Education Weekly #2

Research in schools has become a hotly tested subject among teachers and administrators. The reasoning for this is because data that has been recorded is confidential. In California and Arizona they are experiencing a situation where private data has been publicized by the papers. The research data was of state testing for the past seven years. Along with the test scores was the teachers code who taught the students. This is where the problem arises. The papers are questioning the teachers and their performance as instructors.

Teachers and administrators are fighting to have the information confidential and believe that by law they should be protected. The Vice president of Washington American Institutes for Research believes that the schools and teachers need to be more transparent. He believes that teachers do a job of service and should be held accountable for the service they are providing.

If research data is made public for teachers and administrators you could face problems having schools volunteering for research trials in their schools. This could affect government funding for schools along with the test makers ability to adapt to the students and their needs. You may run into people judging teachers strictly on performance in testing. This then limits the teachers on their ability to teach in a constructivist style. They will have to start conforming lessons to what will be on the test to improve test scores. This could lead to our students not receiving a well-rounded education.

I believe that research is very important to change in our schools but I think the information should be confidential. This allows for research results to be more accurate.