Dalen had an interesting idea pertaining to educational reform. We were talking about how assessment is needed in order to inform our teaching practices.
We believe that the teachers, being closest to the students and more directly understanding what they need and how they have been taught, should have the power to write the assessments. They act as the legislative branch of education. They should write the material that students will be assessed on.
The district is the executive branch. They need to ensure that these tests are administered and that the data (whether quantitative or qualitative - the teachers should decide this) is used to inform teaching practices. Teachers need to be held accountable for their instruction, so if the students do not test well in an are, teachers should be required to reflect on why this may be (in some cases because of the students, and in some cases because of instruction). The teacher then should be required to try to improve their teaching in those areas where their instruction needs help, whether through a class, collaborating with a colleague whose students did well on that concept, research, or other means.
I'm not sure where the judicial branch fits into all of this.
Interesting and not too off in a crazy direction. However, for some reason it seems that teachers are not always the major players in the choices (as you have indicated). Why do you think this is the case? How can teachers take a more active role? What reforms need to take place so that they can actually do so?
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