Posts Tagged Chicago Teachers Strike

Chicago Teachers, Eisenhower, and Lincoln

On September 18, 2012 / Learning

President Dwight David Eisenhower (34^th USA President, 1953- 1961) believed in The Declaration of Independence’s ideal that every person has the inalienable right to pursue happiness. He tried, with much success, to create a climate during his presidential years in which Americans could fully exercise that right.

He kept the peace managing a number of crises where his advisors and critics insisted on some military action. He managed each one without overreacting, without going to war, without increasing defense spending, and without frightening the public. During Eisenhower’s administration, the U.S.A never lost a soldier or a foot of ground.

If the criterion for success as a great president would be keeping the United States out of war, he would … >>>

Chicago Teachers Strike and Standardized Tests

On September 12, 2012 / Effectiveness, Learning

Both the media and the critics of the current Chicago teachers strike are paying little attention to the primary reason that the teachers are not in their classrooms: Recent legislation passed by the Illinois legislature requires that scores from standardized tests be used for teacher accountability and performance.

To someone not in the education field, this mandate may seem reasonable. However, most people don’t realize that standardized tests were never designed to measure learning. Standardized tests were designed so that half of the test takers will fall below the 50 percent line. If 50 percent of students “fail” by design, how can these types of tests be justified for teacher accountability? Under this ruling, teachers will be judged and evaluated … >>>