Accountability is just another word for blame

All those great teachers out there know who they are accountable to and it ain't legislators and test publishers (Them), although you would think as much, given all the crap coming down on teachers these days.

Accountability -- what does that really mean? To Them, it means that teachers are obviously not teaching well enough for our kids to score better on standardized tests compared to other countries in the world. To Them, everything a teacher is can be summed up by the test scores of their students. To Them, teachers are the reason for the lower scores. It's all the teachers' fault.

• To teachers, accountability means doing right by their students and making sure they become lifelong learners, a term that has become less meaningful from overuse but still holds merit.
• To teachers, accountability means working with their students and their parents to make sure they meet their needs. 
• To teachers, accountability is about assessing, not testing. It's funny -- testing isn't part of what they measure their success by. However, assessing is. There is a difference. 

Honestly, most teachers don't give a rat's ass if they are accountable to test publishers. All of this is being forced down their throats. All they care about is what matters -- helping kids learn.

So quit beating teachers down, quit threatening their livelihoods, quit acting like you know what you are talking about, and start listening to them. They know what they are doing. Ask their students.