Testing Teachers

http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/testing_teachers/index.html

 the site links go to transcipts

Testing Teachers

Teachers matter. A lot. Studies show that students with the best teachers learn three times as much as students with the worst teachers. Researchers say the achievement gap between poor children and their higher-income peers could disappear if poor kids got better teachers.

Politicians and education reformers are calling for big changes in how teachers are trained and evaluated – and in the way teachers are hired and fired too.

Students who get the best teachers learn more. Students who get the worst teachers fall behind.

Researchers don't know exactly what it is that makes effective teachers so good at what they do.

Some people say American schools need to hire better teachers. Others say teachers need better training and support.

Schools increasingly use test scores to sort teachers. Some experts challenge this approach.

Research suggests that poor schools need top-notch teachers the most.

What made your best teachers great, and what do you think should be done about teachers who are not good?

You can download the radio program, listen online, or read the transcript.

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Support for Testing Teachers comes from The Spencer Foundation and The Lumina Foundation for Education