
The issue of how teachers should be evaluated is a very complex and controversial topic. Many people have strong opinions on it but if everyone works together, a solution can be reached. There are people that are for standardized testing being used to evaluate teachers but there are also people against it. The ones against it believe that judging a teacher based on test scores is not the best way and that it is too complex to base it on a score alone. The ones for it believe that it's a simple and proper way to judge a teacher. If a student does bad on a test, then the teacher must be to blame. This issue is very complex and cannot be taken lightly in the education field. I am interested in this research question because I am an Elementary Education major. That being said, I hope to one day become a teacher, so this issue will affect me personally. This research question didn't really affect my values a whole lot, but it requires me to think on a deeper level. I was feeling pretty strong towards one side of the issue but I can also see things from the other perspective, as well. I was a Teacher Cadet my senior year in high school so we talked a lot about this issue in that class. We discussed both sides of the argument and tried to think of reasonable solutions. I feel qualified to write about this because I want to be a teacher one day so it's relevant to me, I have some prior background knowledge on it and I am very capable of researching this issue and coming up with my own solution. 

There was an article in Wall Street Journal titled "Should Student Test Scores be Used to Evaluate Teachers?" This article presented both sides of the issue and had two different people discussing their opinions on each. One said tests should be used but a heavier focus on "gains in tests rather than end of year tests" (Kane). The other said they should not be used because "teaching is too complex" (Darling-Hammond). The major values and interests at stake for the article are whether or not a teacher should be judged based on a student's ability to take a test. Some say it's not fair to because a student may not be a good test taker, for example. Or the student may have issues at home they are dealing with that could affect how they do on their test. Lastly, the credibility of the authors and source is very reliable. Both of the authors are professors of education of some sort. Also, they show some bias because they've been working in this field for many years so they are probably swayed one way or the other. The article is still very informative and reliable. 

Another article that discusses this issue is found in the Los Angeles Times. This article is titled "Standardized Tests Don't Help Us Evaluate Teachers." This article's central claim is basically what the title says, standardized tests are not an effective way to evaluate teachers. The evidence to back up this claim is found through looking at SAT and ACT scores and comparing them to drop-out rates. Also, it states how a student's achievements cannot be attributed to only one teacher. That student may have pulled knowledge from a variety of teachers so solely judging one teacher based on what a student did just is not fair. The major values and interests at stake for this article is the fact that the author feels very strongly about standardized testing not being used to evaluate teachers. He feels that is unfair and that there are many other ways to evaluate teachers and using test scores alone isn't good enough. This author, Harold Kwalwasser, is credible because he has written a book about remaking America's schools for the 21st century. He has a lot of knowledge on this topic and his opinion is backed up with facts and prior knowledge he gained through his research. He shows bias because this article is argumentative so he is definitely showing bias towards tests not being used to evaluate teachers. However, he stays focused on his main point and really drives that point home.

Lastly, an article that pertains to this issue at hand is found on a website called American RadioWorks. The main claim in this article is that teaching is too complicated to judge the teacher by test scores alone. The author gives three main reasons why she believes this and backs each one up with evidence (i.e. studies done in classrooms, studies done in different states and cities, debates on this issue, etc). The major values and interests at stake for this article are mainly how the author feels very against testing being used to evaluate teachers. The author states that is not the right and ethical way to do it and that many issues could come up if that is the route schools take to evaluate their teachers. This author, Emily Hanford, is credible because she has many degrees and has worked on several big projects throughout her career which required intensive research. She knows a lot about this topic and comes across knowledgeable and reliable to her audience. She is a little biased since this article presents only one side of the coin. However, she does a great job of using ethos to not attack her audience and she comes across opinionated but wise.

This research question is arguable because the people that it affects directly, feel differently about it and have their own opinions on it which makes it very controversial. Among the sources I found, two of the three articles agreed that standardized testing should not be used for evaluating teachers but one author believes it should. The authors agree that standardized testing is a complex way to evaluate teachers. However, they disagree on whether or not test scores should be the only thing a teacher is judged by. The different perspectives of the sources definitely sway my opinion to lean more towards testing not being used to evaluate teachers. However, there is much more in depth research to do before my mind is made up.

