Repeat Post
This is an oldie but goodie, for all the fans of No Child Left Behind legislation. Whether you're a teacher or the friend of one, I hope you'll appreciate the analogy. Thanks to Beth(ie) for reminding me!
No Dentist Left Behind
My dentist is great! He sends me reminders so I don't forget checkups. He uses the latest techniques based on research. He never hurts me, and I've got all my teeth. When I ran into him the other day, I was eager to see if he'd heard about the new state program. I knew he'd think it was great.
"Did you hear about the new state program to measure effectiveness of
dentists with their young patients?" I said.
"No," he said. He didn't seem too thrilled. "How will they do that?"
"It's quite simple," I said. "They will count the number of cavities each patient has at age 10, 14, and 18 and average that to determine a dentist's rating. Dentists will be rated as excellent, good, average, below average, and unsatisfactory. That way parents will know which are the best dentists. The plan will also encourage the less effective dentists to get better," I said. "Dentists who don't improve could lose their licenses."
"That's terrible," he said.
"Don't you think we should try to improve children's dental health in this state?"
"Sure I do," he said, "but that's not a fair way to determine who is practicing good dentistry."
"Why not?" I said.
"Don't you see that dentists don't all work with the same clientele, and that much depends on things we can't control? For example, I work in a rural area with a high percentage of patients from deprived homes, while some of my colleagues work in upper middle-class neighborhoods. Many of the parents I work with don't bring their children to see me until there is some kind of problem, and I don't get to do much preventive work. Also many of the parents I serve let their kids eat way too much candy from an early age, unlike more educated parents who understand the relationship between sugar and decay.
To top it all off, so many of my clients have well water, which is untreated and has no fluoride in it. Do you have any idea how much difference early use of fluoride can make?"
"It sounds like you're making excuses," I said. "You needn't fear accountability."
"My best patients are as good as anyone's, my work is as good as anyone's, but my average cavity count is going to be higher than a lot of other dentists because I chose to work where I am needed most. In a system like this, I will end up being rated average, below average, or worse. The few educated patients I have who see these ratings may believe this so-called rating is an actual measure of my ability and proficiency as a dentist. They may leave me, and I'll be left with only the most needy patients. And my cavity average score will get even worse. On top of that, how will I attract good dental hygienists and other excellent dentists to my practice if it is labeled below average?"
"'Complaining, excuse-making and stonewalling won't improve dental health'...I am quoting from a leading member of the DOC," I noted.
"What's the DOC?" he asked.
"It's the Dental Oversight Committee," I said, "a group made up of mostly lay persons to make sure dentistry in this state gets improved."
"Reasonable people won't buy it," he said hopefully.
The program sounded reasonable to me, so I asked, "How else would you measure good dentistry?"
"Come watch me work," he said. "Observe my processes."
"That's too complicated, expensive and time-consuming," I said. "Cavities are the bottom line, and you can't argue with the bottom line. It's an absolute measure."
"That's what I'm afraid my parents and prospective patients will think. This can't be happening."
"Don't despair. The state will help you some."
"How?" he asked.
"If you receive a poor rating, they'll send a dentist who is rated excellent to help straighten you out," I said brightly.
"They'll send a dentist with a wealthy clientele to show me how to work on severe juvenile dental problems with which I have probably had much more experience? BIG HELP!"
"There you go again," I said. "You aren't acting professionally at all."
"Doing this would be like grading schools and teachers on an average score made on a test of children's progress with no regard to influences outside the school, the home, the community served and stuff like that. Why would they do something so unfair to dentists? No one would ever think of doing that to schools."
I just shook my head sadly, but he had brightened. "I'm going to write my representatives and senators," he said. "I'll use the school analogy. Surely they will see my point."
posted by kate @ 7:30 AM
10 comments
10 Comments:
You are so misguided and confused. I'm worried about what the thin air of Colorado is going to do to you.
Will you be living in your friends basement too?
Oh sure, I'm the one who's confused. Sure.
I hope that if you ever have a child in public schools, you get over your hatred for us. Teachers are, by and large, heroes who have to put up with a lot just to do our jobs well and this analogy is so right on the money with most of us.
Teachers aren't the enemy, C. Actually we're on the same side.
Beautifull crafted, send it to all our reps.
Mr. C-This is not directed at you, and I mean that sincerely.
I've been wondering if at least a significant minority of the harshest of teacher critics had some terrible experience in their own schooling, or at the very least were subjected to incompetence. Then they generalize their personal experience to education in general. Just wondering.
Teachers Unions are doing everything they can to dumb down America. Parents scream for more and more money, politicians give it to them. What do we get lower test scores and demands for more money. Teachers don't want voucher programs, accountability or people changing tenure. Yeah, you want what's best for yourselves not the students. The truth hurts doesn't it.
How are unions the problem in Mississippi, West Virginia, Virginia, Texas, North Carolina and South Carolina, where teachers have zero collective bargaining? Virginia actually has some of the best managed, highest achieving, school districts in the country but would anyone want to trade places with Mississippi? States where fewer than 20% of teachers are covered by collective bargaining include Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia and Alabama. Not exactly the pantheon of our highest performing states.
Now, we have "dumbed down" significantly since the mid twentieth century. We've also gone from a model where very few people graduated from high school to one where we expect all to do so. Some people are dumber than others, the internet is certainly proof of that.
That dude has us figured out. Teachers are all about the money - Wall Street execs got nothin' on us.
I didn't say teachers, I said teachers unions please read what I said. WE spend more money on education every year and where does it get us. The NEA and the Department of Education should be eliminated and the money that goes to those organizations are either given to teachers or kept by the teachers. That should help all teachers make a much better salary. But I bet you don't like that idea or anything that changes the status quo. By the way Port spoken like a true blue liberal who thinks everyone in the south is dumb. Where do you live? I'm guessing in a southern state.
You don't address the points she made about the state of education where unions are not the issue. Quit regurgitating Glenn Beck - either education is a national priority or it's not. You probably don't even know what the Dept. of Ed does.
And yes, Tampa is in a southern state. Now go back to sleep.
"Teachers don't want voucher programs, accountability, or people changing tenure." anonymous 5/07/06
"I didn't say teachers, I said teachers unions please read what I said." identifies self as same anonymous commenter 5/08/06
I don't really expect people to read everything I write, but please write what you mean, or read what you write.
I can only guess this anonymous meant to type "I'm guessing in a northern state." Since I post pseudonymously instead of anonymously anyone who wants to know where I live need only check my profile. Though Kate's right, the Tampa part is a dead give away.
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