School Superintendent Kenneth Mitchell from New York’s Orangetown Central School District  Suggests (wink, wink) Carrying Value Added Testing to an extreme…

“New York’s plan already includes the elementary classroom teachers, so why not start assessing other disciplines?

Physical education teachers can be rated according to how well their students increase their speed in the 100-yard dash, run the mile, or make consecutive foul shots. We can skip lessons on concepts that can’t be measured, such as perseverance, courage, or risk-taking. Keep it simple and efficient. We’ll weigh students when they begin the year and rate the teachers on the weight students lose or the muscle mass they gain. (No excuses will be accepted about the meals that are served at home or exercise habits instilled by the family.

With time, we will surely have a value-added formula to address non-school-related factors.)”

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Blogs to Follow

Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post writes one of the best blogs on education reform anywhere. This week she has a great post:Will firing 5-10 percent of teachers make us Finland” that also appears in Albert Shanker AFT blog. You might want to bookmark both sites. Good reading guaranteed