New report on teachers: Culture more important than salary, student demographics
The Education Trust released a new report on keeping good teachers in the classroom. The findings — that culture and work conditions matter a lot — remind me of an interview I did years ago with University of Pennsylvania professor Richard Ingersoll, a national expert on teacher turnover and retention.
According to Ingersoll, 40 percent of new teachers nationwide bolt the profession within five years because of the terrible working conditions. To keep teachers, Georgia has to improve the teaching experience, he said.
Ingersoll said teacher turnover was worst at schools with high numbers of student discipline problems and where teachers have no input into how the school is run. “Teachers feel they are being held accountable for things they don’t control, ” he told me.
While higher pay would help, Ingersoll also said, “Look, I am a former high school teacher. I would still be doing it, even with the low pay. But it was all the other stuff — the discipline problems, the lack of support and the lack of say — that made me leave.”
Here is the official Ed Trust summation of its new report:
Much attention has been paid in recent years to developing meaningful teacher evaluation systems as a strategy to improve public education, and rightly so. But while states and districts implement better ways to identify their strongest educators, too many are giving short shrift to the culture and work environments in schools – particularly in high-poverty and low-performing schools – that make them satisfying and attractive places to work.
A new report released by The Education Trust, “Building and Sustaining Talent: Creating Conditions in High-Poverty Schools That Support Effective Teaching and Learning,” outlines the need to pair efforts to improve outdated, inadequate teacher evaluation systems with the policy and culture changes that must accompany them. The report also highlights common-sense strategies that some school districts employ to help the schools that most need talented teachers attract, nurture and keep them once they are identified.
“Making evaluations more meaningful is a critical step toward improving our schools. But being able to determine who our strongest teachers and principals are doesn’t mean that struggling students will magically get more of them,” said Sarah Almy, director of teacher quality at the Education Trust and co-author of the report. “We have to be intentional about creating the kinds of supportive working environments in our high-poverty and low-performing schools that will make them more attractive to our strongest teachers.”
Despite widespread assumptions that students are the primary cause of teacher dissatisfaction, research shows that the culture of the school – particularly the quality of school leadership and level of staff cohesion – actually matters more to teachers’ job satisfaction and retention, particularly in high-poverty schools, than do the demographics of the students or teacher salaries. When teachers have positive perceptions about their work environment, that translates to better outcomes for students. And as expectations rise across the country for both teachers and students, more supportive working conditions are exactly what hard-working educators say they need to reach those higher standards.
“The Education Trust’s latest report validates what every teacher knows is necessary to strengthen public schools and the teaching profession,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, in a statement. “Building a culture of collaboration and shared responsibility among teachers, principals and administrators; focusing on continuous professional development for teachers; and ensuring teachers have the time, tools and trust they need to improve teaching and learning are essential ingredients to building strong public schools and a quality teaching force.”
Some school districts across the country have recognized the power that lies in improving the conditions for teaching and learning that shape school culture, and they are undertaking promising practices to make those improvements in their most challenging schools. For example:
• To improve its lowest performing schools, Ascension Parish School System in southern Louisiana implemented a comprehensive approach to providing educators with meaningful, ongoing feedback, combined with the support they needed and time allotted during the regular school day to work together and reflect on instructional practice. Once teachers saw that more rigorous performance evaluations were used primarily to improve practice, rather than as a punitive tool, most embraced the new culture of shared learning and responsibility and teacher satisfaction improved, as did student achievement. “We have turned a corner where when you ask teachers to come to these schools, they say it is an honor,” said Jennifer Tuttleton, Ascension Parish’s director of school improvement.
•“Our leaders were not equipped to support teachers,” said Fresno (Calif.) Unified School District’s administrator of leadership development, Julie Severns. So they embarked on a district-wide effort to develop school principals as strong instructional leaders, helping them – and the administrators who supervised them – learn how to recognize effective teaching practices and provide classroom educators with concrete feedback to guide their professional growth. They also focused on building professional learning communities among teachers so that they, too, could become comfortable analyzing data to improve their practice. Edward Gomes, principal of Fresno’s Yosemite Middle School, believes focusing first on developing principals’ instructional leadership helped give these efforts more credibility with teachers, particularly in a time of myriad reforms.
•While the specifics of each district’s approach are different, both Sacramento City (Calif.) Unified School District and Charlotte-Mecklenberg (N.C.) Public Schools focused on persuading some of their strongest school leaders to take on the challenge of turning around the lowest performing schools in their districts. School leaders were asked to make a minimum three-year commitment, and given more autonomy over school-level decisions, flexibility in developing their own action plans, and the opportunity to build their own leadership teams – in exchange for stronger results. Educators feel proud to work in these schools, because of the team spirit and professionalism that are now part of their cultures. “It’s a badge of honor to work in the Priority Schools,” said Mary Shelton, Sacramento City’s chief accountability officer.
•Boston Public Schools worked to attract and retain strong teachers to some of its lowest performing schools by providing them with opportunities for shared decision making and career growth through formal teacher leadership roles. In collaboration with Teach Plus, an organization created by educators to improve urban students’ access to effective teachers, Boston implemented a model that trains teacher-leaders and empowers them to help drive cooperative instructional improvement within each school. In addition, many of the teacher-leaders selected were already working in the targeted schools. “It’s a collaboration between the teachers and the administrators, rather than the two parts working separately,” said Megan Struckel, a teacher at one of the turnaround schools. “It’s the way education should be, because we’re all working toward the same thing.”
“When I was a classroom teacher, my colleagues and I wanted and needed strong support from school leadership and from each other,” said Almy. “Now that we have evaluations that let us know who the strongest teachers are, we must create conditions to ensure that the students who are most in need of those teachers are able to get them.”
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
108 comments Add your comment
Ron F.
June 29th, 2012
3:18 pm
Have fun, edukator, spewing your bile. You’ll get your chance to vote for the amendment in November and then hopefully we’ll be spared your ridiculous, laughably narrow-minded, even ignorant rants for a while as you write the myriad of charter applications I’m sure folks will be lining up to have you help them write…since they’re so dissatisfied. What you cannot deny, and refuse to discuss with any reason, is that in teaching, as in any profession, employee satisfaction does impact success of the worker. When you don’t have enough teachers willing to work for minimum wage for 80 hours a week in your indoctrination camps….I mean, charter schools, you better hope you have something to offer to get intelligent people to come teach there.
NONPC
June 29th, 2012
3:31 pm
You’re always one to dependably deliver the union’s talking points, eh Ron?
But if teachers are as thin on the ground as you imply—then why are layoffs ever necessary? And why do we have to listen to the endless self-pity of teachers whose positions are cut by overburdened districts?
They aren’t as thin on the ground as Ron implies. How do I know? ….because they are being laid off by the hundreds all around metro Atlanta…. because my brother, who just got his masters in order to teach High School sciences, has been unable to get a job in/around the Hall county area.
There may have been a vast shortage of teachers 5 years ago. There may be a shortage of teachers 5 years from now. There is not currently a shortage of teachers! I suspect that the demand for teachers follows a school system’s budget. Thus, the demand for teachers in a relatively stable population of students follows the tax digest.
All GAE members are union
June 29th, 2012
3:44 pm
@Ron F:
My, my! Donuts not to your liking over there at union headquarters today, Ron? Surely they’re union made(?)
And do you mean to suggest teachers at private schools nationwide are paid “minimum wage?” And if so—why do so many apply for those teaching positions?
And why do parents sacrifice to get their kids into those private schools … even applying to state lotteries (as documented in the film “Waiting for Superman” and elsewhere) for a chance to get their kids onto mere waiting lists?
Ron, aren’t the REAL spewers of bile … those from the union side constantly denigrating accountability, charter schools, the “evil” profit motive so key to our free market system, and (God forbid!) parental choice?
In other words, you Ron?
G-Ptz
June 29th, 2012
4:06 pm
@NONPC: There is no shortage of teachers and probably never has been. Ever. Teachers’ unions trot out this canard every September so that lackeys in the liberal media can repeat it ad nauseam.
It’s done to bolster the union’s bargaining position (and thereby the Democrat Party’s revenues).
Realistic Edukator
June 29th, 2012
4:12 pm
@NONPC: There is no shortage of teachers and probably never has been. Ever. Teachers’ unions trot out this canard every September so that lackeys in the liberal media can repeat it ad nauseam. Maureen, and her partisan compatriots at the AJC for example.
It’s done to bolster the union’s bargaining position (and thereby the Democrat Party’s revenues).
CCMST
June 29th, 2012
4:18 pm
A little reminder: as a right-to-work state, Georgia law says that no employee must join a union as a requirement of employment. Fewer than 35% (according to GAE’s website) belong to GAE, so therefore the majority of GA’s teachers are NOT in a “union.” Factor in the general understanding that collective bargaining is illegal by GA teachers and the statement that “there are no true teacher unions in Georgia” begins to look pretty valid.
While you are entitled to your own opinion, you are not entitled to your own set of facts. DPM.
CCMST
June 29th, 2012
4:23 pm
Food for thought: you get what you pay for – you want to pay a minimum salary? Be happy-happy with your minimum schools – after all, the GA state constitution only requires a “Free and ADEQUATE education.”
There may not be a teacher shortage right now, but don’t fool yourself into thinking that the “best and brightest” are going to sit around waiting for the jobs to come back. They are going to leave the profession, and be out there competing with everyone else for those so-called “real-world” jobs in the private sector.
Realistic Edukator
June 29th, 2012
4:55 pm
@CCMST: Yes, thankfully Georgia is a right-to-work state and teachers can’t be coerced into joining the National Education Association’s local affiliate—as in other states.
However, all who do join the Georgia Association of Educators are REQUIRED by them to also join the NEA (a true union) and pay for that union’s liberal Democrat politics.
As for wages, the beauty of a free market system is that it will always pay exactly what it has to for necessary talent. Just not for those fat-cat union boss perks. Any private school you wish to cite follows that example.
And gets results parents are willing to pay extra for.
CCMST
June 29th, 2012
5:26 pm
“However, all who do join the Georgia Association of Educators are REQUIRED by them to also join the NEA (a true union) and pay for that union’s liberal Democrat politics.”
So maybe they are okay with it? Maybe they don’t care? Maybe that’s what they want to do?
Does it really matter? This state is about as red as a red state can get – do you really think they have that much influence? I don’t.
“Any private school you wish to cite follows that example. And gets results parents are willing to pay extra for.”
And…that is why comparisons of private to public are generally invalid. Private schools also can say “no” to those they don’t think will fit their school culture – something voucher proponents conveniently forget. Personally, I’d rather see a completely private system over any sort of voucher system, but that’s just me.
Miss Management
June 29th, 2012
5:43 pm
Gee, then why do educrats make educating children seem like rocket science? The people in this report are reinforcing the fact that going back to the basics and letting teachers teach will improve learning. Aha!
gone2
June 29th, 2012
6:04 pm
I thought this was about school climate,etc. Seems to have gotten a little off-track with the union/nonunion debate. I just retired and still have many good years of teaching potential left in me. I just couldn’t go on working for a nonsupportive boss. School climate is sooooo low. At the system “retreat” (odd they have money to get out of town with furloughs and all)I was told they discussed the poor performance of my administrator from her subordinates’ feedback. Made NO DIFFERENCE. Even though she is an at-will employee who IS THE PROBLEM, she will continue to run the show. Every year she has been there- I think 5 now- the moral just gets worse and worse. Good leadership could have saved many of us from fleeing.
Senor Coughee
June 29th, 2012
6:30 pm
Like any job, you have to love what you do, and feel appreciated. Anything short of that makes work life miserable.
High school administrator
June 29th, 2012
9:37 pm
Enter your comments here
High school administrator
June 29th, 2012
9:52 pm
There is too much nepotism and cronyism in assigning principals and assistant principals. Because of this many school level administrators are not qualified to handle the job. Consequently they stay in their offices, only to come out when the superintendent, board member, or local big shot comes to visit. They do not support their teachers, but will go out of their way to appease an upset parent. Morale suffers and students ultimately pay the price. There are many excellent administrators in Georgia, however the good ole boys and gals who do not care about students or teachers can really mess up a school. We need to have administrators evaluated by teachers. This evaluation should include the following; how visible is the administrator in the halls and classrooms, especially during transition times, how did they handle disruptive and disrespectful kids who could care less about learning, and how fair we’re they in evaluating teachers and offering support.
Most administrators know how to play politics in order to keep their jobs. However if their jobs were tied to teachers evaluating them I’ll bet there would be a whole lot more support for teachers which would lead to more effective schools.
BC
June 29th, 2012
10:05 pm
It is not about appeasement but appreciation! teachers want to be empowered and trusted to get the job done. They have too many people telling them how to do their job and most of these folks have never been in a classroom or if they have it has been so long they have forgotten the challenges of today.
so sad
June 29th, 2012
10:54 pm
@LeeH1 – It must be pretty rough not to be good enough to do well in school, obviously since you hate all teachers so much. Perhaps counseling would help.
MS-Science-Teacher
June 30th, 2012
8:27 am
When I started teaching only ten years ago the administration’s purpose was to support the classroom teacher in whatever way they could. It was marvelous. That slowly changed year by year as education reformers came up year over year reforms that turned us into ring masters. Support in the classroom waned while the administrators’ jobs became ensuring we were implementating these reforms by increasing out work load with documentation, data, usless in-services, and the like.
I has taken such a 180 degree turn since I first started teaching that here is an actual line from the job requirements found at the Cobb County website;
“Demonstrates loyalty to the school and its leadership. Avoids behaviors which detract from staff morale”.
LOYALITY to the admin?! Can’t complain/comiserate seek solice, comfort, support from your peers?!
When moral is as low as it is, why would they fan the flames in this manner? Up is down.
As planned, this is my last year of teaching and it can’t come soon enough. I hope things improve for the rest of you. We are a band of brothers.
teacher&mom
June 30th, 2012
8:53 am
“I thought this was about school climate,etc. Seems to have gotten a little off-track with the union/nonunion debate.”
The article is about school climate but anytime a topic discussion begins to favor improvements outside of vouchers, school choice, charters, etc., the “anti-union” name calling blogger comes out in full force to deflect the the topic…often using multiple screen names.
Ignore the troll. He/She contributes nothing of value to the conversation.
Private School Guy
June 30th, 2012
9:02 am
Unions by their very nature as organizations that engage in collective bargaining are illegal in Georgia. They GAE and PAge simply provide legal services to employees, fund candidates and lobby for political issues. (in reality I think the GAE mostly provides copious amounts of junk mail to teachers) As for turnover two simple solutions. Higher pay and incentives to get the best staff in these schools. Corporations do not send their best sales people to the easiest areas to market. Second hold administrators accountable for high turnover. When school house dictators are running off or chasing people to other schools and systems it is costing the taxpayers money. Determine a norm for turnover and those principals who can’t meet it should be sent to the minor leagues.
Mad Parent
June 30th, 2012
9:28 am
I think it is realy sad that teachers are underpaid. However it’s karma baby. I have seen and experienced the bad treatment of teachers towards students. Many teachers treat this kids so horribly it’s a da** same. They yell and scream. They get up in there faces. They harass them inside and outside of class. They even provoke these kids to try and get them react back to them in a negative way. Then the teacher goes and fill out their disciplinary form and chumps up everything. They will claim they were only trying ever so nicely to say something to the child and the child just became unruly. Now it’s the childs fault because the admistration is going to believe the teacher 99% of the time over the student. I hate to say it but 97% of these teachers are BLACK! and they are doing it to the BLACK kids. KARMA!!!! It’s not the childrens fault that the education system is corrupt. But many of these educator take it out on. Many of them don’t like kids but teaching is the only job they could get. You get back what you give. Because there is so many bad teachers out there the GOOD teacher and the children are the ones who really suffer.
To all the GOOD teachers- thank you and God will bless you. To all the corrupt teachers-evil begets evil. I really hope this is Gods way of getting rid of the bad apples.
Parents ask your children what happens in school. Ask them what do they see the teacher do and say to the students. You will be surprise.
catlady
June 30th, 2012
9:30 am
Will we soon see the headline “New Report on Students: Culture More Important than SES, Demographics”?
teacher&mom
June 30th, 2012
9:32 am
For those who are interested in keeping strong teachers in the classroom, this book is a great read:
http://whygreatteachersquit.com/
MB
June 30th, 2012
11:06 am
@ High School Administrator Apparently those political creatures in administration have a great deal of political pull at high levels as well…
Buried in the article about requests to tweak Georgia’s RttT contract, (http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-wants-to-tweak-1462226.html ) the state is asking to revise the process so that “all surveys that are part of the system, including teacher and staff surveys on principals, be informational — meaning they wouldn’t be used as part of the formal evaluation process.” The article is directed to the fact that a second grader would not be a very valid evaluator (correction in class vs happy face sticker), but doesn’t address the part about teacher and staff evaluations of administrators.
So teachers, with an administrator’s observation report as a significant component of their evaluation, should have no input on that administrator’s evaluation? That school faculty and staff are no more reliable than a K-2 student or an adolescent? Certainly there would be teachers under fire who would give principals negative ratings, but couldn’t you determine outliers? And if a faculty and staff gave majority poor ratings, shouldn’t that be used for more than information? (As in perhaps that administrator should be observed and, if found lacking, given less credibility in the evaluations they give their teachers?)
So how did they move from “”The [technical advisory committee] questioned the use of the k-2 survey due the fact that: (a) it will likely be highly positive and therefore not discriminating; (b) it will likely have low reliability given the ages of the respondents; and (c) it is highly susceptible to corruptibility” to removing teacher surveys as part of administrators’ evaluations?
Speaking of school climates and morale – reading some of the previous comments about poor leadership, it seems the state will accept the status quo (no faculty and staff assessment of their administrators) on this one. And that is sad.
Out in Cobb
June 30th, 2012
11:09 am
@teacher&mom — Perhaps what you label “a troll using multiple names” are fellow bloggers who suspect you of doing exactly what you accuse others of?
Even *you* would have to admit that Maureen—and a Greek chorus of posters to this blog—consistently favor the liberal side of every issue, and heap scorn on any differing opinions.
Prof
June 30th, 2012
12:15 pm
Two observations.
1) When Maureen is away, the trolls will play.
2) At my USG University (and I don’t think we are alone in this), it is routine for all full time faculty to anonymously evaluate their chairs every 5 years, for faculty senators and faculty (including chairs) who request to anonymously evaluate their deans every 3 years, and for faculty senators and other faculty (including chairs and deans) who request to evaluate anonymously their Vice Presidents, Provost and President every 3 years. All evaluation instruments allow write-in responses.
The chairs’ evaluation results are made known to their faculty and upper administration; and the other evaluation results are made known to the University Senate which includes faculty, administration, staff, and students. And believe me, word gets out. Of course, all faculty are anonymously evaluated annually by the students, who are adults aged 18 and up.
Seems democratic to me.
GwinnettParentz
June 30th, 2012
12:41 pm
@Prof: Sounds more like a mechanism by which faculties are kept free of non-politically correct types.
And we’re sure it works exceptionally well in that regard. Our heavily subsidized colleges and universities would benefit from having to rely solely on the free market every bit as much as our K-12 system would.
Dr. John Trotter
June 30th, 2012
1:04 pm
I have been away from this blog most of the summer. But, each time I get a chance to drop in to see what is going on, it seems that more and more topics are posted which confirm what MACE has been saying since its inception in 1995 — wow, over 17 years ago and we haven’t changed out message one scintilla.
Our mantra is this (and it’s been on our letterhead for years): “You cannot have good learning conditions until you first have good teaching conditions.” Teaching conditions. This is the key to good learning conditions. But, even with good teaching conditions, this doesn’t mean automatically that the child will learn. The child still has to bring motivation to the learning table. The motivation to learn is a social phenomenon. Family dynamics, social demographics, and socio-economic factors play significant roles in the motivation to learn.
The teacher needs to be freed up to be creative. Only be being flexible and creative will teachers be able to find ways to try to motivate these otherwise lowly-motivated students to learn. Forcing teachers to teach a highly scripted curriculum from a straightjacket methodology is asinine. It’s almost criminal – not just to the teachers but to the students too – for teachers to be forced to lay down their creative skills on the altar of standardized testing. The children are bored, disengaged, and highly unmotivated in this milieu. Consequently, many students – up to 40% or more – in some schools simply drop out of school and eventually take up an unproductive life and many times a life of crime.
@ Peter S.: I gave up on Arne Duncan long ago. He’s just a political hack who’s not very bright when it comes to the public schooling process. But, I appreciate the work that you are doing at my alma mater, UGA!
http://www.theteachersadvocate.com
http://www.georgiateachersspeakout.com
Mad Parent
June 30th, 2012
1:50 pm
Dr. Trotter people don’t care about people anymore. It doesn’t matter if they are a child, young adult, middle age adult, or senior citizen. People only care about what they want and not how it effects the next person. They forgot that having an education is a privilege and an honor. The majority parents of kids today have only taught them how to keep up with the Jone’s. They forgot about respect and manners. The government have told us that parents can not use corpal punishment, but they will be more then happy to put them in jail. We live in a generation who fight to let boys were dresses and heels and carry purses to school. Instead they should be fighting for teaching methods and tools so kids can learn and have knowledge not memorization. If your doing the right thing the money will come. The community will support you.
My district is a bunch of jokers in suits. They wave and smile. All the while skeeming. They perfer to send kids to alternative school then college. What community wants to support that kind of administration?
NTLB
June 30th, 2012
2:04 pm
I cannot afford and I also refuse to join any teacher associations (so called unions) in Georgia. If these “unions” have no collective bargaining rights then they are NOT unions.
Prof
June 30th, 2012
2:49 pm
@ GwinnettParentz, June 30th, 12:41 pm: “@Prof: Sounds more like a mechanism by which faculties are kept free of non-politically correct types.”
No, more like the Constitution’s checks-and-balances of power. Or the fulfillment of John Locke’s observation that “government rests upon the consent of the governed.”
GwinnettParentz
June 30th, 2012
3:32 pm
@Prof: But don’t the People speak loudest through their free-choice purchases of goods and services? And doesn’t a faculty “overseeing” themselves … tend to protect their own interests and those of their political faction—using taxpayer dollars to do so?
Wouldn’t sweeping away the government subsidies allow us to register either approval or disapproval of your product—with our checkbooks?
Prof
June 30th, 2012
5:06 pm
@ GwinnettParentz. No, no, and no. I won’t deal with the first or third question, for they are rhetorical and political. I don’t want to go there. But I will answer your second question, for you don’t seem to understand my point about the faculty evaluating their chair, the chair evaluating the Dean, and all evaluating their Vice Presidents, Provost and President.
It is not “overseeing themselves” at all. It is being given a chance to “vote,” if you will, on whether their professional supervisors are doing a good job or not. The evaluation questions all relate to the supervisor’s job performance. No-one gives a hoot about political factions. I believe the equivalent in business is the Customer Satisfaction Survey.
And I think that is what the K-12 public educators are asking to be allowed to do. When they know that their principals are failing to discipline disruptive students sent to them for correction by teachers, or refusing to talk to either teachers or parents, or pushing all the work off on their assistant principal, or arbitrarily giving bad performance ratings to teachers, they would like the chance to be able to let someone at a higher supervisory level know about it…..through an anonymous annual evaluation.
To you the truth, I think it would be an efficient use of taxpayer dollars to assure good job performances on the part of both the teacher and his/her principal.
Civility
June 30th, 2012
5:16 pm
Is it possible to discuss the issues without name calling
and responding to people posting based upon if they fit
into your particular clique? Please try to deal with the
stated topic,and respond to people posting based upon
the arguments presented, and not on the political leanings
of the person. We often see cliques with much younger
people,but I don’t expect mature adults to refuse to present
their ideas and opinions simply because they disagree with
a person (even if the person is being disrespectful) who has
a different political viewpoint. You should be confident enough
to communicate your position without labeling a person a troll,
liberal,or educrat.
@ Mad Parent
I respectfully disagree with your statement about people
not caring. I work in a school with an amazing staff that not
only cares about students, but also cares about the community
and each other. A central part of any school culture deals with
how staff treat each other – It does not cost anything to smile
and say good morning to each other. The foundation to any
school culture rest in exercising values and showing mutual
respect.
bootney farnsworth
June 30th, 2012
5:19 pm
if the GAE is a union, why did I and 281 other people abruptly lose their jobs due to fiscal mismanagement by the administration?
a UNION would not have allowed that to happen without a court fight.
BTW: why has the so called “union” been so silent about the GPC abomination?
one has to wonder: if we had a real union, the 282 GPC employees and others might have
had a place to register their concerns about out of control management. this whole mess
might have been avoided.
bootney farnsworth
June 30th, 2012
5:22 pm
it really is a very simple thing. for all the millenia I worked for GPC the low wages were an irritant, but not a major one.
it was only when Tricoli came and the school began behaving like a pack of feral dogs did wages matter – no one was paid enough for what we went thru the last 5 years. and what is still to come
bootney farnsworth
June 30th, 2012
5:27 pm
@ mad parent
time to look in the mirror. school administrations do respond to the community, when the community bothers to roust itself to action.
don’t believe me? watch what happens if your local HS suspends its premere running back or decides the basketball team doesn’t have enough kids making the grades to play.
if people really want a sea change in local education, bitch less and act more. right now Georgia is getting exactly the kind and quality of education it wants.
All GAE members are union
June 30th, 2012
5:44 pm
@bootney: Presumably you’re lamenting that the National Education Association is ineffective as a union, in your case. And that you’d have been better off saving the extra $168 you’re paying each year as a GAE member to concurrently belong to the NEA and bankroll its liberal Democrat politics.
If legal protection is what you primarily need then there are several excellent and far cheaper alternatives—as you are no doubt aware.
But the NEA seems adamant that it’s in fact a union: http://www.nea.org/home/18469.htm
Prof
June 30th, 2012
6:24 pm
Hello, Bootney. Glad to see that your spirit is unbowed by GPC’s recent trauma.
Jan
June 30th, 2012
8:51 pm
I agree with GFY. One former Dekalb County teacher I know said that the higher pay in the public school system was just hazardous duty pay.
MB
June 30th, 2012
9:28 pm
@ Prof – Thanks; you get my point!
bootney farnsworth
July 1st, 2012
9:58 am
@ all GAE members
what I’m lamenting is the obvious poor quality of your education
Prof
July 1st, 2012
11:14 am
@ MB. Yes! You noted yesterday in your 11:06 am post about teacher evaluations of their administrators:
“So teachers, with an administrator’s observation report as a significant component of their evaluation, should have no input on that administrator’s evaluation? That school faculty and staff are no more reliable than a K-2 student or an adolescent? Certainly there would be teachers under fire who would give principals negative ratings, but couldn’t you determine outliers?”
If faculty and staff are not allowed to evaluate their administrators, then they are seen as LESS reliable than a K-2 student or adolescent.
Of course there is the problem that some teachers under fire may give them negative ratings. I know that concern well as one who is evaluated by students in every class, every term. However, what matters is whether there is a pattern of the reasons for the negative ratings. Is there a small minority of strongly negative responses with similar complaints?
And sometimes an outlier may write an individual response that should be taken seriously or at least quietly investigated. (”This teacher seemed to discriminate against me because of my race.” “This chair never appoints any females to positions of authority in the department.” “This administrator always sends classroom discipline problems back to the teacher without any punishment of the student.”)
Of course my University doesn’t have a revolving door of 2-3 year administrators, never at a school long enough to have to take responsibility for their actions. All the more reason for teacher evaluations of them, I should think, so that the next school can be warned.
Miss Scarlett
July 1st, 2012
1:21 pm
@LeeH1…
just so all of us overpaid public school teachers fully understand your position, what do you think is a fair wage for someone with 20 years of classroom experience?
Oregon Kinder Teacher
July 2nd, 2012
12:10 pm
The direct school site supervision (principal) makes the biggest difference, I think. Yes, the district and the state, federal government are putting the pressure on all of us, but when you have a supportive and encouraging principal who treats you like a professional, supports you with discipline issues, acknowledges all your hard work and professional growth, and works to create a collaborative and friendly work and learning environment, it can make a world of difference. My old principal did this- she was amazing- and last year was moved to a new school being opened. Now we have a newer, inexperienced principal who just doesn’t get it. She isn’t very supportive, and it seems like no matter how hard we work, it’s never going to be enough. It’s frustrating, and several teachers are now looking for transfers, and even at private schools. Principals set the tone and make a huge difference.
Allen Mendler
July 2nd, 2012
12:13 pm
Excellent points made by the author. It is for reasons cited in the blog that I wrote WHEN TEACHING GETS TOUGH: SMART WAYS TO RECLAIM YOUR GAME, just published by ASCD (Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development). Lots of practical strategies to deal with difficult students, get the support you need from colleagues and parents, be successful despite inadequate resources and take top notch care of yourself.
teambuilding speaker
July 2nd, 2012
2:37 pm
Great article – and so very true… teachers need the creativity and support of a collaborative culture and an administration that recognizes the impact the positive relationships and high expectations have on a school’s environment.
If you are looking for an impactful Teambuilding Speaker who will boost faculty morale and help to build a more cohesive culture, I provide team-building events, speaking engagements, and training workshops. If you are part of a business, school, or athletic team that needs to improve communication, inspire accountability, energize morale, and transform your group into a more productive team, contact him today!
FYI
July 2nd, 2012
2:46 pm
If Allen Mendler and Sean Glaze– who is “teambuilding speaker” above– would contact AJC’s advertising service “Advertise with us” they could get custom ad plans designed JUST FOR THEM! Of course, it wouldn’t be for free, as it is on this blog.
Kim Farris-Berg @farrisberg
July 2nd, 2012
4:52 pm
I just wrote a book with my colleagues called Trusting Teachers with School Success: What Happens When Teachers Call the Shots. http://www.amazon.com/Trusting-Teachers-School-Success-Happens/dp/1610485106/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1337711947&sr=8-2
Ingersoll reviewed and endorsed it, as have people on both sides of the political spectrum.
Examining the experiences of teachers who are already trusted to call the shots, this book answers: What would teachers do if they had the autonomy not just to make classroom decisions, but to collectively—with their colleagues—make the decisions influencing whole school success? Decisions such as school curriculum, how to allocate the school budget, and who to hire.
The findings? They emulate the cultural characteristics of high-performing organizations. Literature shows that these include:
1. Accept ownership. Welcome authority and responsibility for making decisions and be accountable for the outcomes.
2. Innovate. Take risks to try creative new things, challenge old processes, and continuously adapt.
3. Share purpose. Seek clarity and buy-in to the mission, values, goals, and standards of practice.
4. Collaborate. Establish a culture of interdependence characterized by an open flow of ideas, listening to and understanding others, and valuing differences.
5. Lead effectively. Expect leadership from all and perceive leadership as in service to all.
6. Function as learners. Establish a culture characterized by a sense of common challenge and discovery, rather than a culture where experts impart information.
7. Avoid insularity. Learn from and be sensitive to the external environment.
8. Motivate. Be engaged, motivated, and motivating.
9. Assess performance. Set and measure progress toward goals and act upon results to improve performance.
Given how the Ed Trust piece reads, I want to highlight #9. This is of value to teachers; it’s not necessary to tell them how to do it well and try and use evaluation to control teacher behavior. When they have they authority to determine how to do evaluation, combined with accountability for whole school success, they (like professionals in many industries) will create and maintain evaluation systems that can be used to improve learning in their schools. (Room for improvement? Sure… This is just the beginning.)
Currently, the incentives are not aligned. Evaluation reforms are seeking to hold teachers accountable for that which they do not control. Authority and accountability go together.
Prof
July 2nd, 2012
5:05 pm
@ Kim Farris-Berg. Curious. When I clicked the link, I found that the book is coming out in October and there’s no press given. Also coming out as an ebook. What’s the press? Is this another one of the myriads of self-published books that amazon.com sells? Your “findings” above sound snoringly obvious.
If you writers can’t find a reputable press willing to publish your work, why do you think it’s worth the time of readers?
And why is Maureen allowing all this free AJC advertising?
Study says school culture ranks higher than salaries for teachers « soetalk.com
July 2nd, 2012
5:28 pm
[...] stuff — the discipline problems, the lack of support and the lack of say — that made me leave More July 2nd, 2012 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a [...]