In the wake of the school accountability movement, a growing divide seems to be developing between core and elective teachers. This is only exacerbated by decreased educational funding where schools have to make tough choices concerning which programs they intend to support.
Aside from the focused attention and emphasis that core disciplines are receiving due to state testing/accountability, the rift is also beginning to widen as core teachers feel that electives do not have the same pressures to perform. Many teachers note that there are no measures of growth in elective courses that are used to show achievement gains.
- Should elective courses develop the same sort of assessments to demonstrate growth even if the State and Feds are not interested in using them in accountability models?
- How to we encourage the relevance of elective coursework in the current state of accountability?
- How do we unite the staff in our schools if some teachers feel like they are under the microscope while others “get a pass” on accountability measures?
Category: Accountability, Assessment
Ken Griffith says:
Each elective instructor has a cohort of students they work with. If they are responsible for literacy and math for their cohort, they can/will engage in the effort. In many cases this can bring application to the skills students are gathering in their core courses.