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I believe in "accountability" in education so I'm waiting for Gist and Gallo to resign. Shame on them for humiliating their students and teachers in front of the whole country.

The "stupid period" in American education culminated in the Central Falls fiasco but I believe it is waning now, especially as the media are catching on to the "lies, damned lies, and statistics." And let's not forget about the money. I'm willing to bet not a single Central Falls teacher saw one penny of the millions of dollars invested in the "turnaround." I hope someone is finding out where all the money went (test prep companies?).

This disaster will go down in history as an unfortunate effect of the Great Recession.

One more idea:

Here's an idea that has worked for excellent administrators all over the world. In my 42 years of teaching, I was privileged to work with three highly successful leaders. These people -

tried out new ideas in the classroom and then modeled these lessons for the faculty. They were also adept at making each teacher aware of his special talents and asking him to share with other teachers. This had the dual effect of building teacher morale and disseminating
effective teaching strategies.

What? You say that Gist and Gallo would rather "die" than teach a class at Central Falls? Well, who would have guessed!

I agree with the obversations of the author of this article. It is extremely hard to "reform" (as this term is related to the current wave of reform) a school for the betterment of the students and teachers when the government and/or school system is putting its teachers down. This is an extremely difficult and thankless job that so many of us take on with the expectation that we will be treated as professionals. However, it has become acceptable to treat educators like the dirt on the bottom of one's shoe. It is common for people to think that teachers are lazy, incompetent, and entitled. I can tell you that I can count on one hand how many times I have met a teacher that fits those requirements. It takes a special kind of person that is willing to go into education and accept the disrespect, long hours (many without pay) if a teacher comes in early or stays late, and low pay. I know that I made a conscious decision to go into teaching despite these facts and I was looking forward to making a difference. Too often factors such as little to no parental involvement, severe behavior problems, undiagnosed mental health issues, etc. go by without a thought from lawmakers. That teacher who is fighting all of these outside influences to reach that student is just a "bad teacher" if the test scores don't reflect what the government or district has deemed "meeting expectations." I think those that are in government or in a high position in education should be required to visit ALL types of schools and quite frequently in order to get an accurate picture of what we are doing in the classroom and the factors that we are up against on a daily basis. I hope teachers begin to gain more respect in the coming years and are treated like human beings or we are going to have a HUGE problem as a country retaining any worthwhile educators!

I agree with the above post. Simple, common respect will carry a teacher with the burden of 33 or more high need students day by day. In addition to that, however, is the need to review the curriculum for reading and math in a given school. Student performance will validate the retention of programs. Student failure will indicate the need for reconsideration of how they are being taught. That which does not work should not be continued. Students' zeal for learning is often crushed by curricula that fails to reach or inspire their mindset. Daily instruction needs to link up with the academic culture of the class. Some will learn the lyrics to rap and songs without effort, but will fall asleep on a teacher lecturing about contex clues. Add musical or rhythmic drills
to memorization of reading/grammar rules and watch the results. We must be creative and willing to come out of the box so many administrators have put us in. In the times we live in, whatever works, use it!

We have been labeled a "turnaround" school, and yet all of the changes which have been mandated to the teachers have come from upper administration with very little teacher input. We have a superintendent who has never taught in a public school classroom. We have other upper administrators who haven't been in a classroom in decades. Most of the mandates are only guesses to see if the students will respond claiming that this is the answer.

Why can't people see that it is the students who must achieve? There are fantastic teachers out there who bust their butts for the students and do whatever they can for the students. But if the students themselves (and parents) are not accountable for their achievement, no matter what the teachers do, the students will not achieve! I could be able to teach a dog to meow, and if Sally & Johnny do not care about their education, and they are not accountable for their education, then they will not achieve. Plain and simple.

Let's continue to make changes which affect only the teachers. Then let's continue watching the schools fail. Until we can place accountability on ALL (teachers, principals, superintendents, STUDENTS AND PARENTS), our schools will continue to fail.

I teach in a school that is really struggling. I just transferred to this high school to work with struggling readers. We need to make change in many areas to give the students a greater likelihood of success. I agree that all the stakeholders need to be accountable. I also believe that the teachers need to know what is expected of them. Then, and only then, can an administrator truly help teachers see their strengths and weaknesses. There is such a fear of approaching teachers who are not doing their job to the fullest because of our unions. That is not why they were created, but they are really protecting the wrong teachers sometimes. I also believe that administrators, education coaches, and peer teachers need to be freed up for more time in order to observe and discuss lessons and teaching techniques with each other. Collaboration is the key to success in so many fields, but in education, it seems to be OK to close your door and do what you please. That needs to change.

I agree with above post.......
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