HomemadeJambalaya

Not OP but I don't think I physically could. If I was in that cave and my only way out was cave diving, I think I would have a panic attack mid-dive and die anyway. I would rather camp out for a few months if possible and walk out later.

You sound like a great teacher. All the greats leave the profession eventually, it seems.

There is nothing wrong with trying to monitor teachers' effectiveness, but standardized tests aren't really a good way to do so. What if you, as a student, a re having a shit week and just fill in random bubbles so you can leave. Is this a fair representation of how your teacher taught you? And don't say that this isn't a realistic scenario, it happens every time we test in my school. Students will finish a 55 question Algebra 2 exam in 5 minutes. You can imagine how much effort those students put into their own education every day. Their apathy or determination to fail does not reflect on their teacher.

For most of our modern era, teachers were evaluated by their principals to determine their effectiveness. This works, as long as the principal is a good one and doesn't just mark everyone satisfactory because it's easy. It's not part of our official evaluations, but my colleagues and I do peer observations and give each other feedback. I think peer evaluations could be a good tool, because teachers know when other teachers aren't doing their jobs.

The problem with evaluating educators is that it's hard to get objective data. Everything depends on other people, whether it's the principal, other teachers, or the students. But test scores aren't the best way. I don't want the fate of my career in the hands of horny 15-year-olds who spent all last night smoking weed and playing video games.