When 97% of New York City schools get As and Bs on their report cards, it’s proof accountability works. When 98% of teachers get satisfactory ratings, it’s proof there’s no accountability.

6 Comments »

It all depends on who gets to own the data system!

Comment by Claus — September 4, 2009 @ 4:46 pm
Do 97% of the schools in NYC get the majority of their kids to grade-level proficiency in core subjects? If the answer is “no”, then how can they merit an “A” or “B” rating?

Comment by Crimson Wife — September 4, 2009 @ 5:17 pm
Accountability works when it confirms what the DoE holds to be true. This can be boiled down to a few axioms. For instance:

Axiom no. 1: The educational policies of Bloomberg and Klein are hugely successful. The 97% As and Bs confirm this. Therefore the report cards are an example of accountability that works.

Axiom no. 2: Most teachers are bad. The 98% satisfactory ratings do NOT confirm this. Therefore the teacher ratings are an example of accountability that does NOT work.

Comment by Diana Senechal — September 5, 2009 @ 9:52 am
Great post! I wish I’d said that.

Comment by john thompson — September 5, 2009 @ 10:11 am
Ironic, ain’t it?

Comment by NYC Educator — September 7, 2009 @ 8:20 am
This has been a controversial issue. On the state ELA and Math tests for 3rd through 8th grades, there have been almost miraculous increases in the percentages of students who are meeting the standards. This really got silly a couple of years ago. On one of the tests the state average, on a test taken each year by 200,000 students, went up by 8 percentage points. The State Education Department swore it was because their initiatives were bearing fruit. But then the results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress came out and showed zero improvement for the same group of students. The State Education Department swore that they were right and the NAEP was wrong. As NYC Educator said, ironic, isn’t it?

Comment by Anonymous — September 7, 2009 @ 8:38 pm