Reading an article in today's Globe Gazette regarding the Governor's draft education plan, I was struck by a quote from Representative Steckman in which she claims she doesn't want to overemphasize teacher effectiveness in the new plan.
I respectfully request then to know what factors a) are within government's power to change and b) more significantly affect a student's education. Research in schools shows clearly time and again that the single most important factor in a student's success and growth is the effectiveness of his or her teacher. The second critical factor is the effectiveness of the principal.
If this is true, which it is, then logically what must follow is an accountability system that heavily emphasizes these factors. This system would include the supervisor's evaluations, test scores, things like attendance rates, socioeconomic status of students and other factors that influence the population of students entering the schoolhouse doors. This balanced approach has been used elsewhere successfully, so there is no reason that it should not be tried in Iowa.
No, it's not the silver bullet Representative Byrnes hopes for, but the proposed system is a far cry better than a step and lane promotion system that ignores true standards of effectiveness.
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