A few years ago we moved to a different suburb outside of Boston. It made my commute a bit better and the public school system is supposed to be one of the best. The reputation came from a few parents we knew in the town and from various test scores.
Our kids are 11, 8 and 4 yrs old. We have a decent amount of public school experience. And so far we are pleased.
Each year we visit the teachers at least twice – once in the beginning and ten again towards the end of the year. It’s a great opportunity to understand how our kids are progressing and to brainstorm areas of concern or ask questions.
But the one thing that always surprised me is that no one from the school has ever asked us to review the teachers. Ever.
There is an article in today’s NYT about how students are commenting on their exceptional teachers decades later on Facebook (sorry, no link, writing this on my iPhone). I think this is wonderful but we (parents, teachers, kids, principles) need this info and much earlier.
I imagine there could be many ways to do this. Public vs private reviews, endorsements, etc.
I think the current model doesn’t give enough credit to our great teachers and doesn’t shine a bright enough light on the teachers that aren’t delivering the goods.
I’d welcome your thoughts and suggestions here. And would certainly love to hear if someone was working on this.