The "Lost Teacher Jobs" Myth
The AFT blog links to a song that's apparently going around via email these days (Not on the Test) and then pretty much simultaneously debunks and scaremongers about the idea that teachers' jobs might depend on student test scores: "Thankfully, for the most part, and for now, this is not really true. Teachers are not yet losing their jobs because of students’ poor test performance. But it is a frightening concept. A teacher’s career and livelihood could depend upon the performance of a bunch of eight-year olds. Think about any eight year-old that you know. Even the best kid is probably a spaz."
Funny, yes, but it's easy to read this and end up thinking that teachers are losing their jobs over kids' test scores. They're not.
