Since the Chicago teacher's strike has been in the news, and people have been talking about teaching, I thought I would add my two cents, from the point of view of a teacher at a for-profit professional college.
It seems as though people are looking for an easy way to say, "This student is learning," or "This teacher isn't doing a good job." They hope that a standardized test can answer those questions clearly and objectively. If a student does better on a test, then she is learning; if a teacher's students consistently score low on those tests, then he should be dismissed. But I just don't think it can realistically work that way.
There are many ways to test students, and each student will respond differently to different testing methods. Some overthink their way through multiple choice, others panic and can't recall information they know when faced with a short answer or essay. Some students express themselves easily in writing, and others struggle to put their thoughts into words. So no single, "objective" test that only uses a small set of testing methods can capture all the knowledge that a child, or adult, has understood and absorbed.
On the other hand, I don't think a single metric can objectively decide whether a teacher is effective. Could you take a test that would determine whether or not you were a good parent? Sure, some behaviors like abuse clearly fall into the "bad" category. But what single behavior guarantees that you are "good"?
I have always taught in a college environment, not in primary schools, so the evaluation methods have been pretty standard. Look at students' grades to see if a reasonable number are passing, sit in on classes in order to evaluate a teacher's methods in class, and ask students for feedback. While these three measures can give you an feel for the situation, if you rely on any single measurement by itself, the information you get could misrepresent the instructor's abilities.
First, if students have not been adequately prepared in prerequisite classes, then failure rates might not be an accurate representation of the teacher's skills. On the other hand, if the instructor lowers his or her standards, students may pass easily without learning much.
Class evaluations can be inaccurate as well, especially if you are sampling only a portion of a class period. A teacher may have touched on all the necessary elements of a class, but the observer misses some by only seeing a small window. Or, conversely, knowing that the observer is present may cause the teacher to change her accustomed methods in order to make a better impression during observation.
Asking students for feedback is, I think, fairly effective over a large sample. But in any given class, the sample is too small. Students who are better prepared coming in, who are more interested in the subject, who are more motivated, and therefore who are likely getting the best grades, are most likely to give positive feedback. Students on the other end of these scales, who do not take personal responsibility for their actions, and therefore are likely getting low grades, are much more likely to be negative. I know that reading my student feedback as a TA felt like I was facing someone with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder; the messages would often literally alternate, "She sucked!" "She was always really helpful." "She had no idea what she was doing," "I wouldn't have passed the class without her!"
In my particular niche of the educational world, the above three assessment tools are used on instructors, but one trumps them all: the attrition rate. Teachers who lose a certain percentage of students in a given time period are in big trouble when it comes to holding on to their jobs. And it doesn't matter if the student dropped only one teacher's class, or dropped out of school completely. It doesn't matter why they say they dropped. It doesn't matter if they dropped week 3 or week 10; all that matters is that they are gone.
Yes, I am dealing with a high attrition rate right now at my school. I have been counselled by my supervisors, and have had to come up with a plan to address these rates. My supervisors think that I am a good teacher, and always give me positive feedback on my classroom assessments. I get positive feedback from the students in my classes, and the majority of my students pass. But in the eyes of the corporate office, I am a problem instructor.
Sometimes there is absolutely nothing I can do to convince a student to stay in my class. I have had students without health insurance who lose access to the medications that maintain their mental health. I have had students who struggle with homelessness and drug abuse. Students who are told they must choose between school and their jobs. Students who can't afford childcare. Students who need to leave school to care for an ailing spouse or relative. Students who change programs mid-term and no longer need to take my class. My teaching skills have absolutely no effect on those decisions.
Students tell me again and again that they want to take a second class from me, that they in fact specifically ask to be in my class again because they like my teaching style. Even students who have failed or dropped my class will ask to take it from me again! This has happened to me multiple times. To me, that is a better measure of my abilities as a teacher than my attrition rate. But I guess I shouldn't encourage it, because if the same problem, or even a new one, gets in the way of that student continuing in my class the next time around, then she counts against me twice. I am put in a position where it is in my best interest to either talk students out of being in my class during the drop period, or trying to convince them to stay, even when they clearly have personal problems that will prevent them from learning the material and passing the class. That feels more like a "bad teacher" than the alternative.
So here is the bottom line: no one measurement is going to tell you whether or not a teacher is doing a good job, or if a student is learning. That's why there are so many ways to assess students' and teachers' skills. If we use a number of them with care over time, eventually we should be able to figure it out. But just like anything else in school, you are going to need to work hard to make sure you understand what is really going on.
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