Now teachers’ unions want to be laugh at? They object so much to bubble sheets, but used another form of a bubble sheet for the students called a rubrics evaluation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubric_(academic)

However, please note there is the rubrics evaluation for teachers, and it is laughable that the teachers object to the rubrics evaluation, when the teachers used them all the time for students. Using rubrics to evaluate students’ work is all the rage in today’s schools. Not like the good old days, when students had their essays returned to them, with all kinds of circles, underlines, and constructive criticism showing how students can improved upon the next piece of writing. I never heard any student complained about it, because in the end it was useful to the student.

Now in the 21st century, the essay is left blank and the student has a rubric sheet filled with scores that does not tell the student where they went wrong, and how to improved their writing. The scores becomes meaningless to them. My youngest and her classmates of higher achievers decided to take a stand against the rubric sheet. All were willing to get suspended over rubric evaluations. They won at the end of day, because rubric sheets does not tell the students where they erred in spelling, grammar and run-off sentences. Nor does it tell students if their thinking was correct. After all, quite a few of the high achievers who possessed excellent writing skills were receiving Cs, and than the students started to share their concerns with one another.

I must say, that the students’ parents were not gun-ho over rubrics evaluation even if their children received an A. Parents have no way of knowing either, where their children can improve and where they went wrong. In most of the literature published about rubrics, apparently students and parents alike love the rubrics evaluation. At TeachersFirst - “Rubrics encourage students to think about their own thinking and possibly about their own criteria for what is “good.”: to analyze their own work and process to see how it matches up with the standard explained in the rubric. By using rubrics, teachers give students experience in their higher-level thinking processes.

Parents appreciate the use of rubrics because they allow teachers to justify why a certain grade was assigned to his/her child. Rubrics are easy to understand at a quick glance. They provide parents with a digestible, concise, and well-structured assessment. Parents appreciate the detailed feedback that a rubric provides.”
http://www.teachersfirst.com/lessons/rubrics/why-use-rubrics.cfm

Really rich when subjective evaluation of the rubrics method is imposed upon the teachers. They too have no way of knowing why they received a B +, and in the same way as a student who have no way of knowing how to improved and where they went wrong to improve upon the next piece of writing.

Constructive criticism anyone?  Such an old method that does wonders to help students to improve upon their writing. The accepted policy in the 21st century schools of the constructivist classroom are to have students go to the teacher to explain where they went wrong. I doubt many students with lower scores are about to put themselves in that position for obvious reasons, but more importantly the teacher really doesn’t have that kind of time because they need to reread the essay, and show the student where they went wrong in their writing. My youngest and her classmates harp on that big time because if done properly in the first place, showing the circles, underlines and constructive criticism on the essay, then the students have the information to improved themselves. When I was in high school, I had a couple of D minus on papers where it was not the writing style at issue, but the biases of the teachers who did not like my arguments.  Both papers went up to a B + and an A. Both papers were deem valid arguments academically speaking.

I’m glad to see how mature teachers behave nowadays.  Great role models teachers are! 

Teachers have zero respect for standardized tests in evaluations.They are a joke. Totally unprofessional debunked many times. Teachers are looking forward to a court case where a teacher is fired due to low scores so they can prove they Are a joke.

So far every time teachers threaten a law suit a “settlement is reached” where the teacher is retained.

I wonder if Doug felt the tremors beneath his feet today?  The teachers’ unions of the US lost a key court case that will also have legal implications in Canada. Thanks to Karin, this headline appeared in my e-mail box - ” Historic Victory for Students in Vergara v. California
Court Strikes Down Five Provisions Of The California Education Code As Unconstitutional, Trial Court: “The Evidence is Compelling. Indeed, it Shocks the Conscience.”,
Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2014/06/10/6044494/historic-victory-for-students.html#storylink=cpy

In the New York Times - April, 2014 - http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/17/education/competing-views-of-teacher-tenure-are-on-display-in-california-case.html?hpw&rref=us&_r=2

It is just breaking, and cannot provide responses from the California teachers’ unions. However here are the plaintiffs - http://studentsmatter.org/victory/

I can predict a new onslaught of lawsuits directly aimed at the K to 12 education system dealing with SE children and their education. I bet the teachers’ evaluations of merit will go down easier for the teachers’ unions.