There’s a line in AAE’s Code of Ethics for Educators that states: “The professional educator assumes responsibility and accountability for his or her performance and continually strives to demonstrate competence.”  Often, when AAE staff speaks to teachers about the code of ethics and this line comes up, there’s inevitably someone in the audience who immediately connects the word ‘accountability’ to ‘testing.’  It’s a troubling issue caused by the modern political climate surrounding education, and yet, it’s not what the code of ethics intends at all.

Justin begins by saying, “You can’t force teachers to feel true accountability to arbitrary cutoff scores on tests that seem to have been written by machines.  More importantly, you don’t need to. Teachers already feel a deep sense of accountability to the people most directly impacted by our work: parents, our colleagues, and the children who only get one shot at the grade or class we teach.”

He then explains accountability in terms of the relationships that we teachers cultivate throughout the school year and our careers.  In his blog, he illustrates not only how teachers hold themselves accountable, but how we are also held accountable by the professionals in the field.  The entry does an amazing job of explaining a complex topic in a politically trying time and is worth a read.

You can find the entire blog at: 'Accountability': Reclaiming the Worst Word in Education.

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