Tofel

1 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Teachers should be paid according to how well their students perform.

sample answer：

I disagree with this idea. Some teachers make a huge positive impact on their students that can’t be measured by grades or tests, there are students that don’t do well even if they have fantastic teachers, and having extra money as a possible reward could make some teachers unfortunately cheat the system.

Good teachers can have various effects on their students. Yes, some lead their students to get good grades. That’s important, of course. But teachers can also inspire confidence in their young students, making them believe they can do anything they set their mind to. Teachers can give their students a broader view of the world. Teachers can spark the imaginations of the children they instruct. Teachers can be funny, exciting, and life-changing. They can do so much to help kids develop their personalities and sense of self. That is more important and far deeper than some grades on a test. I don’t think it’s right to reward just the grades and disregard the wonderful things that can’t be measured.

Also, some kids just naturally struggle with schoolwork. They may have a learning disability that makes reading difficult. Or they may have a short attention span and struggle to pay attention during lectures. Not every student is going to get good grades, no matter how attentive and skilled the teacher is. Punishing the teacher with a lower pay also seems wrong in that scenario.

Finally, as unpleasant as it is to think about, some teachers may cheat the system if they know they can get more money out of it. They could lie about their students’ average test scores and make them seem better than they are. They could be lazy with their grading, giving A’s and B’s where lower grades were actually deserved. Greed for money can make people do awful things. And the students would suffer as a result, not actually receiving the...