Boston Parents Paper

Teacher

Above average students perform very well on the MCAS. Low students perform low. When looking at growth scores to evaluate teachers concerns me. I am a teacher. My high students have growth rates in the 90 %, while my lower students maybe grow 40%. Do all students grow and make progress? Of course they do, at their own rate. My concern with this process of evaulation is it will take away from children the most. Will parents back teacher's up and help their kid's with homework? Many times I assign homework and the student comes in the next day with notes from their parents excusing them why it couldn't be done. "We had football last night just couldn't find the time, or We went out for dinner and then shopping." My other concern are inner cities. Many students come to school not having had breakfast, not sleeping in a bed, not having even brushed their teeth or showered. Many don't even make it to school for a full week. How do you think their scores look? I think parents should also have an evaluation. Most parents that help their children and are having a partnership with the teacher have a successful child in school. It's the parents that do not support the teachers or assist their child at home that have difficulty.