Independent Viewing 2

Wating For "Superman"

Big "A" Arguement

Claim:

Good teachers are the key to improving a child's education. Good teachers should be rewarded based on their students's test score, and bad teachers should be fired (no more/limited tenure).

Outline:

Intro :

-America falling behind on education.

-Research done - What is the cause?

-Lots has been done (list some examples...) but it ultimately it comes down to something simple: good teachers.

Thesis: While it is true that good teachers are the key to providing a good education, they should not be rewarded or punished based on test scores

Body 1:

Better teachers are the key to improving the quality of the education a school can offer.

- They can cover more curriculum in the time given.

- They get the students involved in more ways than just book work.

- Each student has a better chance at succeeding.

- They increase literacy and test scores, upping the standards of the school and attracting more families to the district.

- They emphasize the importance of education to the students - avoids turning them off from school altogether.

- Teaching is more than book knowledge - teach study habits and instill ideas that will promote further education

- Important because their primary concern is the student.

Body 2 -

However, when teachers are evaluated based on their students' test scores, they can no longer perform/teach to their full capacity.

- They are forced to teach for the test, rather than to judge what topics are most important\

        - good example: ap classes - supposed to be involved college classes, now they are just classes that teach us how to take a test

- We say that teaching is more than test taking and book learning, but putting this system in place will just promote that - teachers care about students' educations, but their salary and carreer will take precedence in order to protect themselves and their schools

- the overall quality of the education will decrease

Body 3 -

Instead of offering incentives which would restric the teachers, it would be better to make all attempts to improve their skills.

- While it makes sense to offer bonuses and incentives for industrial workers, researchers, etc, it is not the same for teachers. It is okay for them to be evaluated, but not by student achievement via a national exam. That is like studying for the sat - you don't learn important math, only the bare minimum needed for the test

- start at the beginning - hire highly qualified teachers at a decent salary (rather than promising future raises)

- Give them tools, training, coaching, and experience so that they may improve