We have no meaningful evidence at hand indicating that these tests can accurately distinguish between well taught and badly taught students.” So says testing expert James Popham in the recent PDK Journal regarding the use of tests to evaluate teachers and principals.

There is much evidence against the use of student test scores to evaluate teachers and administrators but those in charge at the Federal and State level seem to adopt the “don’t confuse me with the facts” attitude. …

Teaching by posing essential questions is one of the most powerful strategies in an educator’s arsenal. I would like to pose these essential questions for the people in the government and the education department to ponder as they enact the new teacher/principal evaluation laws. They are in no particular order, and they are but a few of the questions that could be asked.

• Why is there no discussion about the unethical nature of using test scores to evaluate teachers and…

When you sit down in a quiet moment of reflection and consider all the insanely ill-conceived, demeaning, and downright wrong things that are happening to educators, you begin to ask yourself what happened??

How did we go from a profession in which people showed a modicum of respect for us, to be blamed for the bad economy, not being good at our job, and unworthy of a pension? What did we do to deserve the “gothca” mentality that is pervasive from SED? How did we allow people who are so…

Is it ignorance, arrogance, or a combination of the two that has led us to this point in education? Having those in charge promulgate an evaluation system that is based on a “gothca” mentality, not based on sound research and which no other country in the world does, is unconscionable.

The state education officials and the politicians do not care about what the research says. They do not care what the leaders in the field say, and they certainly do not care what the practitioners…

Throughout history, there are numerous examples of smart people who have made poor decisions. At the time, they may have thought that the decision seemed logical, appropriate and promised that positive changes would result. We have all read stories of well-respected people who have made incredibly ill-conceived statements, policies, and proclamations that in hindsight were misguided, short-sighted and downright wrong. Here's a grievous example of one of those misguided decisions.

The…

Throughout history, there are numerous examples of smart people who have made poor decisions. At the time, they may have thought that the decision seemed logical, appropriate and promised that positive changes would result. We have all read stories of well-respected people who have made incredibly ill-conceived statements, policies, and proclamations that in hindsight were misguided, short-sighted and downright wrong.  Here's a grievous example of one of those…