Cathy O'Neil Quotes

We don’t have any metrics on that.

It's unfortunate that sometimes in schools, there's this need to have things quantified and graded.

President Obama and Secretary Duncan have made stronger teacher evaluation a key part of their education reform efforts. Under their signature plan, called 'Race to the Top,' states can win federal support for schools by improving teacher evaluations.

Schools should be held accountable for results.

I don’t believe curriculums are the key to education, I believe teachers are.

The single most important factor in determining [student] achievement is not the color of skin or where they come from. It is not who their parents are or how much money they have. It is who their teacher is.

Everywhere you turn, there are lists and statistics. Any business, any sport, any hobby - we will try to categorize who is the best at some component of that endeavor. It's part human nature and part technology, since we have been conditioned to have access to answers and trivial problems at our fingertips.

When it comes to efficiency, standardized tests almost sound heaven-sent.

I became a cognitive psychologist because I met a bunch of teachers I really liked.

Teachers across the world are doing all they can to ensure a good education is the top priority for children.

I frequently meet ex-pupils who seem to think I didn't totally ruin their educations, so that's something.

My goal has never been to see how many stats I can rack up.

DonorsChoose was conceived at a Bronx public high school where I taught social studies for five years. In the teachers' lunch room, my colleagues and I often lamented a problem that drained learning from students and creativity from teachers: a lack of funding for essential materials and for the activities that bring subject matter to life.

While technology and assessment can help complement the important work of our teachers, I worry that we are spending too much of our time testing.

Whenever I meet my friends, we talk about our teachers.

Teachers may think they are stuffing minds, but all they are ever affecting is the memory. Nothing can ever be forced into anyone's mind except by brainwashing, which is the very opposite of genuine teaching.

My dad took me to a high school basketball game and this very, very famous coach in Michigan, by the name of Lofton Greene - he was a guy that my dad was familiar with. He was from our hometown. And I watched the game and I said I didn't see this guy doing a lot of coaching. And my dad told me, well, it's just like a teacher - which he was - he said if you do a good job teaching during the week, when they take the test on Friday, that's not the time you have to do a lot of demonstrative things.

The most effective teacher will always be biased, for the chief force in teaching is confidence and enthusiasm.

You haven't taught until they've learned.

We turn to quantities when we can't compare the qualities of things.

Until recently, over 98 percent of teachers just got one word of feedback: Satisfactory. If all my bridge coach ever told me was that I was 'satisfactory,' I would have no hope of ever getting better.

Don't try to fix the students, fix ourselves first. The good teacher makes the poor student good and the good student superior. When our students fail, we, as teachers, too, have failed.

It's not about size, it's a science.

The best method for a given teacher is the one which is most familiar to the teacher.

Good teachers cost a lot; but, poor teachers cost a lot more.