today's lesson: teaching evaluations based on student test scores

Today's post is based on this Wall Street Journal article about education. To be quite honest, I'm not sure how I feel about the matter. I think I will go ahead and argue both sides, just to weigh the pros and cons.
In a way, basing teacher evaluations on student test scores seems like a logical thing to do.
If teachers are doing their job and truly teaching their students, there is no reason the students should not be performing well on test scores. What teachers do in classrooms, whether they are being evaluated or not, should ultimately reveal itself at some point. And where other place will it be revealed than through the testing of the knowledge of their students? This system ensures that American students have the proper resources they need to succeed on tests. It ensures that they are being taught by adequate professionals whose job is to transfer knowledge. It ensures that students will most likely score on the ACT or SAT and be accepted to college. It ensures they are not wasting their time with teachers who do not know or care about the subject at hand.
On the flip side, the idea is absurd. What good is a student if all they can do is remember facts and regurgitate them on a test? Are those the kinds of individuals we want running our country someday? Or do we want students who have teachers that help them to think? To question. To criticize. To evaluate. To ponder.
As a country, we should want teachers who do not merely skim the surface of a broad range of subjects, but rather dig deep into one subject. Teachers have the capability to produce tiny student experts on any topic of their choice. It is possible. But it is not possible with increasing demands and pressures to test well.
We must also take into consideration that not all students are the best test takers. We must ask how much weight student performance would have on teacher evaluation. There are so many factors working against the accuracy of these results.
In the end, the decision should be made with all factors taken into account. It should be made with student's best interest at heart, as well as teachers. It should be made not by politicians, but by people who have actually stepped foot in a classroom within the last ten years. It should be made based on what is right and fair.