When asked whether part of teachers’ pay should be ‘based on how much their students learn,’ 48 percent of the public express support and 36 percent are opposed...Among teachers, however, just 22 percent favor merit pay as 73 percent are against it.It makes sense that nearly half of Americans believe that teachers should be held accountable for student learning. That, after all, is our job, to educate. It is a car salesperson’s job to sell cars. If they can’t sell cars, they will likely be fired. It is an architect’s job to construct a building that won’t collapse. If it falls, the architect will likely not be hired again. But for some reason, many of us teachers have internalized the notion that we ought not be held accountable for the very thing we have been hired to accomplish; accelerating the academic achievement of our students. I agree with many reasons for teachers mistrusting performance-based metrics, and there are certainly best practices for establishing such metrics. But for nearly three quarters of us to argue that we should not be held accountable for student learning is, quite frankly, embarrassing. We are professionals charged with among the most important tasks in the country, that of educating the next generation of Americans. It is a task that cannot be left to chance or guesswork. We need our performance tied to our student outcomes. Otherwise, what’s the point?
When Americans were asked what was more important for a child’s academic learning, “39 percent point to the home while 31 percent give the nod to the school and another 31 percent say they are of equal importance...Teachers, meanwhile, are much more likely to say the home is more important for academic learning than the school. Nearly half of teachers, 47 percent, choose the home and just 18 percent opt for the school.I feel a general agreement with the roughly equitable distribution of responsibility for a child’s education between school and home. That seems to make sense. But teachers, what are we thinking here? Not even 1 out of 5 of us think schools bear the burden of shouldering the responsibility for a child’s education? Does home matter? Of course! Does creating working partnerships with families matter? Of course! Are there systemic issues outside of school that need to be addressed? Absolutely! But there is nothing, nothing, more impactful for a student’s educational experience than what happens within the halls and classrooms of the school building. For us as educators to assert otherwise is simply an exercise in deflection.
Zachary Wright is an assistant professor of practice at Relay Graduate School of Education, serving Philadelphia and Camden, and a communications activist at Education Post. Prior, he was the twelfth-grade world literature and Advanced Placement literature teacher at Mastery Charter School's Shoemaker Campus, where he taught students for eight years—including the school's first eight graduating classes. Wright was a national finalist for the 2018 U.S. Department of Education's School Ambassador Fellowship, and he was named Philadelphia's Outstanding Teacher of the Year in 2013. During his more than 10 years in Philadelphia classrooms, Wright created a relationship between Philadelphia's Mastery Schools and the University of Vermont that led to the granting of near-full-ride college scholarships for underrepresented students. And he participated in the fight for equitable education funding by testifying before Philadelphia's Board of Education and in the Pennsylvania State Capitol rotunda. Wright has been recruited by Facebook and Edutopia to speak on digital education. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, he organized demonstrations to close the digital divide. His writing has been published by The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia Citizen, Chalkbeat, Education Leadership, and numerous education blogs. Wright lives in Collingswood, New Jersey, with his wife and two sons. Read more about Wright's work and pick up a copy of his new book, " Dismantling A Broken System; Actions to Close the Equity, Justice, and Opportunity Gaps in American Education"—now available for pre-order!
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