National Evaluation Databases

Evaluating Schools & Teachers; the parents and students voices

�Some people will remember their schooldays as having been the best days of their lives, but others regard them as having been a painful experience. By the time children reach 16 years of age, they will have been at school for 11 years � a substantial part of their lives.� (Counseling in Schools, by Robert Bor, Jo Ebner-Landy, Shiela Gil, Chris Brace 2002, p.9) Parents, students and school personnel should have the opportunity to anonymously evaluate the school�s safety, curriculum, teachers and school personnel - evaluation forms from the school boards/ministry should be available to all parents and their students in elementary and highschools. Yearly evaluation forms should be an integral part of any well functioning school. �Children generally do not vote and do not otherwise take part in political processes. While many States are beginning to listen seriously to children's views on many important issues � as expressed at home and in schools, in local communities and even in governments � the process of change is still in its earliest stages.� (http://www.unicef.org/crc/crc.htm)

All students and parents should be heard: including the students attending school, the drop-outs, the homeschooled students, and the students using prescription drugs. These evaluation forms should be anonymous. School personnel and volunteers can also be an extremely viable source of information as to the functioning of their schools.

Advocate National databases or yearly evaluation forms.

One of the first thoughts that come to mind is cost. How can evaluations be accomplished, at a reduced cost? All students and parents should be given access to computers to �vote�, either on school grounds through �Supporting Parents, Students & Teachers With Early Interventions� (see next page) programs or on special days throughout the year. Computer databases linked to the ministries or/and governments could sort most of the information. This would allow some form of evaluation of schools, teachers, and pedagogy, from the perspective of parent, child, and teacher and could also permit a National Evaluation of sorts. Evaluations will be much more realistic, �heard from the horse�s mouth� so to say, with timely representations, and on a larger sample of students. These chart representations could allow for more targeted immediate interventions, both with school personnel and students, which will allow for suppleness/malleability needed throughout the year regarding the availability of the professionals needed for interventions.

Forward to parents, school boards/ministry, government... :

We the parents believe that the quality of our childrens social and academic education in schools could be improved by adding school evaluation computer databases in our city libraries. This would permit the parents to 'vote' regularly increasing access to information for those regulating our childrens education, while giving the parents and its students a voice to their grievances or challenges of the present system. The quality of education or socialization a child is receiving could be assessed sooner, and changes if necessary also provided sooner.

Contact your local, state and national authorities and ask for 'computer evaluation voting booths' that evaluate grievances both on a national level and specific to your schools.

In the mean time parents or students can Rate Teachers at RateMyTeachers.com using the following links:

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