The Basis Of Student Performance Measures

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

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In the film, Waiting for Superman, Davis Guggenhim accuses teachers unions of preventing education reform that would reward good teachers and remove poorly performing teachers. Guggenheim believes the majority of public schools teachers are incompetent and retain their position with the public school system solely because of their status of tenure. The teachers’ union then protects the teacher, prohibiting the school from firing the teacher or placing them under disciplinary action because of poor job performance. This argument indicates that successfully removing the teachers union from the public school system would create an environment in the public schools system where there is teacher accountability based on student performance. This would enable all students to succeed in the public school system. However, this film fails to mention the good teachers in the public school system that work hard every day to meet the needs of their students. The film ignores the value in assisting underperforming teachers to perform their job successfully, something that the Executive Director of the National Education Association, John Wilson, promotes. Rick Ayers adds to this, claiming the movie "vilifies" public school teachers and unions. Because of this, the inquiry focus of this paper is why the film Waiting for Superman uses the experience of students in inner-city schools to claim that the public school system breeds poor teachers, and that only charter schools foster excellent teaching and education. Students in inner city schools typically have the lowest rates of graduation. A CBS News Article claims, "About half of the students served by public school systems in the nation's largest cities receive diplomas" ("Big Cities Battle Dismal Graduation Rates"). Charter school advocates claim eliminating the tenure system, resulting in the removal of ineffective teachers, would improve the achievement levels of students in inner city schools. Charter schools do not have the influence of the teachers union or the tenure system, making them advantageous for inner city schools according to advocates. Upon reviewing research, however, one discovers that Waiting for Superman intentionally mislead viewers into thinking charter schools are the answer to decreasing standards in public education. The education accountability movement has created films like Waiting for Superman, suggesting charter schools will fix union problems in education; however, these movements have used misleading information that is contradicted by research on charter and public schools, suggesting successful evidence-based reform efforts are still needed in education.

The accountability movement in education began as an effort to improve student achievement in the public schools. Figlio and Loeb call school accountability "the process of evaluating school performance on the basis of student performance measures," particularly in inner city schools (384). Education stakeholders wanted to improve the learning of children within the public school system, so they decided to bring accountability to the public schools. If teachers could not bring student achievement scores on standardized tests up to a desired level, administrators brought disciplinary action onto teachers. An additional portion to the accountability movement is school choice. School choice gives "families an opportunity to choose the school their children should attend" ("School Choice Movement Law & Legal Definition). Charter schools grew out of school choice. Advocates for charter schools claim "providing families with greater choice of schools with greater flexibility of operation will create better matches between educational needs and school services while at the same time promoting healthy competition for the enrollment (and per pupil funding) of students" (Toma and Zimmer, 209). However, the establishment of charter schools has created a negative environment within education where there is continual victimization of teachers. The film Waiting for Superman claims teachers unions in public schools prevent education reform. Charter schools do not have the regulatory influence of the teachers union, prohibiting tenure and only allowing effective teachers to keep their job. However, research shows that charter schools are not an effective solution to the problems facing education today. Having all students in charter schools will not increase student achievement, contrary to the claims of Waiting for Superman. In reality, charter schools present an equal number of problems as public schools.

Proponents claim effective teaching only takes place in charter schools. The public school system has too much focus on tenure and the teachers’ unions, and the absence of teachers unions in charter schools leads to increased student performance. However, Stuit and Smith find that the majority of teachers in charter schools are inexperienced. Many teachers in these schools have less than three years of working experience. Some teachers were even uncertified, lacking a state certificate to teach. Still, other teachers worked part-time, indicating the highest rates of job exodus. However, there is a high turnover rate in all of these teachers. The lack of teachers unions was the single greatest predictor of this occurrence in charter schools. Possible reasons for this include the streamlining of the removal process for underperforming teachers, and teachers leaving these schools because of a lack of job security. Teachers may wish to have the safety net provided with tenure status. While the levels of monetary satisfaction were similar for charter school and public school teachers, salary and benefits were a larger reason for turnover in charter schools than in public schools. Teachers in charter schools were three times more likely to leave their job because of working conditions. According to statistics, charter schools may lose "one in four teachers every year" (278). This makes instruction difficult there are continual disrupts in instruction throughout the school year. Conditions such as larger class sizes and inexperienced teachers may contribute to this high turnover rate. Bess Keller cites similar findings in Teacher Quality. She finds there is a high resignation rate of teachers in urban and high needs schools, and that veteran teachers choose to work at suburban schools. The majority of teachers at urban schools are young and inexperienced. From this evidence, the reader can assume that much of teaching in charter schools is ineffective.

Not only are there severe implications for teachers working in charter schools, but there are noticeable differences for student performance. According to Imberman, students in the elementary grade levels have diminished scores in math and language arts compared to their peers in the public schools. This pattern does not occur in middle or high schools. Charter schools also have an impact on students in public schools. When parents move their children to public schools, there is a cut in funding in public schools because the number of pupils enrolled in a school determines funding. Somehow, the finances of the school must balance, creating cuts in student services in public schools. Some of these areas affected include "extra tutoring, counseling or school maintenance" (862). Other consequences include a decrease in student and teacher morale, which may diminish student achievement in the public schools. Elementary schools particularly reflect this, possibly because the funding for elementary schools is less flexible than in middle or high schools. High schools can cut programs such as art, band, drama, clubs, etc. There are not very many programs like this in elementary schools. Charter schools seem to have a negative impact on students in students within both charter and public school institutions.

Suit and Smith have found interesting effects relating to establishment differences in charter schools. There are many effects resulting from the lack of a regulatory agency in charter schools. Administrators can "streamline the process of dismissing low-performing teachers" within the school, since the teachers union has no presence in these schools, and teachers cannot achieve a tenured status (274). This promotes accountability in the charter schools because administrators remove teachers if their students’ academic achievement is not up to a high standard. It would seem that this effect is exactly what the advocates of education accountability desire: an easy way to remove teachers that are not performing at a satisfactory level. However, there is a large downside to this process: teachers in charter schools quickly move to a public school teaching position to acquire the job security given by the teachers union. This helps explain the high exodus rate of teachers from the charter school system. It would seem as if the effort in providing accountability to increase student achievement actually hinders student performance. Students would find it very difficult to adjust to a school climate where there teachers are continuously seeking other jobs with protection. This would increase pupil stress levels and decrease their academic achievement. It would seem as if a regulatory agency actually helps students in academic achievement, contrary to claims of education activists.

Imberman reports further establishment differences. According to his research, charter schools create "significant drops in disciplinary infractions in middle and high school public school students of two-tenths of an infraction per year" (851). This implies that student behavior is better in charter schools, which requires less behavioral consequences for inappropriate actions. However, Imberman is unclear as to whether this involves a difference in behavior or merely changes in school rule enforcement between public and charter schools. Within this context, it could be suggested that students in charter schools are allowed to behave negatively more frequently in the charter schools. However, researchers need more research to discern whether this is true and due to a difference in the school system.

The school reform movement has led to considerable controversy over how best to improve the achievement of youth in academic achievement. Documentaries such as Waiting for Superman place the blame solely on the teachers union, claiming that the tenure status of teachers prevents low performing schools, such as those in inner cities, from removing teachers that have been teaching too long, or are underperforming. Their answer for how to improve education is to push education towards the charter school system. Their reasoning is, because the teachers union has no regulatory effect in charter schools, administrators can easily remove teachers that are not successively teaching their students the skills they need to succeed in the job force today. These solutions claim that that charter schools are somehow better than public schools. However, this assertion is misleading, as the research conducted on the benefits of charter schools versus public schools indicates that going to a charter school can actually hinder school performance. Many of the teachers in the charter school system are inexperienced, having taught less than three years, or not having the certification to teach. The class sizes in charter schools are larger. Students in the elementary grades at charter schools had lower achievement scores in math and language arts than students in public schools. There are many other issues with charter schools; however, the indication is that the promotion of charter schools is not a viable option to reform education. The lack of a teachers union seems to hinder the performance of teachers in charter schools, contrary to the claims of documentaries such as Waiting for Superman. If education reformers wish to resolve the problems facing education today, they need to focus on other solutions besides blaming teachers unions and advocating for charter schools. Reformers need to find evidence-based solutions that can be effective in improving both teacher performance and student achievement. Only then can America’s education system be one in which the students master the proficiencies needed to excel in the world of tomorrow.