On my Friday freeway trip, returning from a great Thanksgiving celebration, I caught an interview on KPCC. An LAUSD teacher from Jefferson high along with a charter school advocate and a couple high school students. The most appalling thing is that no one was willing to say that we could tell effective from ineffective teachers.
I had a similar experience with a group of school administrators recently. We viewed the Meet the Press episode where Gingrich, Sharpton, and Duncan were giving their views. Once the segment concluded, I asked, "What makes a teacher effective?" No one answered. I don't know if they were unwilling or unable.
Here's what. The structure of education is changing right now. Those of us in public education often complain that one of our constraints is the inability to remove bad teachers from the classroom. Well, that constraint might be changing. We BETTER be willing and able at time to say which teachers are effective and what makes them so.
