Comments on: NewsHour with Jim Leher: Michelle Rhee

By: Caroline

Caroline — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:00:59 +0000

I found your blog on Twitter – really appreciate your insights into this and other ed issues. I think effective teachers are key to the solution, but so are effective schools (leadership, collaboration, and facilities/resources).

By: Mary

Mary — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 01:30:14 +0000

I know the school featured on PBS. Discipline is in a shambles and grades have already been manipulated.

It’s a scam.

By: heather

heather — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 17:04:54 +0000

I couldn’t agree more, Gail. It’s like there’s this marketing team behind her that has decided she’s the face of “tough education” as if the rest of us have never really taken success seriously enough. But I also think it would benefit our profession if we as teachers took a look at ourselves and our staffs more honestly. There are those teachers who need to improve their level of effectiveness, and if they can’t, they shouldn’t be in this profession. If more teachers (and our union) stood up and demanded a certain level of professionalism from our colleagues, the press and the civilian corps wouldn’t think there was a need to bring in such a pugilist. But, frankly, it’s surprising that more people, even those outside of education, can’t see the ridiculousness and unfairness that is evaluation based on test scores. (note my confused shaking of the head)
Thanks for your comment.
-Heather
aka Tweenteacher

By: Gail Ritchie

Gail Ritchie — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 03:10:22 +0000

I think that Michelle Rhee is too combative to be successful at reforming DCPS. She has alienated the linchpin of school change–the teachers. She would do well to reflect on Rumi’s words: Out beyond the ideas of wrong doing and right doing there is a field; I’ll meet you there. Or the more prosaic: You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. I also wonder about how she’ll measure teacher quality for the purposes of retention and bonus pay. Teaching and learning are too complex to be judged by a single measure such as student test scores.

By: Mike Albert

Mike Albert — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:03:56 +0000

One of the things that typically happen is that we look at a successful school and say, “That school has block scheduling (or SSR, or red and purple uniforms), and their test scores rose, so let’s ……..” What people like Chancellor Rhee need to look at is how block scheduling is complemented by the SSR which is complemented by the purple and red uniforms.
Unless the entire package that creates an environment within the community is recreated, the success won’t be recreated. Of course, there is no one combination or idea that works, but there is no one thing that works in isolation.

By: David Cohen

David Cohen — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:15:22 +0000

And if Rhee is unsuccessful, do you think she’ll take any blame, the way unsuccessful teachers are supposed to? Good people rise above their circumstances, after all. If test scores aren’t up 10% per year system wide, shouldn’t she be fired? How long does she get? What’s the grace period?

Or, will the same “problem teachers”, and their unions, be blamed if Rhee can’t make progress? What I’ve seen and read of her approach suggests that there’s always someone to blame for every problem, and none of the problems will ever be traced back to her.