Dear Secretary Arne Duncan

November 18, 2009

U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
(LBJ Education Building, 7W311)

Washington, D.C. 20202

Dear Secretary Arne Duncan –

What defines a good teacher?  The designation of “good” is a moving target and an obscure term, though it may be possible to observe “good” behaviors: preparing every night for class the next day; creating new lessons every year to keep the curriculum innovative and fresh; continually working to develop themselves professionally. Really good teachers realize that by taking a personal day off, the children’s learning suffers. These behaviors do not necessitate the ascription–and trying to define the term “good teacher” may be an exercise in futility–but they are usually present. Bad teachers do exist and are the antithesis of the aforementioned ideal teacher.  Understandably, they are the bane of the system and there must be some way to separate the “good” from the “bad.” I feel I am a really good teacher. Last year, my school validated my work by honoring me with the “Teacher of the Year” award.  I love what I do.  I love working with my students.  My aim is not to boast, but to lend credence to my concerns.  In light of the recent political attention (or lack of in many past years), I am beginning to wonder if my job makes any difference at all in the education system, and whether or not my job is worth the time that I have devoted to it. My concerns in recent years have revolved around three main issues: teacher evaluation, parental involvement, and nationalized standards.

There has been a lot of talk about teacher evaluation.  One of the ideas that seem to be on the forefront of this reform is tying teacher’s ratings to test scores.  As one of many teachers who work extremely hard to develop and implement our curriculums and lessons, it is disheartening to hear that you are a proponent of this idea.  I do understand the need to have a standard to which teachers need to be held; however, in linking the evaluations directly with test scores, we are creating curriculums that are test-driven.  Students lose out on a lot of other knowledge, including civic studies, global studies, and even spelling & vocabulary.  Whether or not you mean to, curriculums will include (if they don’t already), testing genres, which skews the goal of education.  We will prepare students to become better test takers, not necessarily to become more knowledgeable.  When colleges and universities around the country are questioning the importance of standardized tests like the SATs or the ACTs, why are the public schools going in the opposite direction to place the value of students’ progress and growth on the scores of standardized tests?  A student’s progress needs to be measured in many ways to fully assess his/her growth. I don’t know the answer to teacher evaluation, yet; I just know that test scores are not the answer.

On Meet the Press (Sunday, November 15th), one concern that was brought up was parental involvement.  I can’t begin to express to you how important that is.  In some cases, what the parents do or don’t do can undermine what we as teachers are doing in the classroom.  There is a lot of discussion to allow parents to choose the best schools and to allow parents to hold schools & teachers accountable.  However, there is very little to be said about parent accountability.  As much as I try, there is little that I can do about the lack of parental involvement  or interest in the students’ lives.  In my years of teaching, I have encountered parents who fight to allow their children to stay at home, who make excuses for why work cannot be completed, and who do not believe in disciplining their children for any misconduct.  These hinderances play a large part of what I (or any teacher) may accomplish in the classroom with the students.  Yet, their lack of progress may be tied to my evaluation.  At what point are parents accountable for any part of their children’s education?

On the issue of Nationalized Standards: I believe in one standard for all students in this country.  Nationalized standards insure that all students in our country are held to the same expectations.  Students in Detroit should expect to be taught what the students in Scarsdale are taught.  At no point should we “dumb down” our expectations or curriculums for the students in our community.   If we want to accurately measure the progress of the students in this country, we need to be able to assess students using the same rubric.  I am not saying that lessons and curriculums needs to be exactly the same; I’m saying that the information that students are taught and the skills that they learn should be equal.  There is no reason why students who pass a New York State test shouldn’t also be able to pass a California state test.

Finally, I’d like to close with one thought for your tenure as Education Secretary.  You need to include teachers in the forming of education policy and standards.  As a country, we seek and expect changes to the education system because we expect and want our students to be successful.  However, many people who make these policies are out of touch with the day-to-day teachings in a classroom. Visiting a school for one hour or for one day to meet with teachers, students, and administrators does not provide an accurate or true picture of what goes on in the school.  Whether or not you realize this, there is a level of performance that is staged for you.  To have a well-rounded discussion of where to direct our schools, teachers, parents, and students, we need fair and accurate representation from those directly involved.

I have high hopes for what you can accomplish as our new Secretary of Education, particularly under the Obama administration.

Thank you for your time.