Georgia on teacher evaluations: Legal risks in using student reviews
I reported last week that the US DOE is concerned about changes to Georgia’s Race to the Top plans, changes that could cost the state $33 million of the $400 million education reform grant.
One of the federal agency’s concerns was that Georgia wanted to put less focus on student surveys, piloted this year in some Georgia districts. I wrote about the evaluations a while back.
You can read the US DOE letter here.
According to the AJC, Georgia Schools Superintendent John Barge has responded to the feds, saying he will not implement a teacher evaluation system that might not work and could lead to lawsuits.
The AJC reported:
Barge, in a letter to Ann Whalen, who oversees the federal Race to the Top program, said attorneys for Georgia schools determined that including student input in teacher evaluations is legally risky.
“I will not waste taxpayer dollars to defend a system that we have been warned will not work, ” Barge wrote.
Georgia’s pledge to implement a new teacher evaluation system was part of the reason it won a $400 million federal Race to the Top education grant. Tinkering with its plans for that system got a $33 million chunk of that grant money placed on “high risk” status by the U.S. Department of Education.
In its winning application for Race to the Top funds, Georgia officials said they would implement a teacher evaluation system that includes student surveys of teachers.
“The grant application was written by a different administration and was Georgia’s best estimate of how we needed to proceed in order to achieve the goals outlined in the grant application, ” Barge wrote.
Georgia officials now believe the surveys, particularly from students in kindergarten through the second grade, should not be used as an official part of the evaluation system and should, instead, be informational. They have said the surveys from young students are likely to be uniformly positive, and they have questioned how appropriate it is for students to have a role in evaluating their teachers.
Teresa MacCartney, deputy superintendent for Race to the Top implementation in Georgia, said the state is concerned about potential legal action from teachers if they are denied a raise or face sanction because of student surveys, which, in the state’s initial plan, would account for 10 percent of a teacher’s formal evaluation. “Our legal counsel has advised that, without changes, we will subject the state to a potentially highly litigious situation, ” Barge wrote.
The federal government granted Georgia’s request to drop the student surveys from students in kindergarten through the second grade, but it wants the state to demonstrate more clearly how it would use surveys from older students.
–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
76 comments Add your comment
another view
July 9th, 2012
3:09 pm
@longtimeeducator: I understand that you were honest in your assessments, however, there are times when the administrator’s focus targets one individual and those complaints are retained, while other complaints are excused- depending on the teacher involved.
Attentive Parent
July 9th, 2012
3:30 pm
Hall Native–I was in a meeting with Schofield a couple of years ago. It was his comments that led me to recognize that the Georgia Performance Standards were intended to be Transitional Outcomes Based Education. Keeping them and adding the Career Pathways for all and the soft skills/Positive School Climate mandate now gets Georgia all the elements to be classified as Transformational under William Spady’s definition from the 90s.
Or Spence Rogers, his former partner. I mention Spence now because the charlatans from Charlotte who are living now at the expense of Fulton County taxpayers announced that they had brought Rogers’ version of Outcomes Based Education with them.
It’s called PEAK and is part of Avossa’s campaign to close the gap between Fulton and Dekalb or APS. Down the drain Fulton goes in the tragic method for closing the gap.
teacher&mom
July 9th, 2012
5:18 pm
For those who insist education should operate like a business…
Read the link below and look for the parallels to what is going on with the current changes to teacher evaluations.
Grading employees as top performers, average, poor, etc. may have not been in the best interest of Microsoft.
A few quotes from the link:
“Eichenwald’s conversations reveal that a management system known as “stack ranking”–a program that forces every unit to declare a certain percentage of employees as top performers, good performers, average, and poor—effectively crippled Microsoft’s ability to innovate.”
“Every current and former Microsoft employee I interviewed–every one–cited stack ranking as the most destructive process inside of Microsoft, something that drove out untold numbers of employees,”
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1359
teacher&mom
July 9th, 2012
5:23 pm
Interesting comment that follows the Vanity Fair article. Again…consider the parallels to current education reforms.
“As someone who spent 7 years in Microsoft until recently, I cannot state strongly enough how dead on correct this article is. I see some defensive postings below such as “What about XP?!” when the fact is that Windows ME and Windows Vista were two of the worst OS’ ever released. The stack rating system is one of the absolute worst management techniques I’ve ever encountered. As the article says, it pits team member against team member (e.g. one of us MUST die regardless of how we do as a team”). Innovation requires taking risks and stepping outside of the box. The stack ranking system pretty much ensures that neither take place – people do not take risks and instead focus each day on how to SURVIVE vs. how to make the Microsoft more Successful. If you try to push for new ideas and new processes, you are simply labeled a troublemaker and will soon be culled from the herd. The middle management layer is Microsoft’s Achilles heel – a bunch of frightened rabbits not wanting to do anything to risk their career path at Microsoft.
Ed Johnson
July 9th, 2012
7:29 pm
Kudos, Dr. John Barge.
cris
July 9th, 2012
7:45 pm
Don’t mind surveys….as a tool for improving my teaching, not to determine my “rank” or “value”. Hoping Barge is really willing to stand up for teachers and do the right thing…I’ve a feeling RttT is going to be very painful and counter-productive. (As an aside….administration barely finished the KEYS evals on a limited number of faculty this year as a pilot – don’t think it’s going to work when they have to do everyone.)
Taxpayer and Teacher
July 9th, 2012
8:33 pm
@chris, I agree. This is too cumbersome to really be effective. Besides, my high school students read on the third grade level, so if you give them an on level survey they won’t be able to really comprehend it. Unless reading level of the students are considered, this will be a waste of time. How can a seventeen year old student who reads fluently on the level of a third grader really understand what they are being asked? Actually, how can students in SPID, MOID and ESOL classes be expected to evaluate a teacher? Most of these kids do not comprehend what true instruction should look like. Please, try something more realistic. Don’t blame corporate America for this nonsense. There is something called a feasibility study that I have not seen anybody try and adopt or use. I have not seen anything done according to a true project management and business analysis plan or model since I switched over to education.
Proud Teacher
July 9th, 2012
8:33 pm
By all means, let’s let the inmates run the asylum!
MB
July 9th, 2012
9:20 pm
@ Prof Point taken on the anonymity of comments. Most surveys would likely be relative scales, anyway, I’d guess, and if you had 3 or 4 out of a staff of 100+ who gave more than one score of less than 5 to an administrator, you’d know there were likely personal issues.
I’d think central office would need (if not want) to know of administrative issues in school buildings, and patterns among staff of low rankings would seem a way to target potential problems, yes? (And, while we’re at it, having central office staff evaluated by the folks they are intended to support might deter the “pass the trash to county office…” phenomenon. Hope springs eternal!)
Prof
July 9th, 2012
9:59 pm
@ MB. I think that what’s key on an administrative survey is to have a section where write-in responses are allowed….not just a Lickert scale instrument.
“Personal issues”— or fairness issues or governance issues may account for scores of less than 5.
A poor rating on one evaluation survey may be an anomaly, but if it’s given two or three years later for the same administrator with similar results that’s something else again.
teacher&mom
July 9th, 2012
10:27 pm
What is the cost of the surveys? It would be interesting to see how much money has been invested in the survey development and how much the DOE expects to spend to collect and distribute the data.
Personnel cost at the local and state level. Snazzy iPads for administrators to collect the data during observations, etc.
One has to wonder how far 33 million will go to cover the costs for the entire state….not just the RttT districts.
MB
July 9th, 2012
10:49 pm
@ Prof Funny you should mention that. We had an admin survey last year in my system and they couldn’t even tell us who we were evaluating! When we asked if it was to evaluate our supervising administrator, our principal or our downtown coordinator, we were told to just pick one. That would have been fine IF there was a place to note on the survey WHICH position/person we were reviewing, but there wasn’t. Also, it was only a Lickert scale – no comments taken.
From what I’ve heard since, the message taken from the survey was that many Downtown thought people in the schools weren’t doing their jobs and we in the trenches felt that Downtown had no idea what was happening in schools. Reactions to some principal surveys ranged from principals expressing disappointment in results (and asking for more input) to principals calling meetings for their staffs to berate them (collectively) for their responses. How exactly is public humiliation leadership? (And yes, those principals remain in their buildings…imagine the morale there!)
NTLB
July 9th, 2012
11:27 pm
Teachers who give out easy A’s and require minimum work of their students will be the only winners of these surveys.
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Georgians for Educational Excellence
July 10th, 2012
2:23 am
NTLB,
Teaching, like parenting, is not a popularity contest.
I despised my best-teacher-ever when she first taught me in the fifth grade.
I also depised my best-Granny-ever for a couple of years after I no longer required her peach-switch therapy.
Jena
July 10th, 2012
10:09 am
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO GET THE HECK OUT OF WHAT I TEACH IN MY CLASSROOM!
yes
July 10th, 2012
11:29 am
Most students will base their evals on how they feel about the teacher. Students don’t get mad because the teacher failed them. It’s how these teachers treats them. Some of these teachers lie like dogs on these kids. They give these kids grade based on how they feel about them. There are some dirty teachers out there and this will weed them out, or make them get there act together.
Those who will be reviewing the surveys should be able to get a pretty good idea of the teachers character and teaching skills from this.
Great idea!
yes
July 10th, 2012
11:36 am
To the teachers who are on here-if you know that you are always doing the right and fare thing toward students and adminstrators you have nothing to worry about. God always takes care of the righteous. To those low down dirty teachers-God distest sins against defensless children. GOODBYE-LMBO
Dr. Monica Henson
July 10th, 2012
11:56 am
longtime educator posted about administering student surveys in order to get honest feedback and improve the course for future students. I did the same both as a middle and high school teacher–it is amazing the thoughtful critique that many students will provide you, which can yield a wealth of improvements over time. Some of my most successful instructional techniques and strategies I used in my classroom came from surveying my kids and asking them for their feedback and ideas. I initially started doing it out of desperation to try to figure out why so many of them didn’t do homework or simply copied other’s work. I was working on my National Board Certification and analyzing my practice. The survey evolved into a series of classroom discussions (not too lengthy, as to preserve instructional time) that profoundly changed the way I viewed myself as a teacher and led to substantial improvements in my classroom practice.
I don’t necessarily agree that student evaluations need to be factored into K-12 teachers’ job security; however, if a teacher knows that many kids and not just the disgruntled few would “nail” him or her on an evaluation, it might not hurt to look in the mirror and starting asking, “How can I make my classroom a place where as many kids as possible want to be?” and “How can I make changes in my own behaviors, assignments, etc., that lead to improved student engagement and increased learning by my students?”
Dr. Clete Bulach
July 10th, 2012
4:47 pm
I always used student evaluations when I was a teacher. They were always right on target and very helpful in becoming a better teacher. I used a process called “force field analysis.” Basically, I wanted to know what forces I had going “for” me and “against” me being the best teacher possible. So, I always asked my students to do the following” On piece of paper the following was written: Complete these two sentences as often as you wish:
Dr. Bulach is a good teacher because . . .
Halfway down the page the second sentence was
Dr. Bulach would be a better teacher if . . .
Yes, there were some students who ripped me and I expected that and discounted those were obvious out to get me. The majority were valid honest evaluations of my teaching. This whole process of teacher evaluation is explained in our book in Chapter 2.
Brandon D.
July 10th, 2012
5:11 pm
To say that students should have input into their teacher’s pay or job status with a school district is one of the more insane ideas I have heard when it comes to educational reform. I understand the need to find the most qualified and best teachers, but to say that the students themselves are going to give 100% honest answers is wishful thinking. Also, the only information you are going to retain from a student survey is the students’ feelings about a teacher. If the student liked them or not. There is no way for a student to evaluate the effectiveness of a teacher, because they have never been one. Even high school seniors do not have the qualifications to decide how effective a teacher is.
Why does it seem that every idea to change education is about changing the teachers?
Education has gone from a system of putting blame on children and parents for bad grades and subpar performance to putting all the blame on the teacher. Your child didn’t feel like doing their homework and did not study and got a bad grade on a test, well that is okay, just go talk to the principal and blame the teacher and you are sure to get another chance at the test. Nevermind the fact that the student wasn’t prepared.
Should teachers have high standards to live up to? Absolutely.
Should a teacher’s performance have any input from their students? No.
Should administration review or pay more attention to a teacher who has students constantly complaining about how the teacher treats them or teaches them? Absolutely.
I am not saying students should not be heard, but to gauge a teacher’s effectiveness on how well they do their job on a group of student’s opinions (because that is all you will get) is wrong.
It is idealistic for people to think students will give you honest answers all of the time and that students are informed enough to grade a teacher.
NTLB
July 10th, 2012
7:52 pm
@Dr. Spinks, teaching SHOULD not be a popularity contest, but in most cases it IS. What do you think Teacher of the Year selection is about? The most demanding teachers are the ones that get astrocized the most by parents and students who want the highest grade possible with the most minimum work possible. I can vouch for this myself.
Prof
July 10th, 2012
10:07 pm
@ MB, July 9th, 10:49 pm.
Wow. Your system must think that its administrators are interchangeable. I would say that the only thing it shows is that “Downtown” knows nothing about surveys or even common sense.
MB
July 10th, 2012
10:58 pm
@ Prof – It often seems that way. When the economy improves, if some things don’t change dramatically, there may be a major exodus of school-level educators from our system. Being told “you should be grateful to have a job,” no matter how poorly you are treated, only works as long as other viable jobs really don’t exist. When those jobs are re-created…no loyalty has been instilled! (i don’t feel this with my current assignment and administration, but definitely have before – and know others still in that situation. NOT. GOOD.)
Dr. Monica Henson
July 10th, 2012
11:03 pm
NTLB: Teachers of the Year are voted on by their fellow teachers, which I have always found ironic because it excludes student voice, and most teachers rarely, if ever, get the chance to see their coworkers actually teaching.
southside teacher
July 11th, 2012
12:28 pm
Here is a letter signed by education researchers and professors at multiple Ga institutions, arguing against the Teacher Keys implementation scheduled for this fall. It has been published in the Washington Post and at EmpowerED Georgia. Apparently, no media in the state is interested so far: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/georgia-professors-blast-teacher-evaluation-system/2012/07/09/gJQAFhSbZW_blog.html#pagebreak
I like surveys, but....
July 13th, 2012
10:28 am
I use surveys to help determine program effectiveness and future goal-setting. I teach a non-core subject and don’t have a standardized curriculum, so I am free to be much more flexible with my instruction. I share the results of the surveys pertaining to programming with parents and students; I add the instructional results when I share with administrators. Every now and then I get hammered by a student for something, but on the whole I benefit from their feedback and knowing that I will eventually be evaluated by the students helps to keep me focused on my behavior, too: staying positive is the key to keeping students engaged and enrolled in the program.