Evaulation metric also fails

The Spokesman-Review’s March 12 editorial, “Legislators must change evaluation language,” drew the right conclusion, but the thinking was sloppy and the background information was incomplete.

For instance, they forgot to mention that for schools not achieving what they describe as the “impossible, foolish standard” of No Child Left Behind, there can be “alternate governance” imposed on districts, which many believe some lawmakers were counting on as a legal means to eliminate school boards and privatize our public schools. So yes, with a figurative pistol pointed at our heads, we must accede to this unprecedented federal power grab and hopefully keep our schools public.

Of course, we must also understand that there is no scientific basis in terms of validity or reliability for utilizing student test scores for evaluating the performance of teachers. So while it may be easy to use high-stakes test scores to judge teachers, it’s sloppy thinking on anyone’s part to accept this particular metric as valid when it’s not, or to expect a constancy of results for any teacher over time.

Finally, even with the lesser outcome of busing students to “better” schools, if virtually all schools are judged as “failing,” where do you propose students be sent?

Andy James

Colville