The Educational Roller Coaster Ride...
I want to change tack here and zero in on Indiana's educational system, but first, I wanted to post this "obit" for a local hero who has made the ultimate sacrifice for his country:
(( FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - A Fort Wayne soldier has been killed in action during operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Staff Sgt. Kevin Matthew Pape, 30, was assigned to Co. C, 1st Bn., 75th Ranger Regiment, at Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia.
Pape was killed by enemy forces while conducting combat operations in Konar Province, Afghanistan.
Pape was a 1998 graduate from Concordia Lutheran High School.
Pape's body will arrive back in the United States in Dover on Thursday. His funeral arrangements are still pending.
The following information was obtained from the United States Army Special Operations Command News Service:
"Staff Sgt. Kevin Pape had two priorities in his life – his family and the Rangers he led," said Col. Michael E. Kurilla, commander, 75th Ranger Regiment. "Kevin was literally the lead Ranger in a heavy firefight against a large number of Taliban in some of the most rugged and extreme terrain in Afghanistan. By the manner in which he lived his life, Staff Sgt. Pape defined sacrifice, dedicated, and selfless service."
Pape previously served on three deployments in Iraq, and this was his third deployment to Afghanistan.
Lt. Col. Mike Foster, commander of 1st Ranger Bn., 75th Ranger Regiment said, "He is a hero to his family, the 75th Ranger Regiment and the Nation."
Pape is survived by his wife Amelia Rose Pape, his daughter Anneka Sue both of Savannah, Georgia, and his father Marc Dennis Pape of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The United State Army Special Operations Command News Service also released the following biography for Staff Sgt. Kevin Pape:
Pape was born February 5, 1980 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army in September 2005 from his hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. He completed One Station Unit Training at Fort Benning, Georgia, as an infantryman.
Pape graduated from the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program and was then assigned to Co. C, 1st Bn., 75th Ranger Regiment in April 2006, where he served as a machine gunner, team leader and squad leader.
--His awards and decorations include the Ranger tab, the Expert Infantry Badge, the Combat Infantry Badge and the Parachutist Badge. He has also been awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Arrowhead, Iraq Campaign Medal with Arrowhead, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.
He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart and the Meritorious Service Medal. ))
Rest in peace, trooper...you're coming home.
*** And now..."The rest of the story" for today...
It would appear that teachers in Indiana need to be watching both hands of a lot more people these days.
And they definitely have seen their share of ups and downs.
Our educational boss paid a visit to the Summit City, and here's the skinny:

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20101118/LOCAL04/311189984
Okay, so I married into the educational system...the missus is a teacher, so even *I* have a vested interest in this whole "evaluation" gig.

And this article peaked my interest even more:

http://heraldargus.com/articles/2010/10/11/news/local/doc4cb2494f9dc91685500844.txt I have never believed that teachers should be evaluated because of STUDENT test scores.

Everyone succeeds or fails based on THEIR OWN MERIT.

That goes for students AS WELL AS for teachers.
And Marybeth Siemens states this (in the first story) in the most logical manner when she says that "some students are resistant to learning".
That's nothing new, but has grown much over the years, sad to say.

Hell, even in MY day, we had those "troublemakers"...but we had a way of dealing with it.
If you acted up BAD enough and LONG enough (which wasn't all that long back then), you were taken OUT of the "mainstream" and sent off to a remedial school that SPECIALIZED in "problem" children...and you soon learned how to behave and manage yourself among your peers.
In today's classrooms, we've got way too many kids that HAVE been mainstreamed when they really need to be in a more controlled environment.
And these are the same kids that will pull an entire classroom average DOWN, not to mention make the teacher look a lot worse than he/she really is when it comes to nurturing the fertile minds in our educational system.
Now HOW FAIR is that, anyway?
Student test scores can be "fudged" to produce almost ANY result, and most of the time, it's the students that have the controlling interest, whether they know it or not. Also, the administrators can easily "manipulate" certain aspects to specific classrooms to produce a group of students that WILL achieve all the requirements or NOT even come close to whatever benchmark is set.
How about a teacher that is "in tight" with an administrator and can SELECT which students to have in his class?
Sound a bit too convenient?
Makes the teacher AND the students look good, though...right?
Well, don't think it hasn't happened...because it has, and probably still DOES occur.
Brilliant way to game the system, yes?
At the other end of the educational "spectrum"...if you cheese off an administrator, you could (as a teacher) wind up with a class full of incorrigibles, which will no doubt reflect on your "inability" to PROPERLY TEACH these young minds...and you will look like the worst teacher that ever received a license to educate.
And these scenarios are totally ASIDE from any "test scores"...we're talking human nature here...cronyism, the status quo, and whatever else fits the mold that is created from such actions..
Pundits will no doubt say that "Education is so much more complex than it was decades ago"...
(rolls eyes)
Yeah, that ENGLISH has changed SO damn much...and that basic MATH...well that's so different than those 10 numbers (0 through 9) that "we" dealt with back in those halcyon days of the 1960s, isn't it?
Granted, recent history is changing daily, but the REAL history hasn't deviated from years past. The only difference is that not all the FACTS are usually presented (by design).
And although science "theory" is always in flux, the basic proven structure of the particular sciences hasn't really deviated from Einstein, Newton, Copernicus, and the rest of the boys (and girls).
So we know it's not all about the SUBJECT MATTER that will pass or fail.
And if a teacher is teaching those subjects as they are SUPPOSED TO, that washes the educators out of this "testing" equation as well.
So, that would leave us with WHAT, exactly?
Oh...that would be the STUDENTS.
Now, any educator's job is to "lead the horse to water" aka allow the student the opportunity to learn the subject matter presented.
BUT...that teacher cannot "force the horse to drink"...vis-a-vis force a child to learn.
They can only urge or suggest.
And THERE is where the REAL problem lies.
Schools were never meant to be playgrounds, or social venues designed to make one feel good.
That's what playgrounds were for...and church outings, and summer camps...and boy scouts, and girl scouts...the list just goes on.
The only stroking your self-esteem received was when YOU took the time to LEARN what was being taught and you PASSED the test (or the grade).
YOU were mostly to blame for NOT learning...not the teacher.
The responsibility for bringing the SUBJECT MATTER to the students IS solely on the shoulders of our educators.
That's one ball they cannot afford to drop.
The responsibility for LEARNING lies elsewhere, as in the STUDENT THEMSELVES...and (more importantly) AT HOME!
If the home environment is not at least partially relegated to reinforcing the educational process, then the entire educational equation WILL...NOT...BALANCE.
If the student has neither the proper atmosphere for doing the required assignments, nor the parental encouragement needed to assist the child, then it all comes unravelled like a cheap-ass sweater...period.
How can ANYONE (seriously) consider evaluating a TEACHER when the largest part of the learning process is NOT found in the classroom?
Notice I said the LARGEST part, and NOT the MOST IMPORTANT PART.
The most IMPORTANT part of ANY education IS found IN the classroom, and the educator IS the linchpin in that regard.
If the teacher IS in class, teaching the subject to the students, they ARE doing what is required of them.
If the teacher IS attempting to reach the students by assisting them in (or after) class...all well and good.
If the teacher answers questions the students pose...fine.
If the teacher provides timely reports to department heads as well as grade average...perfect.
If the teacher deals with unruly students who disrupt the learning process...more power to them.
As far as I'm concerned, if a teacher is doing all of the above (and perhaps more) then they PASS any evaluation I could dream up.
But it is STILL up to the students (and the parent or parents) to be in the mix as well.
To do otherwise tosses the kids around like a rudderless ship in a hurricane.
Think about what a STUDENT needs to pass a subject (or course).
It takes several "basic" things:
1- knowledge of the subject being taught.
2- behavior conducive to the learning process.
3- personal responsibility to actively involve oneself in the classroom.
4- accountability for failure.
5- discipline
6- dedication
7- honesty
Now, if we look at an EDUCATOR, can we not also say the SAME things are required?
Of course we can. We expect NO LESS from those we charge to teach our future, right?
Maybe we NEED to expect more from those the teachers are teaching...
Sure, it might hearken back to the day when I was in school, but it DID have it's virtues.
And teacher jobs were never as much on the chopping block.
For them, it's not a job...it's a CAREER that they choose to undertake with a passion almost unrivaled.

It's much the same passion that drives a police officer...or a firefighter...or even a soldier that is willing to lay down his or her life for this nation.
But be wary of any dangling carrot, and always make sure WHO is holding that stick.
Therein lies the lesson for today.
Class dismissed..
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.