A new Gallup Poll found that found 55% of those polled did not want to link teacher evaluations to their students' test scores. The opposition was even higher with parents who had children that attended public schools (63% of these parents opposed the idea).

I read about this poll in the Detroit Free Press, and the article stated that “more than 40 states are moving to evaluate teachers and principals in part on how well students do on standardized tests.”

Students’ scores as part of the teachers’ overall evaluation is something the U.S. Department of Education has supported and encouraged — they have stated that other factors should be considered, such as student work and parent feedback.

OK, I understand your concern, but the question then is how do we evaluate our teachers? Since we hear so much about how poorly our children are doing when compared to other industrialized countries, there has to be a reason for that.  I am not saying that the entire reason for our students' poor academic performance is due to our teachers, but they must be part of the problem.

Or is it the way in which we teach our children? Do we need to revamp the entire teaching process? For the countries that perform better than the U.S., how are they teaching their children?

Could the unions be part of the issue (when all they are concerned about is how much money they can extract from taxpayers for their employees (teachers))? Remember, unions are just large corporations. So, how much can they extract from the teachers?

Could it be that education is not valued enough by these children's parents?

What is it?

Joshua Starr, CEO of Phi Delta Kappa International, an association for educators, and a former schools superintendent, was quoted in the article saying, “Parents see the work their kids bring home every night, they go to teacher conferences, and they're more likely to judge the school and the quality of the teacher based on that, than solely using test scores."

Well, what I heard is that in the schools that test poorly, the parents are not going to the teachers' conferences at the same rate that the higher-testing schools parent are. Parents of students in schools that aren't performing well academically are going to parent/teacher conferences less.

Again, is education not valued as much by these parents?

Here is something to think about: as our entitlement society has grown, our grades have been falling. Could that have something to do about it?

What are your thoughts?

Let’s discuss this today on my show The Live with Renk show, which airs Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to noon, to let me know your thoughts at (269) 441-9595.

Or please feel free to start a discussion and write your thoughts in the comment section.

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