find a way to measure our performance; with a
score, of course. I get it. America is in trouble. Our educational system is in
trouble. But, I have a secret for you...I am going to whisper this to you,
because nobody knows this yet… society plays a part in that, too and parenting
plays an even bigger part. Teachers are trying our best to compensate for those
voids and flaws, in addition to the other duties we’re expected to fulfill. I
have been asked many times about the best ways to measure a teacher’s
performance, and I’ve given what I thought to be fair answers. But, tonight, I
finally have the RIGHT answer.
What we do is
immeasurable.
You can’t measure care.
You can’t measure
love.
You can’t measure
passion.
You can attach scores to our names if it makes you feel
better, but I will keep doing what I intended to do when I accepted my purpose,
and that’s loving people through
education.
