Easy as pi?
.
I came across a mathematical formula on Twitter this morning, and had to write a little about it. I have (along with many other people who listen to talk-back or read comments on news websites) heard mumblings that we should pay teachers according to results, much like a business model. ”It is easy, just set a standard or formular, then use this to pay the good teachers and get rid of the bad ones,” is a call one sometimes hears or reads.
On the surface this may make sense, but this surface is thinner than the thinnest wafer thin skin on an invisible man. Schools are not like factories, you can’t put a student on a conveyer belt, pour in the resources, which then results in a consistent product. There are just too many variables, but some clever clogs in the USA has given it a crack.
As you can see this would be easy to implement into schools and would quickly get rid of the teachers who were not performing and reward those who are (tongue firmly in cheek). It is of real concern that this is being used in schools, and reading this article, shows how serious the results can be. I thank my lucky stars (and those of our children) that NZ has not gone down this path, and I hope to heaven that we don’t.
Clustrmaps
