SOCRATES FAILS TEACHER EVALUATION

by Heidi Hayes Jacobs        

www.curriculum21.com 

 

So, it came down to one day, one test, at the Acropolis as the young men of Athens took out their #2 chisels to answer 30 questions on stone tablets.   It is the annual timed test to prove the students’ knowledge and competence as they seek to become philosopher-kings.  This valued test is the ultimate prize  demonstrating not only the achievement of students, but also serves as the one key evaluation of the teacher.

 

Credit should be given to the test making company for developing multiple choice items with one correct answer given the challenging subject matter:  philosophy and governance.  Short answer constructed responses are a bit easier in those fields.  

 

The results were posted in the Agora for all to see  the quality and performance of their teacher.   Socrates failed.    He simply spent too much time asking them to think.   A walk- through evaluation by his supervisor (undisclosed), determined that “ sometimes Socrates’s  students meander through endless dialogues examining challenging questions that do not have one right answer.”    Hopefully, he will be replaced or perhaps go through an intensive summer professional development program in Sparta. 

  

       

 

Comments




  • I don't think anything could point out the paradox of complex ideas through multiple choice tests better than philosopher kings. Thanks so much for this. http://edtosavetheworld.wordpress.com
    Juliet_Mohnkern, 2 months ago | Flag
  • The fear tied to testing has gradually moved educators away from having students develop the lifelong skill of questioning the texts (and themselves) and push to answering the static questions on the tests. The act of questioning is a powerful skill indicating thinking, not producing a formulaic answe to produce a score.
    Yvonne_Scirpo, 8 months ago | Flag
  • The elephant concerns many educators and I appreciate your directness, David. Corporate "support" and "grants" in edu-initiatives are ubiquitous. Whoever the people are funding a specific teacher evaluation model or the test that is used to determine teacher effectiveness, obviously value or perhaps produce certain types of information and outcomes. It is a question to be raised about policy crafters, test-makers and grant underwriters. Are there ulterior motives? I mentioned in the follow up post below that ASCD is going to run a national webinar on the issues raised here on September 27th. Your point and post will be brought up in the webinar, in particular- your powerful last question.
    Heidi_Hayes_Jacobs, 1 year ago | Flag
  • The elephant concerns many educators and I appreciate your directness, David. Corporate "support" and "grants" in edu-initiatives are ubiquitous. Whoever the people are that fund a specific teacher evaluation model or the test that is used to determine teacher effectiveness, obviously values or perhaps produces certain types of information and outcomes. It is a question to be raised about policy crafters, test-makers and grant underwriters. Are there ulterior motives? I mentioned in the follow up post below that ASCD is going to run a national webinar on the issues raised here on September 27th. Your point and post will be brought up in the webinar, in particular- your powerful last question.
    Heidi_Hayes_Jacobs, 1 year ago | Flag
  • The elephant concerns many educators and I appreciate your directness, David. Corporate "support" and "grants" in edu-initiatives are ubiquitous. Who is funding teacher evaluations values certain types of information and outcomes? It is a question to be raised between test-makers and underwriters. I mentioned in the follow up post below that ASCD is going to run a national webinar on the issues raised here. Your point and post will be brought up squarely in the webinar, in particular- your powerful last question.
    Heidi_Hayes_Jacobs, 1 year ago | Flag

Inappropriate Flag

Flagging notifies the ASCD EDge webmaster of inappropriate content. Please flag any messages that violate the Terms of Service. Please include a short explanation why you're flagging this message. Thank you!

If you believe this content violates the Terms of Service, please write a short description why. Thank you.

Inappropriate Comment Flag

Flagging notifies the ASCD EDge webmaster of inappropriate content. Please flag any messages that violate the Terms of Service. Please include a short explanation why you're flagging this message. Thank you!

Email Friends

Your First Name (optional)

Email Addresses (comma separated)

Import friends

Message to Friends (optional)

Are you human?

Or, you can forward this blog with your own email application.

Terms of Service