Predictably, the AFT Blog jumps on the anti-SES bandwagon (Red Frown Face for Tennessee’s SES Providers). Claiming that NCLB “purports to be all about accountability, but gives a pass to SES providers,” the AFTies cite a Tennessee study that finds few if any effects for the state’s SES providers, and calls for reducing or eliminating SES in the next NCLB.
I’ve seen good and bad SES, but it seems pretty clear that there’s a near-impossibility of determining SES impacts on annual state test scores from 30-50 hours of tutoring per year. Imagine if we tried to measure classroom teachers (or schools) based on less than two weeks of teaching? Not to mention that many of the tutors are classroom teachers mooonlighting for what can be very generous wages.