Saturday 11 July 2009

Saturday’s exam question [updated]

Compare and contrast these two comments.

1. "If you're not measuring it you can't improve it." – Wayne Fortun, CEO of Hutchinson Technology Incorporated.

2. American teacher union the NEA is effective "not because we care about children [but] because we have power." – NEA chairman Bob Chapin

Discuss with reference to local teacher unions’ vehement opposition to publishing students’ test performances.

UPDATE: In this morning’s Herald Deborah Coddington says, “It’s about time parents formed a union equally as militant as the teachers’ unions and Principals’ Federation. Because who, in the current war over national standards in education, is sticking up for the kids?”

    The education unions whine that if these standards proceed, media will publish them, parents will compare teachers and schools, and do what I and hundreds of other parents do - exercise choice. Well, we can’t have that, can we?
    We’re trusted to choose our family doctor, our car, our fridge, our house, our MP, but when it comes to choosing the school our children go to, if the left have their way, we must go where the State dictates. Only those who can afford it are lucky enough to choose.

3 comments:

Lucy said...

You cant manage what you dont measure. Peter Drucker

God is not Great said...

The so called God notion is immeasurable. There is no way to measure or conduct an experiment to prove it exists, therefore it can't be proved. In other words, the God concept must be dismissed, no ifs no buts.

Shane Pleasance said...

Hmm perhaps something for Libz regional coordinators to pick up? I would be happy to facilitate here in Invercargill. Perhaps it could have a centrally supported IT component?