Michelle Rhee: Different Aspects Of The Public Education System

Neila Espin Pd. 4 - Education Reform Essay

After viewing The Education of Michelle Rhee, I started to think about how different aspects of the public education system could impact the effectiveness of that system. My first thoughts on Michelle’s plans to reform education in the Washington D.C. school district were optimistic. I thought that she had some breakthrough ideas that would really turn the schools around in time. Firing incompetent teachers and principals seemed like an extremely effective plan. But, with teachers becoming scared of being terminated and Rhee offering cash prizes to high scoring schools, staff started resulting to any means to raise their test scores. Some schools did raise their scores honestly and managed to
In my career as a student I have come across some teachers who were awful at their job. These teachers could not keep control of their class or they just didn’t have effective methods of teaching. Though I have had some bad experiences with my teachers in the past, I have had many more teachers who really cared about their students and did an amazing job at making their course enjoyable as well as educational. I don’t think it’s fair that students have to be lucky enough to have great teachers. Amazing teachers should be guaranteed to all students. The only way to fulfill this guarantee is to carry out proper teacher evaluation. Michelle Rhee’s method had to do with student test scores. In Geoffrey Canada’s article on teacher accountability, he writes that at his schools, teachers are evaluated through performance data of students. He also uses student progress as an evaluation tool and that he keeps an eye on the dedication of staff to their students. I believe this method is more effective for it shows if a teacher is educating their students rather than just preparing them for the big standardized
In general, many people don’t expect minority or low income kids to succeed in school. Expectations for these students are set much lower. In Spellings’ article she writes: “Washington D.C., along with the majority of the 34 other states that have received waivers from NCLB from the Obama Administration, are now setting very different goals for students depending on the color of students’ skin. The Washington Post recently looked at some of the new performance targets in DCPS. At Anacostia High School, featured in this very FRONTLINE documentary, educators aim to get 6 in 10 students proficient in reading by 2017. Across town at the School without Walls magnet school the goal is 99.6 percent proficiency. Expectations are very explicitly lower for poor and minority kids in DCPS.” I believe even with NCLB these equal expectations are not being achieved. This mindset could cause teachers of these students to lose faith in their students, teach them at a lower level, and teach in preparation of the standardized