New York State Regent Exams to Evaluate Teachers

When I was in middle and high school, I remember coming home and saying to my parents, "it's not my fault I'm not doing well in that class.  The teacher stinks and so does their teaching!" But my Mom always told me that I needed to work harder at doing better with that subject and was just a different teaching style that I needed to get use to.  This of course just pissed me off.  Don't get me wrong -- I think most teachers do a great job prepping students for college and life.  However, like any bushel of apples, there are always a few bad ones in the bunch.

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A vote went down yesterday by the state Board of Regents and with a 13-to-3 approval, teachers will now be evaluated based on how their students do on the regents exam for that course.  Where was this when I was in school?  Again, I'm not trying to direct any blame here, but not every teacher can be as great, just like you can't be good at everything.  Granted if you went to school and chose an occupation to enter into, you should have some sort of talent in that field, but not everyone makes the right choice.  In addition, not everyone student is going to click with every teacher.  And going back to my apple analogy, not every apple is the same.  Some taste better than others just like some look better than others.  Some even make better apple pies than others.  So not every teacher will click with every student.

This new evaluation system will based on the majority of test scores.  So just because one student or ten percent of the class flunk or do poorly on the exam, doesn't mean it reflects the teacher's performance, but say 50-percent or more do terrible, the evaluation of that teacher will be influenced.

The evaluations will be used in regards to the promotion of a teacher, their tenure or even possible termination of their employment.  While originally the implemenation of this new evaluation system was planned for the 2011-2012 school year, it won't be instilled until this coming September, according to the Times Union.

What do you think of teachers being evaluated by a Regents exam?  Do you think it's a good idea or should we leave teachers alone?