Use the Web to Decide Teacher Bonuses

Kevin Maney muses: The tension keeps growing between the ability to use the Web to improve K-12 education and societal pressure NOT to do that. The latest example arrives in today's Washington Post. A page one story describes how the teachers' union is taking a giant step forward by allowing bonuses to be linked to test scores and evaluations written by supervisors. Which is a solution that might've been forward-thinking in, like, 1985. From the story:

Half of the bonus money is tied to scores on state tests given in third through eighth grades and in high school: Up to $2,500 is won when the school meets test score targets, and up to $2,500 is given for improving a given class's scores. The other half is given for teaching in hard-to-staff subjects ($1,500), doing well on an evaluation of classroom skills (up to $1,500), and engaging in professional development and activities outside the classroom (up to $2,000).

None of that is about actually rewarding a teacher for being good. Teaching just to get kids to do well on state standardized tests, for example, does not a good teacher make.

Haven't these people seen RateMyTeachers.com? You want to find out whether a teacher is actually getting to kids, that's where you go. It's a little iffy when you have fourth-graders rating a teacher, but by the time you get to middle school or high school ratings, from my experience they are quite accurate in the aggregate. Short of RateMyTeachers, why don't schools use the Web to ask parents AND students to evaluate teachers? Aren't they the real customers?

Maybe some Web company will create something like Glassdoor.com for schools. Then everyone could see what teachers think of the school they're working for. Wouldn't that be an eye-opener? Wouldn't that kind of transparency force improvements in schools?

Time and again, interested parties have tried to keep the Web at bay. Look at real estate agents, travel agents, stock brokerages, newspaper classifieds, record companies. It never works. Sooner or later, the Web will change the way teachers are paid, the way parents deal with teachers and schools, the way schools are evaluated. It can't come soon enough.