Teachers play an incredibly important role in their students’ lives. From shaping students’ creativity to providing them with life skills, teachers can impact every aspect of a student’s life. This kind of responsibility is a big burden to put on one person’s shoulders, especially if that person has such an impact on kids’ lives. It’s important to keep teachers accountable for their actions to ensure a healthy and productive learning environment for students.
A teacher’s responsibility to their students is to create a safe environment where they can teach their students the required content. Heather Transue, Co-Head of the English Department at North Forsyth, elaborates on what she feels is her personal responsibility to her students: “I want them to feel like they can take risks with me and trust me.”
“I think it’s my responsibility to help them value original, creative thought over producing what they feel like someone wants,” she says in regards to what skills are important to teach. Every teacher has different values, but Transue points out that a teacher’s responsibility goes beyond just teaching content.
If a teacher doesn’t follow through, not only does it reflect their work ethic, but it is also a disservice to their students. Colin Kelley, a senior, adds, “without adequate lesson plans and knowledge of the subject matter, it becomes apparent the students aren’t set up for success.” Even on a more basic level, like the fundamental content a student needs to learn, some teachers fail to adequately understand their own content, which translates into misinformed students.
Transue compares the matter to other professions, “if a doctor messes up, they’re sued for malpractice and they don’t practice medicine.” The same concept should be applied to teachers, but the execution of accountability within schools is more difficult than you would think.
The Teacher Keys Effectiveness System, also known as TKES, is a state-wide method used to evaluate teachers. There are ten standards, and each teacher gets two observations and is judged on a four-point scale. Newer teachers get more observations because they don’t have as much experience. “The rating doesn’t really affect you, especially if you’ve been teaching for more than three years,” Transue points out.
On a more local scale, North’s Administrators use a School Improvement Plan, which is a yearly goal to evaluate teachers. For the past few years, North has focused on engagement. Scott Beard, an Administrator, explains, “we see how kids are engaged and actively participating in the learning process” in order to collect data.
Beard has both perspectives, as a current Administrator and former teacher. “We push our teachers to always build relationships and let kids know that they care about them,” he says about the most effective way to hold teachers accountable. Ultimately, students are a valuable tool to evaluate teachers because they have the most inside knowledge.
However, while teachers are responsible for the development of their students, kids are equally responsible for their own education. “If a teacher puts forth all they can for the student, it then becomes the job of the student to work and understand,” says Kelley. Forming a productive learning environment is a two-person job; both teachers and students must contribute.
“People have to work really hard to get fired in education,” adds Transue. Part of why it’s difficult to justify firing a teacher could be because there is a shortage of education workers. A student’s education should be a primary priority but unfortunately, evaluating teachers is ambiguous because teaching is subjective.
Teaching is difficult, but teachers hold a lot of responsibility for shaping their students’ lives. Since teachers dictate the learning environment teachers should be evaluated in order to be held accountable.
