If we want to fix schools, we
have to think carefully about
OUR ALLEGIANCE to
politicians on BOTH SIDES
OF THE AISLE who care
more about personal power
than they care about the
education of children.
have to think carefully about
OUR ALLEGIANCE to
politicians on BOTH SIDES
OF THE AISLE who care
more about personal power
than they care about the
education of children.
Are our schools failing because no one has a clue as to how to
teach today's kids? Or is it something else?
teach today's kids? Or is it something else?
Blogs
San Diego Education Report's TEACHER
EVALUATION PLAN
EVALUATION PLAN
States get D-plus
on teacher
reviews
By LIBBY QUAID, AP
Jan 29, 2009
WASHINGTON – States are not
doing what it takes to keep good
teachers and remove bad ones,
a national study found.
Only Iowa and New Mexico
require any evidence that public
school teachers are effective
before granting them tenure,
according to the review released
Thursday by the National Council
on Teacher Quality.
"States can help districts do
much more to ensure that the
right teachers stay and the right
teachers leave," said Kate
Walsh, president of the
Washington-based nonpartisan
group.
Hiring and firing teachers is done
locally in more than 14,000
school districts nationwide. But
state law governs virtually every
aspect of teaching, including how
and when teachers obtain
tenure, which protects teachers
from being fired.
Tenure is not a job guarantee.
But it is a significant safeguard,
preventing teachers from being
fired without just cause or due
process.
Nearly every state lets public
school teachers earn tenure in
three years or less, the group
said. In all but Iowa and New
Mexico, tenure is virtually
automatic, the study said.
States were given letter grades in
the study, earning a D-plus on
average. The group gave its
highest overall mark, a B-minus,
to South Carolina, saying the
state does better than any other
at allowing ineffective teachers to
be fired.
South Carolina requires two
annual evaluations of new
teachers. Teachers there who
get bad reviews are placed on a
plan for improvement. Only those
teachers on probation — not
tenured teachers — can be
dismissed if they don't improve.
The rest of the states earned C's
or worse. Five — Maine,
Montana, New Hampshire,
Rhode Island and Vermont —
earned F's, as did the District of
Columbia.
In all, only 13 states say that
teachers who get multiple bad
reviews can be fired. Only about
half the states, 26 of them, put
teachers on an improvement
plan after one bad review.
The National Education
Association, the biggest teachers
union, said job protections
shouldn't be blamed for keeping
bad teachers on the job.
"No district-union contract in
America states that bad teachers
can never be fired from their
jobs," said Segun Eubanks,
NEA's director of teacher quality.
"Yet too often, district-teacher
union contracts are blamed for
inadequate, ineffective and
misused teacher evaluation
systems."
Eubanks said teacher firing
should be part of a broad
evaluation and support system
developed in cooperation with
teachers, either through unions
or teacher groups.
That argument jibes with the
study, which said that states are
sorely lacking when it comes to
evaluating teachers.
Only 23 say new teachers must
be evaluated more than once a
year. Nine states don't require
any evaluation of new teachers.
The study says states do little to
keep teachers on the job, even
raising barriers in some cases.
Also, 20 states insist that
teachers take additional classes
that don't specifically help them
improve. Five states make
teachers get advanced degrees
to be get professionally licensed,
despite research indicating
those degrees don't necessarily
help people teach better. Some
18 states require that teachers
with advanced degrees be paid
more.
The study also wades into a
growing controversy over whether
teachers should be held
accountable for their students'
progress.
It said just 15 states require a
look at whether kids are learning
when teachers are evaluated. In
addition, the study gave poor
ratings to 35 states that don't
explicitly connect bonuses or
raises to evidence of student
achievement.
The NEA and other unions and
teacher groups argue there
should be multiple measures of
teacher performance along with
student achievement.
The study also rated 17 states
poorly for not offering higher pay
or loan forgiveness to teachers
who work in high-needs schools
or in math and science, subjects
where there is a teaching
shortage.
on teacher
reviews
By LIBBY QUAID, AP
Jan 29, 2009
WASHINGTON – States are not
doing what it takes to keep good
teachers and remove bad ones,
a national study found.
Only Iowa and New Mexico
require any evidence that public
school teachers are effective
before granting them tenure,
according to the review released
Thursday by the National Council
on Teacher Quality.
"States can help districts do
much more to ensure that the
right teachers stay and the right
teachers leave," said Kate
Walsh, president of the
Washington-based nonpartisan
group.
Hiring and firing teachers is done
locally in more than 14,000
school districts nationwide. But
state law governs virtually every
aspect of teaching, including how
and when teachers obtain
tenure, which protects teachers
from being fired.
Tenure is not a job guarantee.
But it is a significant safeguard,
preventing teachers from being
fired without just cause or due
process.
Nearly every state lets public
school teachers earn tenure in
three years or less, the group
said. In all but Iowa and New
Mexico, tenure is virtually
automatic, the study said.
States were given letter grades in
the study, earning a D-plus on
average. The group gave its
highest overall mark, a B-minus,
to South Carolina, saying the
state does better than any other
at allowing ineffective teachers to
be fired.
South Carolina requires two
annual evaluations of new
teachers. Teachers there who
get bad reviews are placed on a
plan for improvement. Only those
teachers on probation — not
tenured teachers — can be
dismissed if they don't improve.
The rest of the states earned C's
or worse. Five — Maine,
Montana, New Hampshire,
Rhode Island and Vermont —
earned F's, as did the District of
Columbia.
In all, only 13 states say that
teachers who get multiple bad
reviews can be fired. Only about
half the states, 26 of them, put
teachers on an improvement
plan after one bad review.
The National Education
Association, the biggest teachers
union, said job protections
shouldn't be blamed for keeping
bad teachers on the job.
"No district-union contract in
America states that bad teachers
can never be fired from their
jobs," said Segun Eubanks,
NEA's director of teacher quality.
"Yet too often, district-teacher
union contracts are blamed for
inadequate, ineffective and
misused teacher evaluation
systems."
Eubanks said teacher firing
should be part of a broad
evaluation and support system
developed in cooperation with
teachers, either through unions
or teacher groups.
That argument jibes with the
study, which said that states are
sorely lacking when it comes to
evaluating teachers.
Only 23 say new teachers must
be evaluated more than once a
year. Nine states don't require
any evaluation of new teachers.
The study says states do little to
keep teachers on the job, even
raising barriers in some cases.
Also, 20 states insist that
teachers take additional classes
that don't specifically help them
improve. Five states make
teachers get advanced degrees
to be get professionally licensed,
despite research indicating
those degrees don't necessarily
help people teach better. Some
18 states require that teachers
with advanced degrees be paid
more.
The study also wades into a
growing controversy over whether
teachers should be held
accountable for their students'
progress.
It said just 15 states require a
look at whether kids are learning
when teachers are evaluated. In
addition, the study gave poor
ratings to 35 states that don't
explicitly connect bonuses or
raises to evidence of student
achievement.
The NEA and other unions and
teacher groups argue there
should be multiple measures of
teacher performance along with
student achievement.
The study also rated 17 states
poorly for not offering higher pay
or loan forgiveness to teachers
who work in high-needs schools
or in math and science, subjects
where there is a teaching
shortage.
Ridding schools of
bad teachers
San Diego Union Tribune
Letters to the Editor
May 12, 2009
Regarding “Protection
racket/Bad teachers need
not fear in California”
(Editorial, May 7):
I was in full agreement with
your article until one of the
last statements: “Neither the
students in bad teachers'
classrooms nor the taxpayers
who must keep paying them
factor into the process.
Teachers want it that way. . .
. ” I know of a number of
teachers from kindergarten
to high school, myself
included, who fully support a
redesign of the process to rid
schools of incompetent
teachers. And, yes, all of us
have tenure.
But we also recognize the
lack of meaning in the
current system that often
credits teachers with a
“Meets Expectations”
evaluation for a teacher
who was never observed
by an administrator, or
who often shows up late,
rarely coordinates with
their peers or who lacks
the ability to help
students. But gosh, their
college prep students had
good test scores, and they
have tenure, so they must be
great teachers. Hopefully,
voting parents will become
aware and will care enough
about their children getting
the best education possible
that they will make a big fuss
about it. Then things might
start to change.
ANITRA ROONEY
La Mesa
bad teachers
San Diego Union Tribune
Letters to the Editor
May 12, 2009
Regarding “Protection
racket/Bad teachers need
not fear in California”
(Editorial, May 7):
I was in full agreement with
your article until one of the
last statements: “Neither the
students in bad teachers'
classrooms nor the taxpayers
who must keep paying them
factor into the process.
Teachers want it that way. . .
. ” I know of a number of
teachers from kindergarten
to high school, myself
included, who fully support a
redesign of the process to rid
schools of incompetent
teachers. And, yes, all of us
have tenure.
But we also recognize the
lack of meaning in the
current system that often
credits teachers with a
“Meets Expectations”
evaluation for a teacher
who was never observed
by an administrator, or
who often shows up late,
rarely coordinates with
their peers or who lacks
the ability to help
students. But gosh, their
college prep students had
good test scores, and they
have tenure, so they must be
great teachers. Hopefully,
voting parents will become
aware and will care enough
about their children getting
the best education possible
that they will make a big fuss
about it. Then things might
start to change.
ANITRA ROONEY
La Mesa
Union-Tribune
Editorial
Protection racket
Bad teachers
need not fear in
California
May 7, 2009
...It is encouraging, though, that a
trustee of the Los Angeles Unified
School District wants to replace
the state's years-long and
ineffective process for firing bad
teachers who have tenure.
During a meeting at which the Los
Angeles school board approved
laying off thousands of the newest
teachers, however capable they
are, trustee Marlene Canter
proposed allowing districts to
terminate tenured teachers, even
those with the most seniority, after
two consecutive bad performance
reviews. This audacious idea, so
antithetical to teacher unions'
credo that years in classrooms
are the best measure of teachers'
competence, was assigned to a
task force for study.
Its members need only read the
Los Angeles Times article
detailing how state law achieves
precisely what the California
Teachers Association wanted: to
give all but impenetrable job
protection even to its
worst-performing members. How
impenetrable? The CTA has more
than 300,000 members
statewide. Statewide, 31 teachers
have been fired in the past five
years.
Current state law gives the final
decision on firings to review
panels composed of an
administrative judge, a teacher
chosen by the school district and
a teacher chosen by the teacher
facing termination. The panels
seldom approve termination, even
if years of observation and
volumes of documentation
establish atrocious performance.
Even a high school teacher who
kept pornography, pot and
cocaine at school and an older
teacher who couldn't stop frequent
fistfights among her
fourth-graders kept their jobs.
This process exists not to rid
schools of incompetent or
scofflaw teachers. It exists to
ensure that no teacher is fired
because a supervisor dislikes
her, or before the district spends
years trying to teach her to teach.
Neither the students in bad
teachers' classrooms nor the
taxpayers who must keep paying
them factor into the process.
Teachers want it that way, and
legislators eager to keep their
seats have kept it that way. Short
of students' mass movement to
charter schools, where usual
union rules don't apply, or a revolt
by parents and others who value
educated kids over lousy
teachers, it will stay that way.
Editorial
Protection racket
Bad teachers
need not fear in
California
May 7, 2009
...It is encouraging, though, that a
trustee of the Los Angeles Unified
School District wants to replace
the state's years-long and
ineffective process for firing bad
teachers who have tenure.
During a meeting at which the Los
Angeles school board approved
laying off thousands of the newest
teachers, however capable they
are, trustee Marlene Canter
proposed allowing districts to
terminate tenured teachers, even
those with the most seniority, after
two consecutive bad performance
reviews. This audacious idea, so
antithetical to teacher unions'
credo that years in classrooms
are the best measure of teachers'
competence, was assigned to a
task force for study.
Its members need only read the
Los Angeles Times article
detailing how state law achieves
precisely what the California
Teachers Association wanted: to
give all but impenetrable job
protection even to its
worst-performing members. How
impenetrable? The CTA has more
than 300,000 members
statewide. Statewide, 31 teachers
have been fired in the past five
years.
Current state law gives the final
decision on firings to review
panels composed of an
administrative judge, a teacher
chosen by the school district and
a teacher chosen by the teacher
facing termination. The panels
seldom approve termination, even
if years of observation and
volumes of documentation
establish atrocious performance.
Even a high school teacher who
kept pornography, pot and
cocaine at school and an older
teacher who couldn't stop frequent
fistfights among her
fourth-graders kept their jobs.
This process exists not to rid
schools of incompetent or
scofflaw teachers. It exists to
ensure that no teacher is fired
because a supervisor dislikes
her, or before the district spends
years trying to teach her to teach.
Neither the students in bad
teachers' classrooms nor the
taxpayers who must keep paying
them factor into the process.
Teachers want it that way, and
legislators eager to keep their
seats have kept it that way. Short
of students' mass movement to
charter schools, where usual
union rules don't apply, or a revolt
by parents and others who value
educated kids over lousy
teachers, it will stay that way.
What rigid
teachers do
instead of
education
Rather than learning the
curriculum, some students
are relegated to "instead of"
education. They are kids
who can't get their acts
together, and are refused an
education on that basis. They
are given "lesson" after
"lesson" to teach them to
behave a certain way.
Rigid teachers are great for
some kids, destructive to
others. Why not teach all
kids the curriculum rather
than denying problem kids an
education? Aren't we just
creating bigger problems by
condemning problem kids to
failure?
teachers do
instead of
education
Rather than learning the
curriculum, some students
are relegated to "instead of"
education. They are kids
who can't get their acts
together, and are refused an
education on that basis. They
are given "lesson" after
"lesson" to teach them to
behave a certain way.
Rigid teachers are great for
some kids, destructive to
others. Why not teach all
kids the curriculum rather
than denying problem kids an
education? Aren't we just
creating bigger problems by
condemning problem kids to
failure?
Challenging Year
Begins for Many
Local Schools
By Maureen Cavanaugh, Hank
Crook
KPBS Radio
These Days
September 8, 2009
...CAVANAUGH: Tell us a little bit
about that firewall that exists in
California because I know
Governor Schwarzenegger wants
California to get some of that
money and he is pushing reforms
to allow us to change the way we
evaluate teachers in order to get
our hands on that money. Tell us
about that.
TINTOCALIS: Well, there – A lot of
states actually don't have this
firewall. California has this
firewall. Nevada and New York
and I think Wisconsin also have
these type of firewalls. And so
what the governor is saying is,
look, you know, state lawmakers,
we have this law on the books
that doesn't allow us to connect
student test scores to teacher
performance. What we need to do
is remove that firewall through
legislative change so we can
become eligible to get some of
this money. And in doing so, we're
kind of reshaping education policy
because the governor truly feels
like he's on board with the Obama
administration on this. He
believes that there should not be
any type of barrier when it comes
to figuring out whether a teacher
is performing poorly or if a teacher
is doing well. So he is, you know,
he's been around the state kind of
putting his message out there,
saying that we have to change
this law that's on the book, which
is kind of like a teacher protection
law. And he was actually in San
Diego, in Chula Vista actually, for
a press conference to push that
message forward and he was in
Chula Vista because the Chula
Vista Elementary School District,
they use student data to evaluate
their teachers.
Now it varies from school
to school and I actually
talked to the
superintendent here, his
name's Lowell Billings.
And I – Because I didn't
realize Chula Vista does
this. And I should explain
that in California, there's a
firewall but there's a
loophole in the law that
allows certain districts to
move forward with their
own little ways of doing it.
So in Chula Vista, they have
their own way of doing it, and
it's not against the law
because there's this
loophole. And so the
superintendent, Lowell
Billings, says, you know, this
is a huge part of how we
conduct business down here.
This is one way we evaluate
teachers. He didn't say
whether or not they get paid
extra or they get dismissed
based on it but he says it's a
big part of figuring out
whether a teacher is doing a
good job. And this is what he
had to say based on how
there's no standard formula.
LOWELL BILLINGS
(Superintendent, Chula Vista
Elementary School District): It
varies from school to school
and teacher to teacher. And
the point being is that data's
there to inform instruction.
And, you know, with some
teachers it's more direct, with
others it's more influential in
terms of just shaping practice
so, you know, there isn't one
set way but the fact that it's
there and it's a prominent
part, teachers look at their
outcomes. We print reports
that show, gee, in your class,
did students grow or did they
lose ground?...
Begins for Many
Local Schools
By Maureen Cavanaugh, Hank
Crook
KPBS Radio
These Days
September 8, 2009
...CAVANAUGH: Tell us a little bit
about that firewall that exists in
California because I know
Governor Schwarzenegger wants
California to get some of that
money and he is pushing reforms
to allow us to change the way we
evaluate teachers in order to get
our hands on that money. Tell us
about that.
TINTOCALIS: Well, there – A lot of
states actually don't have this
firewall. California has this
firewall. Nevada and New York
and I think Wisconsin also have
these type of firewalls. And so
what the governor is saying is,
look, you know, state lawmakers,
we have this law on the books
that doesn't allow us to connect
student test scores to teacher
performance. What we need to do
is remove that firewall through
legislative change so we can
become eligible to get some of
this money. And in doing so, we're
kind of reshaping education policy
because the governor truly feels
like he's on board with the Obama
administration on this. He
believes that there should not be
any type of barrier when it comes
to figuring out whether a teacher
is performing poorly or if a teacher
is doing well. So he is, you know,
he's been around the state kind of
putting his message out there,
saying that we have to change
this law that's on the book, which
is kind of like a teacher protection
law. And he was actually in San
Diego, in Chula Vista actually, for
a press conference to push that
message forward and he was in
Chula Vista because the Chula
Vista Elementary School District,
they use student data to evaluate
their teachers.
Now it varies from school
to school and I actually
talked to the
superintendent here, his
name's Lowell Billings.
And I – Because I didn't
realize Chula Vista does
this. And I should explain
that in California, there's a
firewall but there's a
loophole in the law that
allows certain districts to
move forward with their
own little ways of doing it.
So in Chula Vista, they have
their own way of doing it, and
it's not against the law
because there's this
loophole. And so the
superintendent, Lowell
Billings, says, you know, this
is a huge part of how we
conduct business down here.
This is one way we evaluate
teachers. He didn't say
whether or not they get paid
extra or they get dismissed
based on it but he says it's a
big part of figuring out
whether a teacher is doing a
good job. And this is what he
had to say based on how
there's no standard formula.
LOWELL BILLINGS
(Superintendent, Chula Vista
Elementary School District): It
varies from school to school
and teacher to teacher. And
the point being is that data's
there to inform instruction.
And, you know, with some
teachers it's more direct, with
others it's more influential in
terms of just shaping practice
so, you know, there isn't one
set way but the fact that it's
there and it's a prominent
part, teachers look at their
outcomes. We print reports
that show, gee, in your class,
did students grow or did they
lose ground?...
Human Capital Key Worry
for Reformers
Edweek
By Lesli A. Maxwell
Corporations have been
striving to perfect the “people
side” of their operations for
decades. Most hunt
aggressively for the right
talent, train workers to
produce at high levels, and
reward top performers with
promotions and higher pay.
In public education, though,
school districts have been
more passive in managing
this vital asset. Most rely on
colleges and universities to
supply workers, and pay and
promote people for
experience and education
levels rather than for their
success in raising student
achievement.
But as the pressure to
improve schools continues to
mount—and reform efforts
fall short—a growing number
of school district leaders,
funders, education thinkers,
and policymakers are zeroing
in on developing “human
capital” as the key strategy to
improve student learning...
for Reformers
Edweek
By Lesli A. Maxwell
Corporations have been
striving to perfect the “people
side” of their operations for
decades. Most hunt
aggressively for the right
talent, train workers to
produce at high levels, and
reward top performers with
promotions and higher pay.
In public education, though,
school districts have been
more passive in managing
this vital asset. Most rely on
colleges and universities to
supply workers, and pay and
promote people for
experience and education
levels rather than for their
success in raising student
achievement.
But as the pressure to
improve schools continues to
mount—and reform efforts
fall short—a growing number
of school district leaders,
funders, education thinkers,
and policymakers are zeroing
in on developing “human
capital” as the key strategy to
improve student learning...
The Male Professor as
Open Book?
By eduwonkette
March 21, 2008
...check out Daniel
Hamermesh's paper, Beauty in
the Classroom, which finds that
attractive professors receive
better course evaluations. Hot
male profs receive higher
returns to their attractiveness
than do hot female profs (which
also means that unattractive
male profs get penalized more
than unattractive female profs).
The authors argue that the
positive relationship between
beauty and evaluations
represents a productivity effect,
not just a discrimination effect.
In other words, are attractive
faculty really better teachers,
perhaps because students pay
more attention? Could the
same apply in high school? If
Alexander Russo's TFA crushes
tell us anything, the answer may
be yes.
Open Book?
By eduwonkette
March 21, 2008
...check out Daniel
Hamermesh's paper, Beauty in
the Classroom, which finds that
attractive professors receive
better course evaluations. Hot
male profs receive higher
returns to their attractiveness
than do hot female profs (which
also means that unattractive
male profs get penalized more
than unattractive female profs).
The authors argue that the
positive relationship between
beauty and evaluations
represents a productivity effect,
not just a discrimination effect.
In other words, are attractive
faculty really better teachers,
perhaps because students pay
more attention? Could the
same apply in high school? If
Alexander Russo's TFA crushes
tell us anything, the answer may
be yes.
BEAUTY IN THE
CLASSROOM:
INSTRUCTORS’
PULCHRITUDE AND
PUTATIVE PEDAGOGICAL
PRODUCTIVITY
Daniel S. Hamermesh and
Amy M. Parker
CLASSROOM:
INSTRUCTORS’
PULCHRITUDE AND
PUTATIVE PEDAGOGICAL
PRODUCTIVITY
Daniel S. Hamermesh and
Amy M. Parker
A more effective evaluation
system will ameliorate the
current situation, in which
teachers are almost always
fired for political, not
professional, reasons:
"...There is an INTENTIONAL
disposing of quality teachers
hidden by a pretense that they need
to dispose of bad teachers, which
is undermining the core of our
educational system, and thus our
democracy...
"This may be difficult to fathom, but
so were the priests abusing boys
and pretending this is not
happening only seals our fate as a
nation."
--Comment by teacherkh July 29,
2010 re the following:
Reactions to Rhee
By Anthony Rebora
Teacher Magazine
July 26, 2010
Valerie Strauss, in the Washington
Post's Answer Sheet blog, argues
that D.C. Schools Chancellor
Michelle Rhee's decision to fire 165
teachers for poor performance last
week was driven by a dubious
teacher-evaluation system. Called
IMPACT, the system is designed to
gauge teacher effectiveness based
on a combination of test score data
and classroom observations. But in
practice, according to Strauss,
neither measure can be considered
terribly reliable:
The overall impact of IMPACT is not
only unfair but not likely to do the job
it is supposed to do: Root out bad
teachers. Some great teachers are
likely to be tossed out, and others,
who know how to play along when
the observers come in but don't do
much when they aren't, could get a
pass.
On the other hand, a Newsweek
political blog--after suggesting that
Rhee's bold action is validation for
the magazine's infamous cover
story on the need to fire bad
teachers--states confidently that
IMPACT "was designed by Rhee's
staff with input from 500 district
teachers, and could become a
national model." (Emphasis
added.) ...
system will ameliorate the
current situation, in which
teachers are almost always
fired for political, not
professional, reasons:
"...There is an INTENTIONAL
disposing of quality teachers
hidden by a pretense that they need
to dispose of bad teachers, which
is undermining the core of our
educational system, and thus our
democracy...
"This may be difficult to fathom, but
so were the priests abusing boys
and pretending this is not
happening only seals our fate as a
nation."
--Comment by teacherkh July 29,
2010 re the following:
Reactions to Rhee
By Anthony Rebora
Teacher Magazine
July 26, 2010
Valerie Strauss, in the Washington
Post's Answer Sheet blog, argues
that D.C. Schools Chancellor
Michelle Rhee's decision to fire 165
teachers for poor performance last
week was driven by a dubious
teacher-evaluation system. Called
IMPACT, the system is designed to
gauge teacher effectiveness based
on a combination of test score data
and classroom observations. But in
practice, according to Strauss,
neither measure can be considered
terribly reliable:
The overall impact of IMPACT is not
only unfair but not likely to do the job
it is supposed to do: Root out bad
teachers. Some great teachers are
likely to be tossed out, and others,
who know how to play along when
the observers come in but don't do
much when they aren't, could get a
pass.
On the other hand, a Newsweek
political blog--after suggesting that
Rhee's bold action is validation for
the magazine's infamous cover
story on the need to fire bad
teachers--states confidently that
IMPACT "was designed by Rhee's
staff with input from 500 district
teachers, and could become a
national model." (Emphasis
added.) ...
It's not enough (and maybe it's
not even necessary) to get rid of
the worst teachers. Just let them
work in an assistant capacity, for
less pay.
And what about the mediocre
teachers? That is probably the
most serious problem, but one
that can be fixed. Mediocre
teachers should not be left
entirely to their own devices.
They should have master
teachers filling in the gaps and
overruling their worst decisions.
One master teacher would be
assigned to three or four regular
teachers, and would have
ultimate responsibility for the
success of the students (and be
paid much better than the regular
teachers).
not even necessary) to get rid of
the worst teachers. Just let them
work in an assistant capacity, for
less pay.
And what about the mediocre
teachers? That is probably the
most serious problem, but one
that can be fixed. Mediocre
teachers should not be left
entirely to their own devices.
They should have master
teachers filling in the gaps and
overruling their worst decisions.
One master teacher would be
assigned to three or four regular
teachers, and would have
ultimate responsibility for the
success of the students (and be
paid much better than the regular
teachers).
Interviewing to keep your job
Voice of San Diego
June 12, 2008
"...All vice principals underwent a new interview
to compete for a shifting pool of jobs. The interview is
modeled on the teachings of University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
professor Martin Haberman, who studies disadvantaged students and the
educators who help them best. Principals applying for new jobs were
interviewed as well.
"San Diego Unified signed a $23,000 contract with the Haberman
Educational Foundation to train staffers in the interview process, which
includes problem-solving scenarios and is meant to reveal the applicants'
core values. Two people ask open-ended questions during a
tape-recorded interview and score the answers.
"It's a different kind of interview. You can't really bone up. Nobody
really knows how they did," said Bruce McGirr, president of the
Administrators Association and principal at Grant School in Mission Hills.
"They walk out shaking their heads."
"The Haberman Educational Foundation declined to release interview
questions, but Grier offered examples of scenarios: How might a
principal evaluate their school's achievement? How would they improve
it? And who would they involve in that process?
"You're posed with a situation you'd find pretty typical in any school, but
especially in an urban school district. It could be a very simple question,
but the answer itself reflects what you value," said human resources
director Sam Wong. "What guides your actions, if not your values?"
If their eyes glaze over, Grier said they aren't likely to succeed.
Voice of San Diego
June 12, 2008
"...All vice principals underwent a new interview
to compete for a shifting pool of jobs. The interview is
modeled on the teachings of University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
professor Martin Haberman, who studies disadvantaged students and the
educators who help them best. Principals applying for new jobs were
interviewed as well.
"San Diego Unified signed a $23,000 contract with the Haberman
Educational Foundation to train staffers in the interview process, which
includes problem-solving scenarios and is meant to reveal the applicants'
core values. Two people ask open-ended questions during a
tape-recorded interview and score the answers.
"It's a different kind of interview. You can't really bone up. Nobody
really knows how they did," said Bruce McGirr, president of the
Administrators Association and principal at Grant School in Mission Hills.
"They walk out shaking their heads."
"The Haberman Educational Foundation declined to release interview
questions, but Grier offered examples of scenarios: How might a
principal evaluate their school's achievement? How would they improve
it? And who would they involve in that process?
"You're posed with a situation you'd find pretty typical in any school, but
especially in an urban school district. It could be a very simple question,
but the answer itself reflects what you value," said human resources
director Sam Wong. "What guides your actions, if not your values?"
If their eyes glaze over, Grier said they aren't likely to succeed.
Evaluate teachers--but don't fire them
Teachers should be evaluated through observations by experienced
teachers from other school districts (to limit the role of politics). The
evaluators shouldn't even know beforehand whom they're going to evaluate.
New teachers could accompany and assist the evaluators; observing and
assessing is a great way to learn.
There could be a standard list of traits to look for.
Every teacher would be given a classification--highly qualified,
qualified, not fully qualified (apprentice) based on 4 criteria:
teachers from other school districts (to limit the role of politics). The
evaluators shouldn't even know beforehand whom they're going to evaluate.
New teachers could accompany and assist the evaluators; observing and
assessing is a great way to learn.
There could be a standard list of traits to look for.
Every teacher would be given a classification--highly qualified,
qualified, not fully qualified (apprentice) based on 4 criteria:
Blog posts about this topic:
Pay teachers double or triple
Evaluating teachers
Pay teachers double or triple
Evaluating teachers
Failure gets a pass:
Examining California public school districts'
effectiveness in removing teachers and other
educators who harm or poorly serve their
students.
L.A. Unified pays teachers not to teach
By Jason Song
About 160 instructors and others get salaries for doing nothing while their job fitness
is reviewed. They collect roughly $10 million a year, even as layoffs are considered
because of a budget gap.
Firing tenured teachers a tough and costly task
By Jason Song
A Times investigation finds the process so arduous that many principals don't even
try, except in the very worst cases.
Joseph Walker, former principal of Grant High School in Van Nuys, says that because
of the uphill battles that administrators face in terminating teachers: “You’re not going
to fire someone who’s not doing their job. And if you have someone who’s done
something really egregious, there’s only a 50-50 chance that you can fire them.”
A Times investigation finds the process so arduous that many principals don't even
try, except in the very worst cases. Jettisoning a teacher solely because he or she
can't teach is rare.
Path to dismissal
* Failure gets a pass: a Times investigation
To fire or not to fire? [Only 20 out of 159 dismissals were related to poor teaching.]
A look at differing outcomes in the firing
process
May 3, 2009
Terrance Britt
Position: School counselor, Henry Clay Middle School, L.A. Unified School District
Allegations: At after-work gathering in 2006, got in argument in which he grabbed a
female co-worker. Her 57-year-old boyfriend later confronted Britt, 36, and Britt beat
him severely. Britt pleaded no contest to assault.
Defense: He paid restitution, attended AA, anger management classes. Told
commission he was not "totally innocent" but believed others played a significant part
in the incident. His lawyer said Britt acted in self-defense.
Decision: Firing overturned in 2007. L.A. Unified "failed to establish that [Britt's]
misconduct or his conviction has adversely affected students or other district
employees." He's now a counselor at Bret Harte Preparatory Middle School in South L.
A.
Matef Harmachis
Position: Economics and government teacher, Santa Barbara School District
Allegations: Put student in headlock; made offensive remarks such as: "Just because
you're good in bed doesn't mean you can eat in class." Hugged, kissed a girl, told her
to "rub her body all over his."
Defense: He denied some of the statements, said others were not intended as
sexual. Said prominent parents pressured district to dismiss him and he did not get
proper notice of the allegations.
Decision: Firing overturned in 2006. His comments show an unfitness to teach in
some respects but he "did not have improper sexual motivations for his conduct.
Rather he sought to achieve class goals or to counsel students about life choices."
Appellate court upheld earlier decisions reinstating his job.
Michael Klinkert
Position: Special education teacher, Grossmont Union High School District
Allegations: Delayed or denied meals to misbehaving students, sometimes for a full
afternoon. Allowed staff to use foul language, tell inappropriate jokes in front of
children.
Defense: Former recipient of Distinguished Service Award, reputation as dedicated
and skillful. When confronted by an aide about withholding meals, he immediately
stopped.
Decision: Firing overturned in 2006. Appellate court upheld earlier decisions
reinstating his job.
Paul J. Ewell
Position: Math teacher at Aliso Viejo Middle School, Capistrano Unified School District
Allegations: Had an improper relationship with a 14-year-old. Although sexual
relations weren't alleged, the two shared intimate communications despite
complaints from the child's mother that it was "abnormal."
Defense: The former Teacher of the Year said he was "passionate about teaching."
Contended that the inquiry violated his civil rights and that the district was mainly at
fault because it failed to provide teachers with concrete examples of sexual
harassment.
Decision: Fired in 2008. Commissioners found his conduct "weird, stupid, creepy,
sick, unjustifiable, extremely disturbing, completely inappropriate and beyond the
bounds of professionalism."
Ron Bhare
Position: Science teacher, Mira Costa High School, Manhattan Beach Joint Unified
School District
Allegations: Threatened to abuse students who didn't do well on test, saying they
would have to "bend over and grab their ankles"; threw objects at students; put some
in headlocks. Advocated inflicting violence against illegal immigrants; sprayed butane
at a student who was toying with a lighted Bunsen burner, threatening to set his
clothes on fire.
Defense: Bhare admitted mistakes and sought "clinical treatment." Many students
said he was one of the best teachers they had ever had.
Decision: Fired in 2003. Commission majority said retaining this "otherwise excellent
teacher" would expose the district to liability.
Iris Mayers
Position: Third-grade teacher, Longfellow Elementary School, Compton Unified
School District
Allegations: Physically abused students on six occasions in 1994-95. Slapped one
girl who had brought a note from a family member asking Mayers to stop mistreating
her. After an investigation, was returned to the classroom in 1995-96 and physically
abused students on eight more occasions.
Defense: Mayers said she did nothing wrong and "accepts no responsibility for her
conduct," according to documents filed with the state.
Decision: Fired in 1998.
A sampling of cases decided in the last 15 years by Commissions on Professional
Competence, the final administrative arbiters of whether teachers or other
credentialed employees should be fired.
Examining California public school districts'
effectiveness in removing teachers and other
educators who harm or poorly serve their
students.
L.A. Unified pays teachers not to teach
By Jason Song
About 160 instructors and others get salaries for doing nothing while their job fitness
is reviewed. They collect roughly $10 million a year, even as layoffs are considered
because of a budget gap.
Firing tenured teachers a tough and costly task
By Jason Song
A Times investigation finds the process so arduous that many principals don't even
try, except in the very worst cases.
Joseph Walker, former principal of Grant High School in Van Nuys, says that because
of the uphill battles that administrators face in terminating teachers: “You’re not going
to fire someone who’s not doing their job. And if you have someone who’s done
something really egregious, there’s only a 50-50 chance that you can fire them.”
A Times investigation finds the process so arduous that many principals don't even
try, except in the very worst cases. Jettisoning a teacher solely because he or she
can't teach is rare.
Path to dismissal
* Failure gets a pass: a Times investigation
To fire or not to fire? [Only 20 out of 159 dismissals were related to poor teaching.]
A look at differing outcomes in the firing
process
May 3, 2009
Terrance Britt
Position: School counselor, Henry Clay Middle School, L.A. Unified School District
Allegations: At after-work gathering in 2006, got in argument in which he grabbed a
female co-worker. Her 57-year-old boyfriend later confronted Britt, 36, and Britt beat
him severely. Britt pleaded no contest to assault.
Defense: He paid restitution, attended AA, anger management classes. Told
commission he was not "totally innocent" but believed others played a significant part
in the incident. His lawyer said Britt acted in self-defense.
Decision: Firing overturned in 2007. L.A. Unified "failed to establish that [Britt's]
misconduct or his conviction has adversely affected students or other district
employees." He's now a counselor at Bret Harte Preparatory Middle School in South L.
A.
Matef Harmachis
Position: Economics and government teacher, Santa Barbara School District
Allegations: Put student in headlock; made offensive remarks such as: "Just because
you're good in bed doesn't mean you can eat in class." Hugged, kissed a girl, told her
to "rub her body all over his."
Defense: He denied some of the statements, said others were not intended as
sexual. Said prominent parents pressured district to dismiss him and he did not get
proper notice of the allegations.
Decision: Firing overturned in 2006. His comments show an unfitness to teach in
some respects but he "did not have improper sexual motivations for his conduct.
Rather he sought to achieve class goals or to counsel students about life choices."
Appellate court upheld earlier decisions reinstating his job.
Michael Klinkert
Position: Special education teacher, Grossmont Union High School District
Allegations: Delayed or denied meals to misbehaving students, sometimes for a full
afternoon. Allowed staff to use foul language, tell inappropriate jokes in front of
children.
Defense: Former recipient of Distinguished Service Award, reputation as dedicated
and skillful. When confronted by an aide about withholding meals, he immediately
stopped.
Decision: Firing overturned in 2006. Appellate court upheld earlier decisions
reinstating his job.
Paul J. Ewell
Position: Math teacher at Aliso Viejo Middle School, Capistrano Unified School District
Allegations: Had an improper relationship with a 14-year-old. Although sexual
relations weren't alleged, the two shared intimate communications despite
complaints from the child's mother that it was "abnormal."
Defense: The former Teacher of the Year said he was "passionate about teaching."
Contended that the inquiry violated his civil rights and that the district was mainly at
fault because it failed to provide teachers with concrete examples of sexual
harassment.
Decision: Fired in 2008. Commissioners found his conduct "weird, stupid, creepy,
sick, unjustifiable, extremely disturbing, completely inappropriate and beyond the
bounds of professionalism."
Ron Bhare
Position: Science teacher, Mira Costa High School, Manhattan Beach Joint Unified
School District
Allegations: Threatened to abuse students who didn't do well on test, saying they
would have to "bend over and grab their ankles"; threw objects at students; put some
in headlocks. Advocated inflicting violence against illegal immigrants; sprayed butane
at a student who was toying with a lighted Bunsen burner, threatening to set his
clothes on fire.
Defense: Bhare admitted mistakes and sought "clinical treatment." Many students
said he was one of the best teachers they had ever had.
Decision: Fired in 2003. Commission majority said retaining this "otherwise excellent
teacher" would expose the district to liability.
Iris Mayers
Position: Third-grade teacher, Longfellow Elementary School, Compton Unified
School District
Allegations: Physically abused students on six occasions in 1994-95. Slapped one
girl who had brought a note from a family member asking Mayers to stop mistreating
her. After an investigation, was returned to the classroom in 1995-96 and physically
abused students on eight more occasions.
Defense: Mayers said she did nothing wrong and "accepts no responsibility for her
conduct," according to documents filed with the state.
Decision: Fired in 1998.
A sampling of cases decided in the last 15 years by Commissions on Professional
Competence, the final administrative arbiters of whether teachers or other
credentialed employees should be fired.
We need evaluations of teachers conducted by professionals who have no
personal or political connections with the school or district of the teacher
being evaluated. The ratings should be used to decide who will be a
regular teacher, and who will be a master teacher with more responsibility.
personal or political connections with the school or district of the teacher
being evaluated. The ratings should be used to decide who will be a
regular teacher, and who will be a master teacher with more responsibility.
The teacher evaluation process needs to involve more than test scores and
a subjective evaluation by a principal. Principals, like students who
sabotage tests, are sometimes prone to playing politics. Why not have a
standardized process that includes student test scores, teacher test scores,
and observations of the teacher by professional evaluators? Why not rate
teachers like the bar association rates lawyers who are candidates for
judicial office: highly qualified, qualified, or not fully qualified. Those who
are not qualified for full classroom responsibility wouldn't have to be fired;
they could be given jobs with less responsibility, and be supervised by
highly qualified teachers.
a subjective evaluation by a principal. Principals, like students who
sabotage tests, are sometimes prone to playing politics. Why not have a
standardized process that includes student test scores, teacher test scores,
and observations of the teacher by professional evaluators? Why not rate
teachers like the bar association rates lawyers who are candidates for
judicial office: highly qualified, qualified, or not fully qualified. Those who
are not qualified for full classroom responsibility wouldn't have to be fired;
they could be given jobs with less responsibility, and be supervised by
highly qualified teachers.
Maura Larkins response to MT:
I think that the board harms students by NOT instituting an effective
way to evaluate teachers.
The funny thing is that they could do this without harming teachers.
Once they knew who were the super teachers and who were the
uninspired teachers, they could make sure all teachers were
assigned appropriate jobs. This would mean differences in pay. Is
this bad for teachers? It's great for some, not so great for others,
but certainly not harmful for any. And it would be WONDERFUL for
the teaching profession. I think the union fights this idea because
some union big wigs might be among the downgraded teachers.
I think that the board harms students by NOT instituting an effective
way to evaluate teachers.
The funny thing is that they could do this without harming teachers.
Once they knew who were the super teachers and who were the
uninspired teachers, they could make sure all teachers were
assigned appropriate jobs. This would mean differences in pay. Is
this bad for teachers? It's great for some, not so great for others,
but certainly not harmful for any. And it would be WONDERFUL for
the teaching profession. I think the union fights this idea because
some union big wigs might be among the downgraded teachers.
Grier's Gone: Good Grief, or Good Riddance?
Voice of San Diego
ANDREW DONOHUE
August 20, 2009
Superintendent Terry Grier's pending departure from San Diego Unified leaves the
school district on the prowl for another chief.
What do you think about his departure? Is it a black eye for San Diego, which has
had three schools chiefs in four years? Do you blame anyone or is this just the way
the business goes?...
Comment:
...[Y]ou wrote that teachers are the back-bone of our education system, yet you also
wrote that you will never vote for another school board candidate that is backed with
("significant") campaign contributions from teachers. That's outrageous! What a
thanks to teachers!
I would really like to dare readers to point out AT LEAST one decision that the
supposedly "union-controlled" school board did that was harmful to students
but beneficial to teachers. Please!...
Posted by MT
Voice of San Diego
ANDREW DONOHUE
August 20, 2009
Superintendent Terry Grier's pending departure from San Diego Unified leaves the
school district on the prowl for another chief.
What do you think about his departure? Is it a black eye for San Diego, which has
had three schools chiefs in four years? Do you blame anyone or is this just the way
the business goes?...
Comment:
...[Y]ou wrote that teachers are the back-bone of our education system, yet you also
wrote that you will never vote for another school board candidate that is backed with
("significant") campaign contributions from teachers. That's outrageous! What a
thanks to teachers!
I would really like to dare readers to point out AT LEAST one decision that the
supposedly "union-controlled" school board did that was harmful to students
but beneficial to teachers. Please!...
Posted by MT
Tear Down that (Fire)Wall!
Eduflack
Improving Education Through Effective Communications
2009/08/17
In recent weeks, there has been a great deal of
attention with regard to firewalls and the
linkages between the evaluation of teachers
and the achievement of students. The current draft criteria
for Race to the Top proclaims that states must be able to use student performance
data from their respective state assessments, crosswalking it back to the classroom to
determine which teachers have been effective (and which have not). In a new era of
teacher incentives and merit pay, the trickledown of federal law will soon demand that
good teachers "show" their effectiveness, and that there is no stronger measure for it
than how well their students achieve.
As soon as those draft criteria were written, we started hearing of the legal obstacles
policymakers in California, New York, Nevada, and Wisconsin would need to overcome
(as all four states currently prohibit linking individual teachers to student achievement
data). California claims that while it is prohibited at the state level, exemplar school
districts like Long Beach Unified are already pursuing such policies. New Yorkers
immediately go on the defensive, and claim that the federal interpretation of laws in the
Empire State is incorrect. Wisconsin's soon-to-be former governor is quickly working
with the state legislature to reverse their firewall issue. And what happens in Vegas is
clearly staying there, as we've heard nary a peep from Nevada on their plans to
address a potential stumbling block to RttT funds.
At the heart of the firewall issue is one incredibly important philosophy. If we are to
improve the quality of K-12 education in the United States, we need to ensure effective,
high-quality teaching is happening in classrooms throughout the nation. To ensure
that, we need hard, strong, irrefutable quantitative measures for determining effective
teaching. And the surest path to determining effective teaching is by measuring the
outputs. Good teaching results in effective learning. Effective learning shows itself on
student assessments. Strong student assessments mean quality teaching in the
classroom. Rinse and repeat.
Is it as simple as that? In an era where most of our student assessments are focused
on measuring reading and math proficiency in grades three through eight, do we really
have a full quantitative picture to separate the good teachers from the bad? Do we
really have the data to determine effective teaching from that which is getting in the way
of achievement? And do we know enough about student performance data that we are
able to make very clear cause/effect determinations of teacher quality based on student
test scores, without needing to factor in the other variables, factors, and resources that
ultimately impact a student's ability to learn?
Don't get me wrong, Eduflack is all for focusing on teacher quality. We have schools of
education who are turning out teachers that lack the pedagogy or content knowledge to
succeed (with most of them ending up in the schools and communities that need
teachers the best). In fact, Harvard University Dean Merseth recently said that only 100
education schools are doing "a competent job," while the other 1,200 could be shut
down tomorrow.
At the same time, prevalent thinking has grown more and more in line with the belief
that pedagogy and clinical training simply do not matter. New teachers can get by on
four weeks of classroom prep, not four years. Low-quality teacher training programs
and questionable alternative certification pathways are all about throwing teachers into
the deep end, without ensuring that they are able to swim first. And we've built a
system where the classrooms and communities in the most need are rarely serving as
home to our strongest and most capable teachers. Struggling schools are made to
feel lucky they have a teacher at all, and are more than happy to just settle for a "warm
body."
The convergence of these beliefs and these realities paint a dangerous picture when it
comes to rewarding teacher quality and measuring it by student performance on state
assessments. Why?
Teaching is more than just reading and math. Yes, those two subjects represent the
very foundations of learning. Without reading and math skills, students will struggle
performing in other subjects. But if state assessments are our rubric, are we saying
that some subject matter teachers are less equal than others? We all know that
science will soon be brought on line, but what about other academic subjects. Social
studies and history. Art and music. Foreign languages. Even ELL and special
education. Do those teachers not fit into our bell curve of effective teaching if we do not
have state assessments for the subjects they teach? Are they not effective teachers
because we are not measuring student achievement in their chosen academic fields?
What about the notion of the teacher team? If I am a middle school student, my
performance on the state reading exam is impacted by more than just what is
happening in my ELA class. Hopefully, my social studies teacher is introducing new
vocabulary words and forcing me to apply critical thinking and comprehension skills to
what I am reading. My first or second year of a foreign language is getting me to reflect
more closely on sentence structure and the roots and meanings of key words or word
parts. Even my math and science classes are contributing to my overall literacy skills.
So if I gain on the state reading exam, is that just a win for my reading teacher (as the
current proposals would call for) or is that a win for the entire faculty? Should teacher
success be based on the success of the school, with a rising instructional tide lifting all
boats, or can it really be winnowed down to a one-to-one formula, where a boost in an
individual student's reading score is solely credited to the teacher who happened to
have them in the ELA class for 45 minutes a day?
What about longitudinal gains? In Washington, DC, this year we witnessed how
targeted test skill development can influence performance on the state exam. So are
we asking teachers to do test prep or to teach? Are they to facilitate or to educate?
Seems that the ultimate measure of a teacher is not just the short term gain on the
state assessment, but also how well the student retains that knowledge and applies it
in future grades and in future studies. But how, exactly, do we capture that in a quick
and dirty way? In an era where we still look for the immediate payoff, no one wants to
wait and see the longitudinal academic gains of students, ensuring that there are no
drop-offs from fourth grade until eighth grade?
Are all gains equal? If I am a math teacher in an upper class suburban public school,
and my students post five point gains on the state assessment, taking them from 92
percent to 97 percent, is that equal to a math teacher in a failing urban middle school
who boosts student math performance from 45 percent to 50 percent? Is a gain a gain,
or are some gains more equal than others? Do teachers get extra points for impacting
the achievement gap? Is there a weighted system for demonstrating gains in dropout
factories or historically low-performing schools? Is demonstrating real movement in
the bottom quintile worth more than moving a few points in the uppermost quintile?
And then we have all of the intangibles that should be factored into the mix. Class size.
Native languages. Pre-service education. In-service professional development.
Quality and quantity of instructional materials. Accessibility to mentor teachers.
Parental involvement. Principal and administrator support. All play a role in driving
student achievement and ultimately closing the achievement gap. How do all get
factored into the formula that student achievement plus teacher incentives equals
effective educators?
We should be doing everything we can to strengthen the teaching profession and
ensure that classrooms in need are getting the most effective teachers possible. We
should acknowledge that not everyone is cut out for teaching, and that getting that first
teaching job and a union card should not be the only tools required to assure lifetime
employment. And we should look to quantifiably measure teacher effectiveness,
recognizing that the ultimate ROI for education is whether students are learning or not
(and that they are able to retain it). We should be incentivizing superstar teachers,
particularly those who teach hard-to-staff subjects or in hard-to-staff schools.
But before we tear down the remaining firewalls and decide that teacher evaluations
are based solely on a student's singular performance on a bubble sheet exam, we
need to make sure we aren't moving a bad solution forward without truly diagnosing the
problem. Virtually all states are struggling to implement good data systems that track
students longitudinally. Before such data tracking is in place, can we really use the
numbers to evaluate teacher performance? Current standards are a hodgepodge of
the good, bad, and ugly when it comes to what we are teaching students and what we
expect them to learn. Can we evaluate teachers on student performance when we
have no national agreement on what student proficiency in fourth or eighth grade truly
looks like, regardless of zip code or state lines? And can we truly use assessments to
evaluate teachers when the vast majority of educators teach subjects or grades that
simply aren't assessed in the first place?
Seems we need to focus on the development and implementation of our standards,
our assessments, and our data collection before we can move to step 106 and begin
applying that data to determine the salaries, longevity, and very existence of the
teachers we are linking it to. In our zeal to fix the problem, we could be creating a slew
of additional ones. And at the end of the day, none of them get at the heart of the matter
— improving the quality of instruction while boosting student learning and closing the
gaps between the haves and have nots.
Eduflack
Improving Education Through Effective Communications
2009/08/17
In recent weeks, there has been a great deal of
attention with regard to firewalls and the
linkages between the evaluation of teachers
and the achievement of students. The current draft criteria
for Race to the Top proclaims that states must be able to use student performance
data from their respective state assessments, crosswalking it back to the classroom to
determine which teachers have been effective (and which have not). In a new era of
teacher incentives and merit pay, the trickledown of federal law will soon demand that
good teachers "show" their effectiveness, and that there is no stronger measure for it
than how well their students achieve.
As soon as those draft criteria were written, we started hearing of the legal obstacles
policymakers in California, New York, Nevada, and Wisconsin would need to overcome
(as all four states currently prohibit linking individual teachers to student achievement
data). California claims that while it is prohibited at the state level, exemplar school
districts like Long Beach Unified are already pursuing such policies. New Yorkers
immediately go on the defensive, and claim that the federal interpretation of laws in the
Empire State is incorrect. Wisconsin's soon-to-be former governor is quickly working
with the state legislature to reverse their firewall issue. And what happens in Vegas is
clearly staying there, as we've heard nary a peep from Nevada on their plans to
address a potential stumbling block to RttT funds.
At the heart of the firewall issue is one incredibly important philosophy. If we are to
improve the quality of K-12 education in the United States, we need to ensure effective,
high-quality teaching is happening in classrooms throughout the nation. To ensure
that, we need hard, strong, irrefutable quantitative measures for determining effective
teaching. And the surest path to determining effective teaching is by measuring the
outputs. Good teaching results in effective learning. Effective learning shows itself on
student assessments. Strong student assessments mean quality teaching in the
classroom. Rinse and repeat.
Is it as simple as that? In an era where most of our student assessments are focused
on measuring reading and math proficiency in grades three through eight, do we really
have a full quantitative picture to separate the good teachers from the bad? Do we
really have the data to determine effective teaching from that which is getting in the way
of achievement? And do we know enough about student performance data that we are
able to make very clear cause/effect determinations of teacher quality based on student
test scores, without needing to factor in the other variables, factors, and resources that
ultimately impact a student's ability to learn?
Don't get me wrong, Eduflack is all for focusing on teacher quality. We have schools of
education who are turning out teachers that lack the pedagogy or content knowledge to
succeed (with most of them ending up in the schools and communities that need
teachers the best). In fact, Harvard University Dean Merseth recently said that only 100
education schools are doing "a competent job," while the other 1,200 could be shut
down tomorrow.
At the same time, prevalent thinking has grown more and more in line with the belief
that pedagogy and clinical training simply do not matter. New teachers can get by on
four weeks of classroom prep, not four years. Low-quality teacher training programs
and questionable alternative certification pathways are all about throwing teachers into
the deep end, without ensuring that they are able to swim first. And we've built a
system where the classrooms and communities in the most need are rarely serving as
home to our strongest and most capable teachers. Struggling schools are made to
feel lucky they have a teacher at all, and are more than happy to just settle for a "warm
body."
The convergence of these beliefs and these realities paint a dangerous picture when it
comes to rewarding teacher quality and measuring it by student performance on state
assessments. Why?
Teaching is more than just reading and math. Yes, those two subjects represent the
very foundations of learning. Without reading and math skills, students will struggle
performing in other subjects. But if state assessments are our rubric, are we saying
that some subject matter teachers are less equal than others? We all know that
science will soon be brought on line, but what about other academic subjects. Social
studies and history. Art and music. Foreign languages. Even ELL and special
education. Do those teachers not fit into our bell curve of effective teaching if we do not
have state assessments for the subjects they teach? Are they not effective teachers
because we are not measuring student achievement in their chosen academic fields?
What about the notion of the teacher team? If I am a middle school student, my
performance on the state reading exam is impacted by more than just what is
happening in my ELA class. Hopefully, my social studies teacher is introducing new
vocabulary words and forcing me to apply critical thinking and comprehension skills to
what I am reading. My first or second year of a foreign language is getting me to reflect
more closely on sentence structure and the roots and meanings of key words or word
parts. Even my math and science classes are contributing to my overall literacy skills.
So if I gain on the state reading exam, is that just a win for my reading teacher (as the
current proposals would call for) or is that a win for the entire faculty? Should teacher
success be based on the success of the school, with a rising instructional tide lifting all
boats, or can it really be winnowed down to a one-to-one formula, where a boost in an
individual student's reading score is solely credited to the teacher who happened to
have them in the ELA class for 45 minutes a day?
What about longitudinal gains? In Washington, DC, this year we witnessed how
targeted test skill development can influence performance on the state exam. So are
we asking teachers to do test prep or to teach? Are they to facilitate or to educate?
Seems that the ultimate measure of a teacher is not just the short term gain on the
state assessment, but also how well the student retains that knowledge and applies it
in future grades and in future studies. But how, exactly, do we capture that in a quick
and dirty way? In an era where we still look for the immediate payoff, no one wants to
wait and see the longitudinal academic gains of students, ensuring that there are no
drop-offs from fourth grade until eighth grade?
Are all gains equal? If I am a math teacher in an upper class suburban public school,
and my students post five point gains on the state assessment, taking them from 92
percent to 97 percent, is that equal to a math teacher in a failing urban middle school
who boosts student math performance from 45 percent to 50 percent? Is a gain a gain,
or are some gains more equal than others? Do teachers get extra points for impacting
the achievement gap? Is there a weighted system for demonstrating gains in dropout
factories or historically low-performing schools? Is demonstrating real movement in
the bottom quintile worth more than moving a few points in the uppermost quintile?
And then we have all of the intangibles that should be factored into the mix. Class size.
Native languages. Pre-service education. In-service professional development.
Quality and quantity of instructional materials. Accessibility to mentor teachers.
Parental involvement. Principal and administrator support. All play a role in driving
student achievement and ultimately closing the achievement gap. How do all get
factored into the formula that student achievement plus teacher incentives equals
effective educators?
We should be doing everything we can to strengthen the teaching profession and
ensure that classrooms in need are getting the most effective teachers possible. We
should acknowledge that not everyone is cut out for teaching, and that getting that first
teaching job and a union card should not be the only tools required to assure lifetime
employment. And we should look to quantifiably measure teacher effectiveness,
recognizing that the ultimate ROI for education is whether students are learning or not
(and that they are able to retain it). We should be incentivizing superstar teachers,
particularly those who teach hard-to-staff subjects or in hard-to-staff schools.
But before we tear down the remaining firewalls and decide that teacher evaluations
are based solely on a student's singular performance on a bubble sheet exam, we
need to make sure we aren't moving a bad solution forward without truly diagnosing the
problem. Virtually all states are struggling to implement good data systems that track
students longitudinally. Before such data tracking is in place, can we really use the
numbers to evaluate teacher performance? Current standards are a hodgepodge of
the good, bad, and ugly when it comes to what we are teaching students and what we
expect them to learn. Can we evaluate teachers on student performance when we
have no national agreement on what student proficiency in fourth or eighth grade truly
looks like, regardless of zip code or state lines? And can we truly use assessments to
evaluate teachers when the vast majority of educators teach subjects or grades that
simply aren't assessed in the first place?
Seems we need to focus on the development and implementation of our standards,
our assessments, and our data collection before we can move to step 106 and begin
applying that data to determine the salaries, longevity, and very existence of the
teachers we are linking it to. In our zeal to fix the problem, we could be creating a slew
of additional ones. And at the end of the day, none of them get at the heart of the matter
— improving the quality of instruction while boosting student learning and closing the
gaps between the haves and have nots.
Observations are the key to teacher
evaluations
Teachers enjoy the same kind of grade inflation that students enjoy: good
evaluations for little effort. Schools are rather clubby institutions, with the teachers' lounge
and the principal's office acting as the clubhouse and golf links. Most principals spend very
little time in the classroom, but they spend plenty of time talking to the aggressively political
teachers who visit their offices. Sometimes principals even tell teachers to write their own
evaluations. Some schools are fortunate to have very professional staffs, but most staffs
are a mixture of political players and those who simply try to stay out of their way. The focus
on personal politics results in lots of subjective decision making. I agree that observation is
the key to evaluation, but principals need visiting professionals who aren't in
the club to do the serious evaluating and decision making.
Measuring Teaching
Voice of San Diego
RICK BEACH
September 28, 2009
...For all these reasons, simplistic measures of student learning are ineffective for teachers.
Test scores simply have too many problems to rely upon for comparisons about teaching.
What does work? Professional standards of teaching and observation of teaching behaviors
consistent with those standards will work.
Things like asking good questions of students, inspiring curiosity and motivating inquiry
about the subject. Things like differentiating the material based on what the child already
knows, or doesn't know. Those were the qualities of teachers that made a difference in my
life. And I'm a Ph.D. who got 16 percent on my first algebra test!
Not as easy as scanning test answer sheets for 500,000 students, but a better way to
recognize good teaching is when your child experiences it.
evaluations
Teachers enjoy the same kind of grade inflation that students enjoy: good
evaluations for little effort. Schools are rather clubby institutions, with the teachers' lounge
and the principal's office acting as the clubhouse and golf links. Most principals spend very
little time in the classroom, but they spend plenty of time talking to the aggressively political
teachers who visit their offices. Sometimes principals even tell teachers to write their own
evaluations. Some schools are fortunate to have very professional staffs, but most staffs
are a mixture of political players and those who simply try to stay out of their way. The focus
on personal politics results in lots of subjective decision making. I agree that observation is
the key to evaluation, but principals need visiting professionals who aren't in
the club to do the serious evaluating and decision making.
Measuring Teaching
Voice of San Diego
RICK BEACH
September 28, 2009
...For all these reasons, simplistic measures of student learning are ineffective for teachers.
Test scores simply have too many problems to rely upon for comparisons about teaching.
What does work? Professional standards of teaching and observation of teaching behaviors
consistent with those standards will work.
Things like asking good questions of students, inspiring curiosity and motivating inquiry
about the subject. Things like differentiating the material based on what the child already
knows, or doesn't know. Those were the qualities of teachers that made a difference in my
life. And I'm a Ph.D. who got 16 percent on my first algebra test!
Not as easy as scanning test answer sheets for 500,000 students, but a better way to
recognize good teaching is when your child experiences it.
Firing tenured teachers can be a
costly and tortuous task
Liz O. Baylen
Los Angeles Times
By Jason Song
May 3, 2009
The eighth-grade boy held out his wrists for teacher Carlos Polanco to see.
He had just explained to Polanco and his history classmates at Virgil Middle School in
Koreatown why he had been absent: He had been in the hospital after an attempt at
suicide.
Polanco looked at the cuts and said they "were weak," according to witness accounts in
documents filed with the state. "Carve deeper next time," he was said to have told the
boy.
"Look," Polanco allegedly said, "you can't even kill yourself."
The boy's classmates joined in, with one advising how to cut a main artery, according to
the witnesses.
"See," Polanco was quoted as saying, "even he knows how to commit suicide better
than you."
The Los Angeles school board, citing Polanco's poor judgment, voted to fire him.
But Polanco, who contended that he had been misunderstood, kept his job. A
little-known review commission overruled the board, saying that although the teacher
had made the statements, he had meant no harm.
It's remarkably difficult to fire a tenured public school teacher in California, a Times
investigation has found. The path can be laborious and labyrinthine, in some cases
involving years of investigation, union grievances, administrative appeals, court
challenges and re-hearings.
Not only is the process arduous, but some districts are particularly unsuccessful in
navigating its complexities. The Los Angeles Unified School District sees the majority of
its appealed dismissals overturned, and its administrators are far less likely even to try
firing a tenured teacher than those in other districts.
The Times reviewed every case on record in the last 15 years in which a tenured
employee was fired by a California school district and formally contested the decision
before a review commission: 159 in all (not including about two dozen in which the
records were destroyed). The newspaper also examined court and school district
records and interviewed scores of people, including principals, teachers, union officials,
district administrators, parents and students.
Among the findings:
* Building a case for dismissal is so time-consuming, costly and draining for principals
and administrators that many say they don't make the effort except in the most egregious
cases. The vast majority of firings stem from blatant misconduct, including sexual
abuse, other immoral or illegal behavior, insubordination or repeated violation of rules
such as showing up on time.
* Although districts generally press ahead with only the strongest cases, even these get
knocked down more than a third of the time by the specially convened review panels,
which have the discretion to restore teachers' jobs even when grounds for dismissal are
proved.
* Jettisoning a teacher solely because he or she can't teach is rare. In 80% of the
dismissals that were upheld, classroom performance was not even a factor.
When teaching is at issue, years of effort -- and thousands of dollars -- sometimes go
into rehabilitating the teacher as students suffer. Over the three years before he was
fired, one struggling math teacher in Stockton was observed 13 times by school officials,
failed three year-end evaluations, was offered a more desirable assignment and joined
a mentoring program as most of his ninth-grade students flunked his courses.
As a case winds its way through the system, legal costs can soar into the six figures.
Meanwhile, said Kendra Wallace, principal of Daniel Webster Middle School on Los
Angeles' Westside, an ineffective teacher can instruct 125 to 260 students a year -- up to
1,300 in the five years she says it often takes to remove a tenured employee.
"The hardest conversation to have is when a student comes in and looks at you and
says, 'Can you please come teach our class?' " she said.
When coaching and other improvement efforts don't work, she said, "You're in the
position of having to look at 125 kids and just say, 'I'm sorry,' because the process of
removal is really difficult. . . . You're looking at these kids and knowing they are going to
high school and they're not ready. It is absolutely devastating." ...
costly and tortuous task
Liz O. Baylen
Los Angeles Times
By Jason Song
May 3, 2009
The eighth-grade boy held out his wrists for teacher Carlos Polanco to see.
He had just explained to Polanco and his history classmates at Virgil Middle School in
Koreatown why he had been absent: He had been in the hospital after an attempt at
suicide.
Polanco looked at the cuts and said they "were weak," according to witness accounts in
documents filed with the state. "Carve deeper next time," he was said to have told the
boy.
"Look," Polanco allegedly said, "you can't even kill yourself."
The boy's classmates joined in, with one advising how to cut a main artery, according to
the witnesses.
"See," Polanco was quoted as saying, "even he knows how to commit suicide better
than you."
The Los Angeles school board, citing Polanco's poor judgment, voted to fire him.
But Polanco, who contended that he had been misunderstood, kept his job. A
little-known review commission overruled the board, saying that although the teacher
had made the statements, he had meant no harm.
It's remarkably difficult to fire a tenured public school teacher in California, a Times
investigation has found. The path can be laborious and labyrinthine, in some cases
involving years of investigation, union grievances, administrative appeals, court
challenges and re-hearings.
Not only is the process arduous, but some districts are particularly unsuccessful in
navigating its complexities. The Los Angeles Unified School District sees the majority of
its appealed dismissals overturned, and its administrators are far less likely even to try
firing a tenured teacher than those in other districts.
The Times reviewed every case on record in the last 15 years in which a tenured
employee was fired by a California school district and formally contested the decision
before a review commission: 159 in all (not including about two dozen in which the
records were destroyed). The newspaper also examined court and school district
records and interviewed scores of people, including principals, teachers, union officials,
district administrators, parents and students.
Among the findings:
* Building a case for dismissal is so time-consuming, costly and draining for principals
and administrators that many say they don't make the effort except in the most egregious
cases. The vast majority of firings stem from blatant misconduct, including sexual
abuse, other immoral or illegal behavior, insubordination or repeated violation of rules
such as showing up on time.
* Although districts generally press ahead with only the strongest cases, even these get
knocked down more than a third of the time by the specially convened review panels,
which have the discretion to restore teachers' jobs even when grounds for dismissal are
proved.
* Jettisoning a teacher solely because he or she can't teach is rare. In 80% of the
dismissals that were upheld, classroom performance was not even a factor.
When teaching is at issue, years of effort -- and thousands of dollars -- sometimes go
into rehabilitating the teacher as students suffer. Over the three years before he was
fired, one struggling math teacher in Stockton was observed 13 times by school officials,
failed three year-end evaluations, was offered a more desirable assignment and joined
a mentoring program as most of his ninth-grade students flunked his courses.
As a case winds its way through the system, legal costs can soar into the six figures.
Meanwhile, said Kendra Wallace, principal of Daniel Webster Middle School on Los
Angeles' Westside, an ineffective teacher can instruct 125 to 260 students a year -- up to
1,300 in the five years she says it often takes to remove a tenured employee.
"The hardest conversation to have is when a student comes in and looks at you and
says, 'Can you please come teach our class?' " she said.
When coaching and other improvement efforts don't work, she said, "You're in the
position of having to look at 125 kids and just say, 'I'm sorry,' because the process of
removal is really difficult. . . . You're looking at these kids and knowing they are going to
high school and they're not ready. It is absolutely devastating." ...
San Diego Unified School District
School District Rehired Workers it Paid to Leave, Again
Voice of San Diego
July 1, 2010
By EMILY ALPERT
San Diego Unified offered its veteran employees a golden handshake last
summer: If they left the school district they could get paid one year of their
salary. More than 1,000 workers took the deal.
Replacing its most expensive, experienced workers with newer ones -- or
not replacing them at all -- was projected to save the school system more
than $41 million last year and spared San Diego Unified from layoffs as it
faced a $93 million deficit...
Voice of San Diego
July 1, 2010
By EMILY ALPERT
San Diego Unified offered its veteran employees a golden handshake last
summer: If they left the school district they could get paid one year of their
salary. More than 1,000 workers took the deal.
Replacing its most expensive, experienced workers with newer ones -- or
not replacing them at all -- was projected to save the school system more
than $41 million last year and spared San Diego Unified from layoffs as it
faced a $93 million deficit...
How should poor teachers be utilized?
1. Every classroom would have one standard teacher and one master
teacher. A standard teacher would have responsibility for one classroom,
while the master teacher would have responsibility for several
classrooms, teaching part time in each, taking responsibility for guiding
and educating both the students and the standard teachers. The master
teacher would give the most basic tasks to the poorest teachers, and
might even deputize the highest performing standard teachers to act as
master teacher.
2. Average-to-poor teachers would be placed in a standard teaching job,
but they would have the possibility of improving their scores and rising to
master teacher level.
Joint bonuses:
The most obvious problem that would arise in this situation is that the regular teachers
would not want to take direction from the master teachers. Teachers are notoriously
stubborn about doing things their own way, and have been known to form groups to
launch political and personal attacks on any teacher or principal that wants to do things
differently. My suggestion is to set up a system of bonuses that are awarded jointly to
the regular teacher and his/her master teacher. However, the master teacher would
have the major responsibility to see that students are successful.
3. The master teachers should be paid two to three times what the regular
teachers are paid in order to attract highly gifted individuals away from
careers as doctors, accountants, and CEOs.
1. Every classroom would have one standard teacher and one master
teacher. A standard teacher would have responsibility for one classroom,
while the master teacher would have responsibility for several
classrooms, teaching part time in each, taking responsibility for guiding
and educating both the students and the standard teachers. The master
teacher would give the most basic tasks to the poorest teachers, and
might even deputize the highest performing standard teachers to act as
master teacher.
2. Average-to-poor teachers would be placed in a standard teaching job,
but they would have the possibility of improving their scores and rising to
master teacher level.
Joint bonuses:
The most obvious problem that would arise in this situation is that the regular teachers
would not want to take direction from the master teachers. Teachers are notoriously
stubborn about doing things their own way, and have been known to form groups to
launch political and personal attacks on any teacher or principal that wants to do things
differently. My suggestion is to set up a system of bonuses that are awarded jointly to
the regular teacher and his/her master teacher. However, the master teacher would
have the major responsibility to see that students are successful.
3. The master teachers should be paid two to three times what the regular
teachers are paid in order to attract highly gifted individuals away from
careers as doctors, accountants, and CEOs.
I. multiple direct observations by unbiased observers
[Teachers in the same school could observe, too, but
the purpose would be less for evaluation and more for
professional development for both observer and
observed];
II. interview of teacher (also see below "Interviewing
to keep your job"; this would give teachers a chance to
give more information to evaluators);
III. standardized tests taken by the teachers
themselves.;
IV. . students' test scores.
[Teachers in the same school could observe, too, but
the purpose would be less for evaluation and more for
professional development for both observer and
observed];
II. interview of teacher (also see below "Interviewing
to keep your job"; this would give teachers a chance to
give more information to evaluators);
III. standardized tests taken by the teachers
themselves.;
IV. . students' test scores.
Does that sound crazy? Here's why its not:
Why CTA
loves
seniority
It helps them
maintain the fiction
that all teachers
are equally good at
their jobs
loves
seniority
It helps them
maintain the fiction
that all teachers
are equally good at
their jobs
"School leaders
hand out the pink
slips loyal to the
seniority rules -- a
result of state law.
Even reformers
concede state law
restricts the district
to this automated
application of the
practice.
"That doesn't mean
the local teachers
union doesn't like
the rules.
"The teachers union
is willing to howl
about the pain
inflicted by these
cuts on single
schools like Jackson
Elementary, but not
willing to shoulder
any of the blame for
the make up of the
rules that cause it to
happen.
hand out the pink
slips loyal to the
seniority rules -- a
result of state law.
Even reformers
concede state law
restricts the district
to this automated
application of the
practice.
"That doesn't mean
the local teachers
union doesn't like
the rules.
"The teachers union
is willing to howl
about the pain
inflicted by these
cuts on single
schools like Jackson
Elementary, but not
willing to shoulder
any of the blame for
the make up of the
rules that cause it to
happen.
When the new grandiose Lincoln
High opened to students this
year, it attracted too many
students. It also attracted a young
teacher from Chula Vista,
Guillermo Gomez.
I met Gomez at the teacher's
lounge during lunch at Lincoln
High recently. Gomez and his
colleagues were planning
marches and various ways to get
their students to express their
displeasure with proposed
school budget cuts around the
state -- cuts that, if fully
implemented as proposed,
would mean 913 school teachers
would be laid off districtwide.
Gomez would be one of them. A
year and a half ago, dressed in
black formal wear and smiling,
the young teacher accepted one
of the four awards given each
year to the "teachers of the year"
in the county. He had been a
teacher for 10 years at Vista
Square Elementary School in
Chula Vista.
Despite his success, the
opportunity to teach at Lincoln
High School's new School of
Social Justice intrigued him, and
Gomez moved not only into a
classroom with older kids but
into a new school district -- San
Diego Unified. He says he took a
$10,000 pay cut for the chance to
teach at Lincoln.
No doubt, Lincoln is an attractive
place. There are tennis courts on
top of the parking garage and
each classroom has a state-of-
the-art multimedia system. The
executive principal, Mel Collins,
strides around the campus
barking instructions at security
personnel and haranguing
loiterers unsure, or unwilling to
say, where they're supposed to
be.
At the old Lincoln, Collins said, a
group of three young men,
chatting and looking out over the
baseball field during class time
would have been overlooked, if
seen at all. Not anymore, he
says. In 15 minutes, I saw the
principal dress down three
security guards -- one for sitting
down...
It feels like good things are
happening at Lincoln. Gomez
clearly likes it. Not too long ago,
though, his new employers
repaid this enthusiasm with a
pink slip.
Now, talk to most anyone in the
education world and they'll
assure you that Gomez and 912
of his colleagues who have
gotten the pink slips probably
won't lose their jobs. They'll say
the governor and Legislature will
come to a compromise and the
eventual cuts will probably be
small enough that they can be
"absorbed." You have to love that
term in discussions about
government budgets. It usually
means that the infection of
troubled times is handled not
with a shocking amputation of
services or fat but with something
more like an injection of some
kind of calming but lethal poison
into the system. The symptoms
of the budget's troubles are
delayed, but the system's bones
rot.
"Everybody knows there's not
going to be a 10 percent hit to
education," said Camille Zombro,
the president of the local
teachers union, the San Diego
Education Association. She
added: "One or two percent can
be absorbed."
...Gomez is one of 18 certified
teachers at Lincoln who got the
letter. It's not because the district
and school don't value him and
the others. They might like them
very much. The problem is that
Gomez is considered a new
teacher in the city of San Diego.
His years in Chula Vista mean
nothing to the blind bureaucracy
of school contracts.
And since Lincoln is a new
school that recruited a lot of new
teachers and transfers from other
districts and charter schools, the
disruption of layoffs -- if they
aren't fictional -- will be
exaggerated. If the district must
cut, Lincoln will lose 18 teachers.
This is compared to seven at
Clairemont High School, eight at
Mira Mesa, 10 at Morse High and
nine at Point Loma High School.
The same thing is happening --
though worse -- at Jackson
Elementary School, just south of
San Diego State in east San
Diego, where 24 of the school's
26 teachers received notices that
they will be laid off if the budget
cuts are as severe as they
possibly can be.
Sure, they will be replaced. But
the people who come in will have
gotten bumped down from
schools where they wanted to be.
They may have done all they
could, in fact, to get away from
places like Jackson and Lincoln...
The old Lincoln was troubled.
The new Lincoln is just getting
started. If you rotate out a fifth of
its teachers after the first year,
you're not giving it much of a
chance at the beginning. Why
would anyone choose to hammer
Jackson and Lincoln and leave
other schools in more
prosperous neighborhoods
much less affected?
...In the teachers lounge that day
were some of Gomez'
colleagues, many of whom had
also received notices that their
employment was tenuous.
There was Edward Moller, an art
teacher, who's been a teacher for
nine years -- in the San Diego
Unified School District. But
because his first job was at
O'Farrell Community School, a
charter school, he's denied
seniority under rules devised by
the teachers union and district.
Moller was let go after cuts from
O'Farrell last year. But his
colleague, an English teacher
named Chris Dier, left O'Farrell
just because he wanted to be
part of the new Lincoln High.
Dier's enthusiasm was also
welcomed with a pink slip...
But a guy like Moller has to act on
his pink slip. He can't rest his
financial future on the blind hope
that the teachers union president
is correct when she scoffs that
the governor can't possibly be
serious about cutting the budget.
Moller is currently applying for
other jobs, hoping that the charter
school High Tech High, where he
once had an opportunity, might
be willing to hire when the rest of
the district fires. In times of
trouble, charter schools have
latitude to make budgeting
changes that protect teacher
jobs...
♦♦♦
School leaders hand out the
pink slips loyal to the seniority
rules -- a result of state law.
Even reformers concede state
law restricts the district to this
automated application of the
practice.
That doesn't mean the local
teachers union doesn't like the
rules.
The teachers union is willing to
howl about the pain inflicted by
these cuts on single schools
like Jackson Elementary, but
not willing to shoulder any of the
blame for the make up of the
rules that cause it to happen.
Ask union officials about the
disproportionate effect the
layoffs would have on a place
like Lincoln and they will say
something like what Zombro
told me.
"The school board should have
known it was going to have this
effect when they decided to do
this," she said.
To do what? The layoffs were
coming, we were told, from the
governor's recommended cut of
the education budget that would
result in $80 million in cuts for
San Diego Unified.
So what could San Diego Unified
have done to avoid it?
"They could have decided not to
lay off teachers," Zombro said.
It's sort of like arguing that the
Chargers could have avoided
losing last year's AFC
Championship Game by
deciding to score more points
than the Patriots.
Yes, they could have. But how?
Zombro claims the district is
top-heavy, and she rattled off
some stats. Across the state,
the average ratio is one student
for every 394 administrators. In
San Diego, she said, it is one
student for every 282
administrators.
It's a good point -- ironically
reminiscent, actually, of
conservative gripes about the
education system. OK, so say
they cut administrators at San
Diego Unified. There's a bit of a
problem: remember what
happens to them when you cut
their jobs? They don't line up for
unemployment, they bounce
someone else out of a lower
position. And the cascade of
doom slides down to the guy at
Lincoln.
So give me something else.
Well, it's simple, the unions
contend, the state shouldn't cut
education.
The district won't have to lay off
teachers if the state doesn't cut
its budget...
♦♦♦
There are other ironies. Jackson
Elementary, the one facing a
brutal turnover in the event of the
layoffs becoming reality, was just
Wednesday listed as one of the
"California Distinguished
Schools." According to a piece
put together recently by the
California Department of
Education, the school has
narrowed the much-fretted-about
achievement gap and improved
its situation dramatically.
Now, again, 24 of the school's 26
teachers could be replaced this
year.
No manager of a major
organization would institute
layoffs like this. Even government
agencies, like the city of Chula
Vista, give their departments a
chance to hit budget targets....
Without a change in state law, the
teachers could never be
evaluated by merit when
discussing layoffs...
A report from the U.S. Census
bureau last week put all the
numbers out on the table.
California ranked right in the
middle when you compare how
much the state spends per
student on education. No. 25 out
of 50.
The average state in the country
spends $9,138 per year per
student. California spends just
below that -- $8,486...
Reader feedback
...
11. Lee wrote on April 10, 2008 2:
29 PM:
"I taught for 35 years and knew
several 'Teachers of the Year',
and, although many were good
teachers, many were also
chosen because of their
popularity or their ability to
promote themselves. The very
best teachers I knew were never
the most popular, just the most
effective.
...
14. Ochoa wrote on April 10, 2008
"RE: ZOLLNER.... I also teach at
Lincoln, two rooms down from
Mr. Gomez. This is a great piece
and it's an honor to work w/ an
extraordinary educator who helps
his students in and out of the
classroom. In regards to the
10,000 pay-cut and the
comments made by "ZOLLNER",
districts always make exceptions
to their "6 Year" rule and honor all
years of service. The SDUSD did
this for Guillermo and the reason
why he had to take a pay-cut is
due to the fact that the SDUSD
ranks at the very bottom in
salaries for teachers compared
to other school districts. A
teacher in Chula Vista w/ the
exact same number of years
makes about 10,000 more than
one in the San Diego Unified
School district. The move was
obviously about contributing to
his community, not his own
pocket."
High opened to students this
year, it attracted too many
students. It also attracted a young
teacher from Chula Vista,
Guillermo Gomez.
I met Gomez at the teacher's
lounge during lunch at Lincoln
High recently. Gomez and his
colleagues were planning
marches and various ways to get
their students to express their
displeasure with proposed
school budget cuts around the
state -- cuts that, if fully
implemented as proposed,
would mean 913 school teachers
would be laid off districtwide.
Gomez would be one of them. A
year and a half ago, dressed in
black formal wear and smiling,
the young teacher accepted one
of the four awards given each
year to the "teachers of the year"
in the county. He had been a
teacher for 10 years at Vista
Square Elementary School in
Chula Vista.
Despite his success, the
opportunity to teach at Lincoln
High School's new School of
Social Justice intrigued him, and
Gomez moved not only into a
classroom with older kids but
into a new school district -- San
Diego Unified. He says he took a
$10,000 pay cut for the chance to
teach at Lincoln.
No doubt, Lincoln is an attractive
place. There are tennis courts on
top of the parking garage and
each classroom has a state-of-
the-art multimedia system. The
executive principal, Mel Collins,
strides around the campus
barking instructions at security
personnel and haranguing
loiterers unsure, or unwilling to
say, where they're supposed to
be.
At the old Lincoln, Collins said, a
group of three young men,
chatting and looking out over the
baseball field during class time
would have been overlooked, if
seen at all. Not anymore, he
says. In 15 minutes, I saw the
principal dress down three
security guards -- one for sitting
down...
It feels like good things are
happening at Lincoln. Gomez
clearly likes it. Not too long ago,
though, his new employers
repaid this enthusiasm with a
pink slip.
Now, talk to most anyone in the
education world and they'll
assure you that Gomez and 912
of his colleagues who have
gotten the pink slips probably
won't lose their jobs. They'll say
the governor and Legislature will
come to a compromise and the
eventual cuts will probably be
small enough that they can be
"absorbed." You have to love that
term in discussions about
government budgets. It usually
means that the infection of
troubled times is handled not
with a shocking amputation of
services or fat but with something
more like an injection of some
kind of calming but lethal poison
into the system. The symptoms
of the budget's troubles are
delayed, but the system's bones
rot.
"Everybody knows there's not
going to be a 10 percent hit to
education," said Camille Zombro,
the president of the local
teachers union, the San Diego
Education Association. She
added: "One or two percent can
be absorbed."
...Gomez is one of 18 certified
teachers at Lincoln who got the
letter. It's not because the district
and school don't value him and
the others. They might like them
very much. The problem is that
Gomez is considered a new
teacher in the city of San Diego.
His years in Chula Vista mean
nothing to the blind bureaucracy
of school contracts.
And since Lincoln is a new
school that recruited a lot of new
teachers and transfers from other
districts and charter schools, the
disruption of layoffs -- if they
aren't fictional -- will be
exaggerated. If the district must
cut, Lincoln will lose 18 teachers.
This is compared to seven at
Clairemont High School, eight at
Mira Mesa, 10 at Morse High and
nine at Point Loma High School.
The same thing is happening --
though worse -- at Jackson
Elementary School, just south of
San Diego State in east San
Diego, where 24 of the school's
26 teachers received notices that
they will be laid off if the budget
cuts are as severe as they
possibly can be.
Sure, they will be replaced. But
the people who come in will have
gotten bumped down from
schools where they wanted to be.
They may have done all they
could, in fact, to get away from
places like Jackson and Lincoln...
The old Lincoln was troubled.
The new Lincoln is just getting
started. If you rotate out a fifth of
its teachers after the first year,
you're not giving it much of a
chance at the beginning. Why
would anyone choose to hammer
Jackson and Lincoln and leave
other schools in more
prosperous neighborhoods
much less affected?
...In the teachers lounge that day
were some of Gomez'
colleagues, many of whom had
also received notices that their
employment was tenuous.
There was Edward Moller, an art
teacher, who's been a teacher for
nine years -- in the San Diego
Unified School District. But
because his first job was at
O'Farrell Community School, a
charter school, he's denied
seniority under rules devised by
the teachers union and district.
Moller was let go after cuts from
O'Farrell last year. But his
colleague, an English teacher
named Chris Dier, left O'Farrell
just because he wanted to be
part of the new Lincoln High.
Dier's enthusiasm was also
welcomed with a pink slip...
But a guy like Moller has to act on
his pink slip. He can't rest his
financial future on the blind hope
that the teachers union president
is correct when she scoffs that
the governor can't possibly be
serious about cutting the budget.
Moller is currently applying for
other jobs, hoping that the charter
school High Tech High, where he
once had an opportunity, might
be willing to hire when the rest of
the district fires. In times of
trouble, charter schools have
latitude to make budgeting
changes that protect teacher
jobs...
♦♦♦
School leaders hand out the
pink slips loyal to the seniority
rules -- a result of state law.
Even reformers concede state
law restricts the district to this
automated application of the
practice.
That doesn't mean the local
teachers union doesn't like the
rules.
The teachers union is willing to
howl about the pain inflicted by
these cuts on single schools
like Jackson Elementary, but
not willing to shoulder any of the
blame for the make up of the
rules that cause it to happen.
Ask union officials about the
disproportionate effect the
layoffs would have on a place
like Lincoln and they will say
something like what Zombro
told me.
"The school board should have
known it was going to have this
effect when they decided to do
this," she said.
To do what? The layoffs were
coming, we were told, from the
governor's recommended cut of
the education budget that would
result in $80 million in cuts for
San Diego Unified.
So what could San Diego Unified
have done to avoid it?
"They could have decided not to
lay off teachers," Zombro said.
It's sort of like arguing that the
Chargers could have avoided
losing last year's AFC
Championship Game by
deciding to score more points
than the Patriots.
Yes, they could have. But how?
Zombro claims the district is
top-heavy, and she rattled off
some stats. Across the state,
the average ratio is one student
for every 394 administrators. In
San Diego, she said, it is one
student for every 282
administrators.
It's a good point -- ironically
reminiscent, actually, of
conservative gripes about the
education system. OK, so say
they cut administrators at San
Diego Unified. There's a bit of a
problem: remember what
happens to them when you cut
their jobs? They don't line up for
unemployment, they bounce
someone else out of a lower
position. And the cascade of
doom slides down to the guy at
Lincoln.
So give me something else.
Well, it's simple, the unions
contend, the state shouldn't cut
education.
The district won't have to lay off
teachers if the state doesn't cut
its budget...
♦♦♦
There are other ironies. Jackson
Elementary, the one facing a
brutal turnover in the event of the
layoffs becoming reality, was just
Wednesday listed as one of the
"California Distinguished
Schools." According to a piece
put together recently by the
California Department of
Education, the school has
narrowed the much-fretted-about
achievement gap and improved
its situation dramatically.
Now, again, 24 of the school's 26
teachers could be replaced this
year.
No manager of a major
organization would institute
layoffs like this. Even government
agencies, like the city of Chula
Vista, give their departments a
chance to hit budget targets....
Without a change in state law, the
teachers could never be
evaluated by merit when
discussing layoffs...
A report from the U.S. Census
bureau last week put all the
numbers out on the table.
California ranked right in the
middle when you compare how
much the state spends per
student on education. No. 25 out
of 50.
The average state in the country
spends $9,138 per year per
student. California spends just
below that -- $8,486...
Reader feedback
...
11. Lee wrote on April 10, 2008 2:
29 PM:
"I taught for 35 years and knew
several 'Teachers of the Year',
and, although many were good
teachers, many were also
chosen because of their
popularity or their ability to
promote themselves. The very
best teachers I knew were never
the most popular, just the most
effective.
...
14. Ochoa wrote on April 10, 2008
"RE: ZOLLNER.... I also teach at
Lincoln, two rooms down from
Mr. Gomez. This is a great piece
and it's an honor to work w/ an
extraordinary educator who helps
his students in and out of the
classroom. In regards to the
10,000 pay-cut and the
comments made by "ZOLLNER",
districts always make exceptions
to their "6 Year" rule and honor all
years of service. The SDUSD did
this for Guillermo and the reason
why he had to take a pay-cut is
due to the fact that the SDUSD
ranks at the very bottom in
salaries for teachers compared
to other school districts. A
teacher in Chula Vista w/ the
exact same number of years
makes about 10,000 more than
one in the San Diego Unified
School district. The move was
obviously about contributing to
his community, not his own
pocket."
Union, School
Leaders Split
on How to
Measure
Teachers
By EMILY ALPERT
Voice of San Diego
Wednesday, Jan. 21,
2009
San Diego Unified has
used the same process to
evaluate its teachers for
decades. It rarely pegs
teachers with negative
ratings, gives them years
to improve, and seldom
forces their dismissal. No
tenured teachers were
fired for poor
performance last year.
The school district wants
to change that process.
The teachers union does
not. It is a delicate issue
that looms in the halting
contract negotiations
between the union and
the district: How to
improve decent teachers
and boot bad ones
without unfairly
persecuting teachers
who simply differ with
principals or work with
students who are harder
to reach...
Though San Diego
Unified staffers and
school board members
are tightlipped as union
bargaining continues
behind closed doors, their
proposal and internal
reports reveal general
dissatisfaction with the
existing way that teachers
are evaluated, particularly
the lack of hard data used
to judge their work. The
union counters that the
process works and has
proposed less frequent
evaluations for veteran
teachers with good
records to save time.
Leaders Split
on How to
Measure
Teachers
By EMILY ALPERT
Voice of San Diego
Wednesday, Jan. 21,
2009
San Diego Unified has
used the same process to
evaluate its teachers for
decades. It rarely pegs
teachers with negative
ratings, gives them years
to improve, and seldom
forces their dismissal. No
tenured teachers were
fired for poor
performance last year.
The school district wants
to change that process.
The teachers union does
not. It is a delicate issue
that looms in the halting
contract negotiations
between the union and
the district: How to
improve decent teachers
and boot bad ones
without unfairly
persecuting teachers
who simply differ with
principals or work with
students who are harder
to reach...
Though San Diego
Unified staffers and
school board members
are tightlipped as union
bargaining continues
behind closed doors, their
proposal and internal
reports reveal general
dissatisfaction with the
existing way that teachers
are evaluated, particularly
the lack of hard data used
to judge their work. The
union counters that the
process works and has
proposed less frequent
evaluations for veteran
teachers with good
records to save time.
Coaching and mentoring are
supposed to be part and parcel
of teacher evaluation... Some
principals give up or never
bother. Others try to counsel
bad teachers out of the
profession, advising them of
other career options that suit
their skills...
Very few tenured San Diego
Unified teachers get negative
evaluations and even fewer
are removed out of more than
6,500 tenured teachers now
working in the school district.
Twenty-three teachers are
now under scrutiny after a
negative evaluation, said Tim
Asfazadour, director of
certificated staffing in San
Diego Unified. Two teachers
resigned last year to avoid
being officially fired. And none
were terminated for poor
performance...
"Knowing that you can call a
special evaluation at any time"
if a teacher is struggling,
Zombro said, "why not allow the
flexibility for teachers and
principals to agree to a longer
cycle?"
The arguable shortcomings of
teacher evaluation have gained
more and more attention
among education reformers in
recent years as schools
nationwide weigh the idea of
paying some teachers more
than others to reward good
work. They tout connecting
evaluations more closely to
student achievement and
instruction and setting clearer
standards for the people
evaluating teachers.
"Most teacher evaluation is
superficial -- nothing more than
a principal walking into a
classroom once or twice a year
for a few minutes, toting a
checklist of behaviors that often
don't even relate to student
achievement," said Thomas
Toch, co-director of the
nonpartisan think tank
Education Sector.
One possible change is
allowing other people to
evaluate teachers, relieving
the burden on busy principals.
School board member Richard
Barrera wants to bring other
teachers into the process so
that teachers can get more
frequent and detailed
feedback and deemphasize
the threat of firing in favor of
encouraging teachers to
improve. Toch likewise
praised Connecticut and Ohio
programs that bring in several
trained evaluators to do
lengthy visits and link teacher
training to their specific
weaknesses. Unions have
historically fought those ideas,
leery of outsiders and letting
teachers supervise other
teachers.
Pouring more time into
evaluation also has a price:
Toch estimated that his favorite
programs cost $1,000 to
$5,000 per teacher. Such a
system would cost at least $8
million in San Diego Unified...
Federal money for teacher
improvement is available but is
often used elsewhere, as in
San Diego Unified, where
roughly half of that money not to
improve teachers but to hire
more of them and keep
classes small.
supposed to be part and parcel
of teacher evaluation... Some
principals give up or never
bother. Others try to counsel
bad teachers out of the
profession, advising them of
other career options that suit
their skills...
Very few tenured San Diego
Unified teachers get negative
evaluations and even fewer
are removed out of more than
6,500 tenured teachers now
working in the school district.
Twenty-three teachers are
now under scrutiny after a
negative evaluation, said Tim
Asfazadour, director of
certificated staffing in San
Diego Unified. Two teachers
resigned last year to avoid
being officially fired. And none
were terminated for poor
performance...
"Knowing that you can call a
special evaluation at any time"
if a teacher is struggling,
Zombro said, "why not allow the
flexibility for teachers and
principals to agree to a longer
cycle?"
The arguable shortcomings of
teacher evaluation have gained
more and more attention
among education reformers in
recent years as schools
nationwide weigh the idea of
paying some teachers more
than others to reward good
work. They tout connecting
evaluations more closely to
student achievement and
instruction and setting clearer
standards for the people
evaluating teachers.
"Most teacher evaluation is
superficial -- nothing more than
a principal walking into a
classroom once or twice a year
for a few minutes, toting a
checklist of behaviors that often
don't even relate to student
achievement," said Thomas
Toch, co-director of the
nonpartisan think tank
Education Sector.
One possible change is
allowing other people to
evaluate teachers, relieving
the burden on busy principals.
School board member Richard
Barrera wants to bring other
teachers into the process so
that teachers can get more
frequent and detailed
feedback and deemphasize
the threat of firing in favor of
encouraging teachers to
improve. Toch likewise
praised Connecticut and Ohio
programs that bring in several
trained evaluators to do
lengthy visits and link teacher
training to their specific
weaknesses. Unions have
historically fought those ideas,
leery of outsiders and letting
teachers supervise other
teachers.
Pouring more time into
evaluation also has a price:
Toch estimated that his favorite
programs cost $1,000 to
$5,000 per teacher. Such a
system would cost at least $8
million in San Diego Unified...
Federal money for teacher
improvement is available but is
often used elsewhere, as in
San Diego Unified, where
roughly half of that money not to
improve teachers but to hire
more of them and keep
classes small.
Rush to
Judgment:
Teacher
Evaluation in
Public Education
Using standardized test
scores to judge teachers is
forbidden by their union
contract and by California
law...
The current system "does
nothing to improve teacher
performance," [SDUSD Chief
Human Resources Officer
Sam] Wong said, adding,
"Teachers need to know,
'What is it that I am striving
for?' If you don't have an
endpoint then anything will
do."
Judgment:
Teacher
Evaluation in
Public Education
Using standardized test
scores to judge teachers is
forbidden by their union
contract and by California
law...
The current system "does
nothing to improve teacher
performance," [SDUSD Chief
Human Resources Officer
Sam] Wong said, adding,
"Teachers need to know,
'What is it that I am striving
for?' If you don't have an
endpoint then anything will
do."
How to Layoff a
Teacher of the
Year
VOICE OF SAN DIEGO
By Scott Lewis
April 10, 2008
Teacher of the
Year
VOICE OF SAN DIEGO
By Scott Lewis
April 10, 2008
HOW TEACHER EVALUATIONS SHOULD BE
CONDUCTED
CONDUCTED
In a perfect world, teachers who are not good at their jobs would be steered to different
careers. In this world, there are two powerful forces preventing this. One is the teacher's
union. But another, more powerful reason is that we don't have enough gifted teachers
who are willing to fill our classrooms. If we valued giftedness in teachers, and paid for it as
we do for superior ability among doctors and lawyers and accountants, then we could
afford to follow the advice of Evan Thomas and Pat Wingert in this article.
careers. In this world, there are two powerful forces preventing this. One is the teacher's
union. But another, more powerful reason is that we don't have enough gifted teachers
who are willing to fill our classrooms. If we valued giftedness in teachers, and paid for it as
we do for superior ability among doctors and lawyers and accountants, then we could
afford to follow the advice of Evan Thomas and Pat Wingert in this article.
Schools need to start evaluating teachers effectively whether or not any teacher is ever laid
off. Teachers are leaving schools all the time, and it's often the best teachers who are
pushed out or who choose to leave. (Guillermo Gomez and I both left Chula Vista
Elementary School District.) An unhealthy teacher culture that fears change and protects
mediocre and poor performers causes many good teachers to leave, including some who
are simply too disgusted to stay. We can't fire weak teachers because we don't have anyone
to replace them, but professional observers should evaluate all teachers, and poor
performers should be supported and supervised by good teachers.
off. Teachers are leaving schools all the time, and it's often the best teachers who are
pushed out or who choose to leave. (Guillermo Gomez and I both left Chula Vista
Elementary School District.) An unhealthy teacher culture that fears change and protects
mediocre and poor performers causes many good teachers to leave, including some who
are simply too disgusted to stay. We can't fire weak teachers because we don't have anyone
to replace them, but professional observers should evaluate all teachers, and poor
performers should be supported and supervised by good teachers.
The tests given to teachers would be used to determine (a) which
teachers need training; and (b) which teachers can do the training.
They would also be used to determine who is given master teacher
status.
teachers need training; and (b) which teachers can do the training.
They would also be used to determine who is given master teacher
status.
(This page is a copy of the home page of this website.)
San Diego
Education Report
Education Report