With dismay the headlines read teachers in Hamilton County Schools are not as good as those in Memphis, Nashville, etc. I would be most interested to know the criteria used to judge teachers based on what factors?
Let me share that the same qualified teacher teaching in one of the inner city schools versus the teacher teaching in the more affluent schools have entirely different roles and expectations skewed toward good progress versus minimal. Let me explain.
A five-year-old, black or brown, that lives in a project has education failures even before he begins his schooling. Mother does not read to him at home. Mom does not know how to be her child's first teacher because she, too, had a poor educational experience. So far behind is he that catching up is measured in months, not years as would be the measurement of the same five-year-old in a different environment.
The five-year-old from the affluent environment is likely to have a mom and dad. Both parents read, discuss and enable this young child to absorb words. His family has been adequately educated and respect and appreciate the schools thus supporting both educational efforts at home and at school. This five-year-old, with a vocabulary five times more then his counterpart in the inner city makes great progress . The child in the inner city school makes progress but never "catches" up.
Tell me, which teacher is better?
Robert Brooks