Teacher evaluations: Is there really enough time for reliable classroom observations?
A middle school teacher I admired for her innovation pulled me aside once to tell me she was leaving the district. Her tendency to stray from the script put her at odds with the new principal.
When I shared the news later with a neighbor, an educator herself, her reaction shocked me: “Good riddance. My son never knew what was going on in that class because the teacher was always going off on a tangent.”
I learned a lesson. What’s outside-the-box teaching to one parent may be a crate of goo to the next.
Through having twins — one with a penchant for flights of fancy, the other with feet firmly planted on the ground — I have seen firsthand that personality plays a role in how well a student relates to a teacher. My son prefers strict standards, frequent quizzes and no projects that demand glue, poster boards or costumes. My daughter likes personal journals, classes that meander and any event that requires wearing a hat.
That’s why I regard promises of objective teacher evaluations with skepticism. Can teaching be reduced to a checklist of good and bad practices?
Georgia is in the midst of rolling out a new teacher evaluation system funded by the state’s $400 million Race to the Top grant. The reviews will consider student test scores, principal observations and student surveys, and assign a rating to teachers of exemplary, proficient, developing/needs improvement or unsatisfactory.
Much of what Georgia is doing aligns with the findings of a three-year, $45 million study of effective teaching by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Released earlier this month, the final report from the Gates-funded Measures of Effective Teaching Project sought to answer the question: Are seemingly more effective teachers really better than other teachers at improving student learning, or do they simply have better students?
The foundation says that some teachers are, in fact, better at raising student achievement. And those highly effective teachers can be identified and measured by multiple classroom observations, student surveys and student growth as manifested by state test scores.
In both the Gates report and Georgia’s new evaluations, observations of teachers in the classroom play a significant role in gauging effectiveness. But there are differences.
The Gates study found that an accurate observation rating for a teacher requires a review of two or more lessons, each scored by a different certified observer to minimize bias.
At this point, Georgia has no plans to bring in outsiders to assess teachers in action. Principals will conduct two 30-minute observation sessions of each teacher. They will also perform four 10-minute “walk-throughs” to see whether specific performance standards are being taught.
Simple math explains why teachers are dubious. Take a school with 100 teachers. A principal is supposed to observe each teacher for 100 minutes. That adds up to nearly 167 hours or more in a month that the principal must devote to classroom observations in a school year. Do principals really have the time?
“It make take a culture shift, but principals have to realize that their top priority, along with ensuring their school buildings are safe, is instruction. They must make time for these teacher observations,” says Susan Andrews, Georgia Department of Education deputy superintendent for Race To The Top implementation.
The other critical factor in assessing teacher effectiveness will be student growth in test scores. For 30 percent of Georgia teachers, those scores will come from the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests given to elementary and middle school grades and the End of Course Tests given to high school students.
But 70 percent of teachers lead classes for which there are no standardized Georgia tests, including drama, art, music and foreign languages. For these non-tested subjects, the state is developing pre tests and post tests called Student Learning Objectives.
A music teacher sent me a note about the instructional time that will likely be lost due to the pre and post assessments that will be part of the Student Learning Objectives. “I think parents would be surprised to know an additional week or more now goes to test students more,” she said.
And time is a precious commodity in Georgia, where two-thirds of districts have shortened their school years to deal with budget deficits that promise only to worsen. The state has cut $5.6 billion from k-12 funding since 2003.
Building a better teacher evaluation system won’t help anyone if it depends on time and resources that aren’t realistic.
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200 comments Add your comment
ItchyZ
January 19th, 2013
2:19 pm
As the husband of a teacher of 13 years (though not since 2000), I was privy to her observations and frustrations about the public school experience. And yes, I did actually listen to her. Generally, she loved the teaching but hated the required bureaucracy and disciplinarian role. That and her health are the reason she no longer teaches. She said she spent so much time on the administrative paperwork which seemed to multiply every year, that her time planning for instruction suffered. She never belonged to the union because she could see early on that it was rocketing toward an agenda that had nothing to do with bettering the teaching environment or teaching children the subjects of reading, math, etc. It had more to do with revising history to match and support the agenda of the left. In my opinion, this has been going on for more than 30 years and has lead to the latest disastrous re-election of a do-nothing president who only spouts the language of the left.
That said, there are many inherent reasons which plague the effectiveness of public education. You have the individual personalities and learning styles of the children. You have diverse home environments which profoundly influence the quality of a child’s education. Add to all that, fluctuating curriculums that seem to want to follow the the latest fads in learning theory. It’s easy to see why so many polls, surveys and interviews of college students show such poor understanding of the issues, our government, true American history and all the things that made America so unique and great.
God help us!
Tech Prof
January 19th, 2013
2:19 pm
I am always surprised at the unidimensional approach to so many problems in Education. Overlaying an increased amount of observation might be good. If that is accepted, for the sake of argument, why do we have to try and make it work within the existing personnel structure? Reassign personnel from the central office staff as observers. Rename one of the assistant principal positions to be something with observations. The problems facing education are going to require a many pronged attack. One thing, whatever it is, won’t solve the problems.
ElemPrincipal
January 19th, 2013
2:20 pm
Please excuse the typos in the last post. Typing on a phone while trying to get a manicure is not the best situation!
Private Citizen
January 19th, 2013
2:21 pm
ElemPrincipal, Don’t worry about “arguing.” That’s the last thing from my mind. You’re asking some really great questions.
I really want to know how you believe teacher quality can be determined if the principal never visits the classroom.
This is not my specialty and it is certainly a great question, so I will be improvising. Outside of education, I have worked with people who were literally world-class and other people who were boneheads, so I can certainly relate. Basically, if you want assured result, you want to go with someone who has a track record of performance. For hiring, if this is unknown, you might ask the person to describe several lesson scenarios? This would give you some idea of what they are made of. And I still stick by the idea that once you hire them, you are stuck with them for the year and should bear it out, hopefully to good result. Certainly there is a corpus or professional articles on how to hire / locate capable teachers. You might want to attend to developing this area of knowledge. In performance arts, the person has to perform. They might look at 20 or 50 people before deciding on a person. Point is, there is a way to have a concept of what a person does based on demonstration of talent.
I’ve seen folks with multiple degrees and wonderful interviewing skills who don’t know how to teach.
On this whole “how to teach” things, there is a pattern going on of saying “this is not acceptable” however providing no example to follow. It is said that the evaluator will not once, not ever, pick up the marker and show how it is done. This is not very fair. Even right now (I say this quietly) Mr. Barge has an initiative on his website promising demonstration videos of good teaching, but guess what? There are none, only previews like movie trailers. Why not have a collection of 10 videos showing “good teaching” and “how it is done?” and then you can say (emphasis) “This is what I want.” That’s only fair. In my prior work environment – not education, if someone was not doing it right, you stepped in their and did it yourself, mentored. This is what makes the whole world go around, but in teaching and evaluating, there is this thing of the bosses who coldly step back and say “You’re not doing it right” but do not step in and make example. Well, that’s false and unethical. At the least, you should have some video showing some of this “good teaching” and then people have something to go on. As a teacher, I’ve had evaluators who basically represent like you are now, tell me good teaching is doing an “opening / introduction” and a “closing / wrap up” and all of this multi-methods hokum, supposed to have five different instructional strategies going on at once. At the same time I was being harassed and misdirected and told what to do with these simplistic formulas, I delivered very high results that were completely ignored by the same people getting into my business. So I do not have a real high concept of trust with the principal-core concept here in Georgia. I mean what are you about? If you want teaching done a certain way, you best have some video to show how it is done. Otherwise, you are practicing vacant intimidation – and there’s a lot of it. If you want results, well then look at the results. There is a real problem with principals being in teacher’s business for the wrong reasons is what I think. Much of it is completely unethical and the principal requires teacher to “play house” with the micromanaging, and the principal of evaluators invent problems where there are none because the evaluator wants to see the same thing everywhere. Well, it doesn’t work that way. Just like kids get the benefit of differentiation, teachers teach different ways. You should be concerned about results. And if you’re doing elementary ed., please, teach kids hand-writing!
I asked you several questions that you did not address.
ha. This sounds like a work review.
What prevents a teacher from becoming a “worksheet queen” if no one ever visits the classroom? I think there is nothing wrong with “worksheets” but you have to go over the work. Introduce the concept, do sample problems with the class, have kids do independent work while checking on them, and then go over the problems together. This works best either at the board or the good old time-honored overhead projector. Point is the teacher has to be on their feet active teaching their lesson and interacting with the kids. What more do you want? Some people do it with “Smart Boards” (I can’t stand them). Teacher should have the authority to teach. What more do you want? Who cares if the source materials is published work book, or from textbook, or “worksheets” are you call them? What is wrong with a “work sheet” with fractions or grammar? Where did you get the idea this is a bad thing? What do you suggest? Because if you have method, you need to be able to say or have a demonstration video. This is not some tacky competition between teacher and admin. and admin has the responsibility to define what they want. If you want something different, you must provide an example.
How would I know if a teacher is spending all of his/her time on Facebook or Retail Me Not, if I don’t visit the classroom. That’s a whole different thing. I have trouble relating to. Easy enough by monitoring computer server. Just make it clear to staff. You should have an idea who is on their feet doing their teaching. If this is what you want, make it clear on the front end.
And please don’t tell me that because I’ve picked the best staff during the summer that shouldn’t be a problem. I know of few principals who get to choose every teacher in their building.
I guess I’ve worked where the principal. did, in fact, choose every teacher in their building.
One constant theme on this blog is that administrators don’t get rid of bad teachers. How would we know who the bad teachers are if we aren’t in classrooms?
Easy that. Look at results. You’re asking good questions. I appreciate your down to earth directness. I’m enjoying our conversation. I can now see that you are walking into a pre-existing environment and trying to make sense of it. Well, I guess you have to decide who is performing and who is not performing. If you tell someone that are not performing, you need to have solid information. For example, “your students are not learning how to do fractions” or “your students are not learning how to write a paragraph” or basic grammar or write a solid sentence. (elem. ed. curriculum is not my thing) (After I already had my career going, I once had a univ. dept. head tell me elementary ed is “where it’s at, invite me to it, I was honored) Point is elementary ed. is serious business where the kids get their foundation skills. I guess your job is to assure they are getting their foundation skills in – it sounds old fashioned – reading, writing, and arithmetic. Really, I am not an elementary education specialist and this is a specialised area. Surely, there is a way you know who is producing and who is not producing? That work sheet concern you have is a big deal in that it causes me concern that you do not have solid source materials to teach from. I think, if I were you, I would apply attention to having the tools for your staff, meaning books, workbooks – real curriculum supplies. I know this is a challenge as obviously the system you are in apparently does not have this well covered, but my belief is that solid curriculum materials is a big part of what makes for good results. For example, grades 1-6, is there is solid sequential system for teaching math and language skills, written and otherwise? (I’m not expecting you to answer specifically – it is rhetorical question).
The picture you seem to have is that when I enter a classrom that all teaching/learning stops and that the only way a school can be an “absolutely top school” is for the administration to stay in the office.
I agree there is no “one way” to do it. Maybe you have the caring chemistry to visit a classroom and support your teachers. Most admin. I have seen were positively dominated by the agenda of the central office, and this is not a good thing. I’ve had admin that were totally cool and appreciative of me, and other admin that were edgy and critical.
When I enter a classroom, it is rare for the teacher to stop teaching or for the students to stop what they are doing. Of course!
I slip in, sit down, and watch. This is kind of awkward. In my experience, a 5 minute visit is as productive as a 25 minute “observation.” I’ve seen where the head boss stops in and has to lock at their watch until they have sat in the chair long enough and can ethically sign off on the required observation time. I think it all has to do with “the vibe” of the visiting person. If a principal or admin genuinely wants to be in the classroom, that is one thing. “Doin’ time” is something else. i can see how you need to know what is going on in your building. Maybe it is a personality thing. They say some entertainers are really great people, and other ones you would not want to have over for dinner. I saw a production video of that “Gangam Style” Korean guy and he was just super nice and caring to the people around him. I also read an interview transcipt typed by the guy and he writes better English than practically anyone I have seen in the U.S. They guy must be very high caste or something, he’s no pop-artist from a village, that’s for sure. I think the main thing is vibe and intent when you are observing people. If there is a problem, be really direct in what is the remedy. If someone is working hard but not “teaching right” have some video that show what “teaching right” is, what a lesson in action looks like. For greater concerns of performance, take an interest in the quality, sequential and consistent nature of the curriculum supply materials in your building – what teachers are using to teach from.
-Good to visit with you.
And by the way…I will always be a teacher and I do teach a class in my school. My teachers say it is what makes me good at my job, because I never forget what it is like to be in the classroom.
Private Citizen
January 19th, 2013
2:32 pm
Whup, I didn’t see your last part.
And by the way…I will always be a teacher and I do teach a class in my school. My teachers say it is what makes me good at my job, because I never forget what it is like to be in the classroom.
Well, most principals do not teach, so that is a great thing and allow me to recognise you for it. Good luck with being assured you have quality and through curriculum materials. Like when the supply truck shows up to deliver to a restaurant, what come from the farm is what is being eaten. Curriculum support materials, I would think, would have a lot to do with the result of your workers.
A retired teacher
January 19th, 2013
2:50 pm
I am so glad I retired in November.
Private Citizen
January 19th, 2013
3:01 pm
-I’ll try and be brief.
I came into a school with a full staff. I didn’t hire anyone in the building.
Okay. I see that now.
In our school there are no department heads or lead teachers. I do have a leadership team and they tell me weekly about needs in our school.
Sounds reasonable.
You apparently have a lot of answers without really having the knowledge of what happens in an elementary school. You make a lot of assumptions based on your personal experience.
I don’t really have “answers.” I have “expression.” Correct, elementary ed. is specialised and is my area of work experience.
The teachers in my school do not lack for materials, however, if we did, do you really think it is a decision the principal makes? While I have do have some authority over my budget, I can only make it stretch so far.
This is kind of a puzzle. No one in the building has input on their official source materials. This way is definitely not a part of top performance, or it will be rare. If your building is well-resourced, this is very different from my own experience of having to fabricate so many materials to meet the “standards” and curriculum map of what is to be covered. Lots and lots of self assembly of materials is my experience, not too much official in the classroom to support.
I have never ’scapegoated” a teacher for making their own materials. I applaud them for searching for new and creative ways to teach.
To be fair, you were doing that “work sheet” thing. I think “worksheets” are fabulous is they have high quality math or grammar activities on them, that sort of thing. The only way you learn math is by doing it, bazillions of problems, each one completed. Either on “worksheets” or your own paper. Yes, there has to be a balance. Faulting a form factor seems sort of illin’ to me.
Sever logs, uh? Let’s see. If teachers are all professionals, and they are all doing what they are supposed to do, why would I look at server logs if I haven’t been out of my office? I did spend quite a bit of time with server logs recently, but only after I observed a teacher in her classroom and discovered that every time I walked by the room she was on her computer instead of teaching.
Sounds like you’ve got it covered.
Are you really so intent on making me wrong that you don’t recognize your own statements?
I’m not intent on “making you wrong” although I tend to be direct and cover a lot of ground. Certainly I am in my own space ship on my perspective. I think individuality is good thing.
You are the one who said I should assemble the “best staff possible” during the summer. When I asked you how to do that without observing teachers, you came back with a rant about teacher awards and recognition. Maybe it works in elementary ed. environment, but yes, I maintain my point that teacher awards and this type of social currency are not a good thing. I once heard a decision tree concept, goes like this: “Possible? Yes. Necessary? No.” Point is, when everybody is on the A list of talent, teacher awards are an indulgence for somebody and it is not the talent.
I don’t know where you teach or if you really do teach, but I can tell you that the teachers in my building enjoy recognition for what they do. Notes of appreciation, a shout out in our newletter, a shared observation in a faculty meeting – I can’t give them the pay increase they deserve but can make the feel appreciated for the job they do.
Someone speaking to me like I am valued is what makes me feel appreciated. It would not hurt to say “Good job!” after delivering high test scores and results due to a lot of work by your truly. I’ve seen environment with lots of “shout-outs” and zero recognition of accomplishment based on long hours and real delivery or content scores. So, yes, I’m not real keen on that shout-out stuff. And maybe it is a style thing. I’m not used to in my own experience. In university, if they want to do a “shout out” they hire a nobel prize winner to come speak at the school. Meanwhile, at the university where they do all of that “shout out” stuff, guess what, no visiting intellectuals as speakers – ever. So I think it is pretty vacant. It is really like saying “we’re important” whereas I think the guy who invented to the polio vaccine (Salk) is the one is who important, or the lady who gave her life due to working with radiation (Curie).
As for the voyuer comment – yes, maybe I am. You see, I love the look on the face of a child who has just learned a new word and wants to share it. My soul is fed when I hear a student get the opportunity to explain share their thoughts about a book they have read with the rest of the class. I get excited when children work together to solve a complex math problem. There is nothing like the ooh and aahs of children doing science experiment. But I also look on a teacher’s face when she realizes that the student she has been working with suddenly “get it!” I relish the opportunity to celebrate the success of a well-planned lesson.
Maybe the best teachers really love their kids. Perhaps my best thrill is seeing some traumatised displaced kid start to form a little bit as a person and loose some of the trauma and get a little self-concept instead. if I had something to do about it, I think that is pretty keen. I see teachers as “care providers” in the greater sense, and I think the school should be a sanctuary as well as stepping stone to the future.
I have too much to do to continue this conversation, and it is more than obvious that you have never, and I pray will never, be in the position I am in.
I’d love to be a principal, but we only have so many lives, so to speak.
I wish you the best of luck. Hey. thanks. Appreciated.
Private Citizen
January 19th, 2013
3:02 pm
typo correction: “I don’t really have “answers.” I have “expression.” Correct, elementary ed. is specialised and is not my area of work experience.”
linda
January 19th, 2013
3:02 pm
Yes, evaluating teachers is difficult, maybe close to impossible with the current checklist. When I taught, I know that my style was perfect for some students while horrible for others. I can honestly say that a friend is one of the best teachers I have ever seen, and I would have hated being in her class.
Private Citizen
January 19th, 2013
3:12 pm
Some teachers are energetic whirlygigs who keep everyone happy and on their toes (now that I think about it, this same teacher I’m thinking of was taking pills to make for increased mood) and other teachers who really know content can be stoic but very solid on what they are doing. (come to think of it, this person was taking pills, too – antidepressants. I am referring to two of my subject area colleagues -I was the only one not taking pills. I went to my my doctor and asked for some and he wouldn’t do it. Ha!) teaching is hard work.
hopeless
January 19th, 2013
3:40 pm
I hate being observed. I am a great teacher, and I know it and see results. I am funny and confident in front of kids. However, as soon as an administrator (especially one that is very intimidating) walks in the room, my brain freezes and I start messing up. I know it has to be done, but it just seems also that they come at the time when, for example, we are taking a test, or finishing a lesson and going to the lab. Every day I have a cloud over my shoulders of stress for numerous reasons, but one being, is today the day they come in my room. Every teacher hates these, and for good reason, but I suppose they are a necessary evil. I just wonder if there is a better way? I’d rather they video tape me and watch me when I am not in the room, lol. Anyways, at our school, there are about 100 teachers to observe, and yes, it is just the principal and vice principal doing the observations. At the school I was at last year, the same situation (although less teachers), and in a very rough, gang-ridden school. The students were left sitting in the office pretty much unsupervised, because apparently people don’t think elementary school kids need ISS, even in gang-ridden areas. I am a few years in to this thing called teaching, but I thought about it yesterday. I spend about 25 hours a week max actually teaching students, 5 hours planning and preparing for lessons, and 30 hours completing meaningless BS that is forced upon us. I am no longer a teacher, I am something that I am not happy with, and after a few short years, I am already burned out on something I thought I’d love, as are the majority of teachers I know. I am hanging in there a few more years, then looking for options. As far the this evaluation system, it is what it is, and it stinks.
Dazed and Confused
January 19th, 2013
3:44 pm
Here’s reality – I must differentiate by level, learning style, product, etc for every student all the time.
I must provide the appropriate rigor for every student all the time.
All instruction must be relavant (what might be relavant to one may be unnecessary to another depending on level, learning style or product).
I must engage every student all the time.
I must use a variety of teaching methods (technology, texts, opportunities to show mastery (fancy way to say worksheet, writing, or something like that) flexible grouping (no more rows) for every lesson for every student all the time.
I must have all of this on a lesson plan form that would be clear to anyone who walked in the door and chose to look at it.
I must collaborate with my same grade/content teachers for two hours each week and with the other grade/same content teachers at least twice a month to plan it all – and report it.
I must pre-assess, formatively assess often during a unit (not quizzes), and summatively assess differentiating those assessments for students by level, learning style and product.
Then I must grade all of this.
Oh and I’m a special ed teacher, so I must provide accommodations for my students – but seamlessly, so no one knows they are special ed students (in team taught classes – resource classes are different), but their materials can’t look different and they can’t be singled out (I totally agree with this), so we must be skilled in being covert.
Those students will have goals and objectives in their IEP (individual education plan) that are just that, individual, and I must collect the data on their progress – that could mean that despite their grade level, their skill deficits may not be part of their current grade levels’ common core standards, so we have to find time to work on those gaps.
I will have a caseload of students that I must manage their entire educational experience (including mounds of paperwork) over and above the ones that I teach.
I must provide positive behavior support.
I must council those who are struggling.
I must provide intervention, remediation, or enrichment when necessary.
Then, If an administrator comes in to observe me and doesn’t “see” all of this, I might get a “needs development” mark then have to have a conversation and provide artifacts that show them I was doing whatever they thought I “needed development” in – the new TKES evaluation system.
I am in my building by 6:30 (sometimes earlier), and usually don’t leave before 5:00 then take several hours of work home with me each evening AND take classes, work, and do staff development in the summer.
I get about five hours of sleep and start all over again.
Oh, and yes, I haven’t had a raise in six years, and with all the furlough days and shortened school year and increase in the cost of everything, my pay has decreased dramatically too.
I’m tired, stressed, now have high blood pressure, and can no longer afford my gym, or vacations…I’ve been teacher of the year, national board certified, and am a master teacher, and for the first time EVER, I’m not sure I can do this anymore…
crankee-yankee
January 19th, 2013
4:22 pm
Dazed and Confused
January 19th, 2013
3:44 pm
I hear you, and to quote a pasty white-thighed presidential womanizer, “I feel your pain” for I am in the same boat.
One note, I am in a regular ed classroom but I also have to meet all the SPED IEP items for my kids, it isn’t just the SPED teachers who are held to that standard.
10:10 am
January 19th, 2013
4:30 pm
@ Private Citizen:
Your mother just called to apologize for your boorish rambling. And honestly, I found it hard to forgive her: it’s after all her basement you’re incessantly posting from, as well as her Wi-Fi connection.
If evenyour own mother is tired of reading endlessly of your likes and dislikes … consider how the rest of us feel! Don’t force Maureen to intercede. Find another interest in life!
Or maybe even a job.
Ed Johnson
January 19th, 2013
4:34 pm
Private Citizen, gosh I guess I never learned that “for example” means “in every case.” Now I am just crushed to think I once believed “no number of examples proves a theory.” Silly me. You’ve proven your teaching mettle by me. Thanks!
Dr. Monica Henson
January 19th, 2013
4:41 pm
Private Citizen posted, “Point is, your staff if supposed to be capable. For the well-being of classroom integrity, you leave them be and let them do their thing.”
First off, you clearly have never been a school administrator. It’s tedious for those of us who actually do the job to read the rants of those who are neither qualified to do it nor know much of anything about what it really entails.
Principals in district schools INHERIT their faculty–teachers who have been awarded tenure are extremely difficult to dislodge, and tenured teachers with political connections in small-town districts are far more powerful than any administrator. It would be wonderful if every teacher were capable. Reality is, a significant portion of them are not–student achievement outcomes underscore this fact.
ElemPrincipal’s comments are spot-on what an accomplished administrator would say. If every administrator in every public school in this country shared his (her?) sentiments and walked the walk, we would have capable teachers in every classroom.
Rick Moore
January 19th, 2013
4:43 pm
“confused” (9:51 a.m. post) hit the nail on the head. I taught 31 years in GA. I never received anything but sparkling evaluations so I have no ax to grind. That said, I always thought how ironic it was that many of the assistant principals doing the evaluating were mediocre or worse teachers. Many administrators will admit to you (if they are honest) that they left the classroom because they did not like TEACHING any more, and/or they could make more $$$ as an administrator. This did not make them inept administrators, but they are certainly NOT the right people to evaluate the effectiveness of a teacher.
Not going to happen
January 19th, 2013
4:58 pm
This will never be fully implemented lik every othe fad in education. My principal has never seen me teach and probably won’t. I also don’t think there is anyway at the High School level to make this equitable. if I teach subjects with an EOCT and others don’t, I should make more for having more kin in the game.
nea.org/home/18469.htm
January 19th, 2013
5:06 pm
Funny how private enterprises meet consumer expectations year after year—or go out of business. The marketplace provides all the evaluation needed.
Michael Moore
January 19th, 2013
5:31 pm
Keep writing Private Citizen. I don’t often agree but it is much more fun to disagree with someone who is articulate.
The last principal I worked for was a poor teacher and a failed football coach so they made him a principal in a school with a lot of smart teachers figuring all he had to do was show up and the school would run itself. Within six months just about everyone, faculty, students, cooks, staff hated going to work. Guess what his evaluations of faculty looked like? At the end of the year seventeen of us asked for and received transfers. What we are seeing in schools are a lot of administrators but very few leaders.
Private Citizen
January 19th, 2013
5:38 pm
Yes, there are places where staff are both capable and are not actively managed, surveilled, themed, observed, tested, required to test, and required to attend to all of the above before, during, and followup discussion and nail-biting seminar, show us your papers and let’s see the call logs to parents. Good luck with it.
deja vu all over again
January 19th, 2013
5:48 pm
1000th verse – same as the first…. but how can you really ealuate teachers… EVERY other profession in the world is evaluated and rated through somenormalized process and every one has variables and unique factors that have to be considered – and yet we manage to have evaluations and they work pretty consistently.
Only teachers for some reason continue to think theirs is the only profession on the planet that is just completely impossible to use evaluations based upon a number of fcotrs including student achievement. “But evaluate the parents, evaluate the makeup of my class, evaluate….. ” blah blah blah. And yet NONE of them have ever sugested a way they believe would actually be fair. Wonder why…. This is a load of manure – each student comes out of the previous rae with data about their testing and proficiencies. Every student has information in their file about disipline issues and disabilities. Each student can be measured against their previous year’s performance – and where necessary – when some deficiency is scored – individual circumstances can be considered. This IS NOT rocket science…. only teachers try to make it look that way. Okay – thevast majority of techers – many really would like something in place bcause it might actually give them grounds to inally get some of the dead weight out of schools. Hate to break it to you but there are just way too many bad teachers in our systems, insulated by purely longevity based tenure, whosimply shouldn’t be there. Even the teachers know this. Why won’t the teachers groups finally come up with their own suggestion for evaluations? (cricket noises)
deja vu all over again
January 19th, 2013
5:51 pm
and another thing – I despise touch screen keyboads….
ElemPrincipal
January 19th, 2013
5:51 pm
@ Private Citizen:
I really had no intention of posting again today, but I have to address some of the points you made.
On hiring the right people: In an interview a well-read person could tell you about educational theory, learning theory, lesson planning, behavior management, what they would do in any imaginable situation and still walk in the classroom and be a total and complete failure. Have you ever interviewed a newly graduated education major? I’ll tell you now that you can talk all you want, make elaborate charts, design a wonderful plan for classroom management, but until you are in the classroom with children, you really don’t know what you will do.
I could talk to you all day about analyzing basketball games. We can discuss the stats on every player and I can tell you how to defend against them. I can draw you a plan book that will take care of every team you will face. But considering that I am a 5′2″ woman, I will promise you that I cannot do the job of playing basketball.
So, all the schools you have ever worked in were start up schools? That is the ONLY way I can imagine that a principal was able to hire everyone in the building. You have demonstrated your lack of true knowledge with this statement.
In reference to resources and materials: “This is kind of a puzzle. No one in the building has input on their official source materials. This way is definitely not a part of top performance, or it will be rare” I am not sure I understand what you are trying to say here. Of course the folks in the building have input on official source materials. Our faculty has great input on what is purchased with our money. Actually, because we are a high-poverty school, it is requirement that teachers, parents, and other stakeholders be a part of the budget process. So, it is a collaborative effort to decide how the money is spent.
On worksheets: You have missed the whole point. Worksheets are not teachers. Certainly they can be used to reinforce, practice, sometimes even to assess learning, but they are not teachers. You said the only way to learn math is to practice it. I agree, but if you give me the worksheet without teaching me, I can practice it incorrectly a bazillion times. I will give you some leeway since you are not an elementary teacher. The term “Worksheet Queen” often refers to the teacher who sits in his/her desk while students work on worksheets. They are sometimes graded and handed back, but rarely are they reviewed or used to provide feedback to students. And I will defend to my dying day that underlining nouns and circling verbs on a worksheet is not how to teach grammar skills.
On best staff possible: Perhaps you need to work on reading comprehension and attention to detail. I never mentioned teacher awards – or “social currency.” YOU said principals should use the summer to put together the “best staff possible” and then live with it. I asked how you can do this without classroom observation. YOU came back with a rant about teacher awards. When I called this to your attention, YOU continued to tell me why I shouldn’t use teacher awards.
Appreciating teachers: You demean my methods but say you want to be told “good job.” mmm..how is a note of thanks any different than “good job?” Furthermore, there are things so much more important that high test scores. If you are in an affluent area, some kids are going to make good teachers scores because of teachers; some in spite of teachers.
I happen to be in an area of extreme poverty. I tell a teacher “good job” when he/she has made progress in teaching child to read and I also give thanks to the teacher who made sure a child had a coat to wear Friday morning in the cold. We are not producing widgits, we are educating children. There are many things every day that need to be recognized to keep my teachers coming back the next day.
Hopeless and Dazed and Confused give a clear picture of what is causing heart-ache for teachers. I do everything I can to keep my teachers from reaching this point. It is my job to make their job easier.
Now, I have a book to read.
ElemPrincipal
January 19th, 2013
5:54 pm
One more…Monica and Tony – thanks for the words of support. Even principals need to hear “good job” every now and then.
FJ
January 19th, 2013
6:05 pm
This is an interesting thread. I agree with Maureen’s original point that what one child likes and responds to may not be the next child’s cup of tea. I remember feeling like we hit the jackpot with my son’s third grade teacher (best year of his elementary career, hands down) and then being shocked when I realized the other parents couldn’t stand her (for many reasons – too much homework, she talked with too much of a Southern accent, you name it and those parents complained about it). We liked everything about her and my child adored her and thrived in her class. This was in one of the “top” APS schools and the principal didn’t do any classroom observations that I am aware of. My son is now in a private school and the principal does teach one of his classes and is regularly on the scene. I like that. I teach preschool ( I used to be an elementary teacher but this schedule works better for me now that I have children of my own) and this year our director informed us that we would be videotaped and that the results would be shared in staff meetings. Ugh. She is more than welcome to come in and observe us any time she wants to, but she never does. Instead we get to watch ourselves on a video while the whole staff picks it apart. I find that very obnoxious.
Private Citizen
January 19th, 2013
6:06 pm
Michael Moore, You appear with your comment like an angel from the heavens. ‘Sorry your nice school got all sorted. This is a real loss of community for you. Thank you!
d
January 19th, 2013
6:06 pm
I was really annoyed by GTEP because it never helped me work on what I need. Sure, I was satisfactory my first seven years, and from what I have seen so far, I will receive a proficient evaluation this year. Here is where I stand very bothered by TKES (and I’ll break it down by the three components):
Observations – unlike Dr. Henson suggested earlier, only administrators are being allowed to do the observations. In past years, because I had met my 3 years, my department chair was allowed to do one of the observations which has helped ease the burden from administration. She is no longer allowed to. On top of this, one of the 30-minute observations is supposed to be announced. Not in DeKalb, though. We have a waiver and have 2 unannounced 30-minute observations. Administrators also cannot turn off their other duties to do these observations – so the school is still functioning so they get distracted (just ask my department chair about her last 10-minute walkthrough).
Student surveys – I think this is the component that scares me the most. We were given a schedule of when and where to drop off one of our classes so that they could do our random selection survey. We were told the process takes about 20 minutes. I was given a time slot 10 minutes before the end of class, so I asked one of the assistant principals if they would be writing passes for my students. I was told not to worry, because the students were usually done in 3 or 4 minutes. Sure enough, I dropped my kids off at the lab, and went to a nearby teacher’s room (she was on planning that period) and despite the about 4 minutes late the kids were getting dropped off by the time I was able to cut my lesson short for this, they were all exiting the room when the bell rung. How did they have time to receive the instructions and really evaluate me?
Test scores: Like I said in a previous blog, I am fine with the SLO method – pre-test/post-test (although I wish there were one in the middle). I think the post test should count as a portion of the students’ grades, however. I am, as most regulars know here, a teacher in an EOCT course. I asked the state DOE about how growth can be demonstrated between unrelated courses and content and here is part of the reply I received in email last month, “As you know, there are many concepts and skills that are embedded in all social studies classes, which provide a common link across courses. As with US History and Economics, the social studies content between grade levels changes as well, though similar underlying skills and processes are utilized.” The problem is (and I have to go based on the test questions released by the state) we don’t test social studies skills – we test content and factoids on the US History and Economics End of Course Tests. Again, how do we show growth? US History teachers are really expected to show 3 years worth of growth because the last time most of their children were tested in any social studies course was the 8th grade CRCT for Georgia Studies.
It seems to me that we have gone from one very flawed system in the form of GTEP to one very flawed system in the form of TKES.
Dekalbite
January 19th, 2013
6:24 pm
IMO – the biggest problem is that only 30% of teachers carry the entire burden of ensuring students know the content that the school system exists for. Considering less than 50% of the school system employees are teachers and only 30% of them carry the entire burden for student achievement on their back, my math says that 15% of the employees are responsible for the success of the school system. And yet these employees – the grade level and content area teachers who are given the MOST work and MOST pressure and MOST responsibility are valued and respected the least. Would any business run this way? Well maybe – but not successfully.
Not PC and a HS teacher
January 19th, 2013
6:30 pm
I am a 23 year veteran teacher at a high school with 95 teachers, 1 principal, 3 assistant principals, and a CTAE director. We have typically about 1400 students.
Only one of these administrative types has more that 6 years in the class room, this assistant principal has 25 years in elementary classroom setting, not always relevant to what goes on in a high school. I know personally 3 of the others from their teaching years; each was very open in their desire to “get out of the classroom” as soon as possible.
When I get observed for my annual performance evaluation, it is near comic what happens.
The little evaluation form’s descriptive blurbs are sterile in comparison to the many events taking place in that 10 minute visit to one class compared to the entire semester or year.
Our administrators really spend most of their time with about 1% of the students who are chronic behavior problems and the associated gripe/threat sessions with the parents of this very small number of students.
I don’t see the proposed evaluation scheme as anything more than more wasteful spending of scarce Georgia Tax dollars which could be better spent on activities/resources that directly impact the student in the classroom. Whether it be more teachers, more relevant teacher professional development, better classroom technology, or instructional materials such as books or supplies. Spending the money in these areas would impact student achievement more than a check-list program of evaluation.
Private Citizen
January 19th, 2013
6:37 pm
ElemPrincipal, Are you calling me a liar? Like this?!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaysTVcounI
Hey, I’m going to wait until tomorrow (before noon) to reply. The recent “place” where I invested myself and my time, was indeed staff assembled. I didn’t say all the schools etc. See on the next edition tomorrow a.m. hmmm video seems strangely appropriate to the macro – “I’ll tell you everything you want to hear. Kudos, Rollins, kudos.
BSK
January 19th, 2013
6:38 pm
It all boils down to money. Since we are in such a terrible economic position, the state decided to jump on the money train and do whatever it takes to get funding for our schools. As a middle school teacher (and part of the pilot program last year), I can say that the new evaluation system is greatly flawed. Here is why. 1.) When admin comes to evaluate us, if they don’t “see” a specific standard of the 10 that they are looking for, all we have to do is show proof that we have done it. For example, if they are looking for differentiation techniques, we can print off a test that we give to our regular kids, then print the test that we use for our SPED kids. Easy as pie. 2.) Admins don’t have time to look through all of the “proof”, so as long as it looks useful, they will sign off on it. 3.) Students take a survey about their teachers. Ha! Thinking back to when I was a middle schooler, I would have said terrible things about my teachers, even if they were great. If I thought I could get them in trouble or fired, I would have done it.
Those are just a few things that show that this system is flawed. I’m not sure why people are so concerned with great teachers. It doesn’t matter how well we teach, we are forced BY THE STATE to pass 98% of them, even if they aren’t capable of doing the next grade curriculum. Yes, I work hard to be an effective teacher; I love my students and put in many extra hours each week to ensure that I’m helping my kids. With that said, even if I sat behind my desk and gave worksheets every day, I am unfortunately forced to pass the kid who just turned 16 and is sitting in my 8th grade classroom. He can’t read or do basic math, but he is going to high school next year because of his age. RTI is a joke because it isn’t followed up with at home. I can say that I am being an adult mentor to this kid, but when he flat out refuses to do homework or study for tests, I can’t do anything about that.
Money has taken over education. We are puppets of the state and have to do whatever they force us to do.
Ed Wynn
January 19th, 2013
6:41 pm
I am soooo glad that I retired last May.
question
January 19th, 2013
6:54 pm
Within the evaluation there are four rankings for teachers. Is there a certain percentage level for each ranking principals must document?
PE Teacher
January 19th, 2013
7:02 pm
I teach elementary P.E. and I’m hoping that the fitness test scores don’t end up being used in my evaluation.
RBN
January 19th, 2013
8:34 pm
And then what? Half of teachers leave now in the first five years? Salaries have fallen far below competitive due to furloughs and freezes, with no new money on the horizon. Teaching time lost increases the frustration of trying to teach tougher standrds to more students. Benefits have virtually disappeared and there is little support from the public. Does anyone believe that these new evaluations will improve instruction other than the zealots who abandoned the classroom as soon as they could to work in the state department or central offices.
P=Man
January 19th, 2013
10:37 pm
My fear is that the new evaluation will turn out like the old TPAI- good idea, poor execution.
And 10:10:
There are NO teacher unions in Georgia. Only teacher professional organizations.
William Casey
January 19th, 2013
11:05 pm
I came way late to this discussion and am too tired to wade in. I will say this: at the secondary level, having administrators evaluate teachers is a joke. Won’t work. Teaching cannot be standardized to the point that a person unfamiliar with content can evaluate teaching.
crankee-yankee
January 20th, 2013
6:27 am
P=Man
January 19th, 2013
10:37 pm
Don’t feed the trolls
bill
January 20th, 2013
7:04 am
The problem is principals make up stuff if your not in the right clique in thier school. Half the stuff is total nonsense. Like what posters on your wall. You don’t write lesson plans they way they would and most of them were bad teachers. The evalution is a joke. Why be in a job were raises don’t come and no respect as a professional.
teacher&mom
January 20th, 2013
8:32 am
If a principal makes it a habit to conduct weekly 5-10 minute visits, they’ll quickly get an idea of what is or isn’t taking place in each classroom.
The state should build in some flexibility into the instrument. Make the observation instrument an “on-going” instrument. As the principal conducts the short visits, check off the required elements. If an element has not been observed during the first half of the school year, schedule a more in depth visit where the teacher knows ahead of time what you are looking for in the lesson. For example: differentiation, use of technology, etc.
Once a teacher reaches the proficient level, back off on the observations. Spend your time with the struggling teachers in your building and/or pull the proficient/exemplary teachers into the process and allow them to work with the teachers who are at the emerging level.
Research DC public schools and the IMPACT observation tool. Critics of IMPACT say teachers are planning a “canned lesson” that quickly runs through all the elements in 30-minutes in order to pass the observation.
Personally, I want my evaluations to be meaningful and reasonably accurate. I can roll out a 30 minute dog & pony show. However, I would rather be judged on my entire body of work as opposed to a 30 minute snapshot.
Truth in Moderation
January 20th, 2013
8:40 am
“That’s why I regard promises of objective teacher evaluations with skepticism. Can teaching be reduced to a checklist of good and bad practices?”
ANSWER: NO
Just a continuation of the well documented NWO mind control agenda. This is what was going on in the former Soviet Union.
GT Alumna
January 20th, 2013
9:05 am
What I want to know is… do parents have a piece of this teacher evaluation? I have sent three kids through the same elementary school in East Cobb and over that eight-year span, I have complained about two teachers specifically. One was so lazy and disorganized that I practically home schooled my son. Guess what? The administration belittled my concerns and then gave her the okay to become gifted-endorsed. A daughter of one of my friend unfortunately has this teacher this year, and it has gotten so bad that she is formerly requesting that her daughter be moved to another classroom. The second teacher made multiple mistakes throughout each week on numerous subjects. I took in examples of her poor teaching and grading to the school administration. They informed me that I didn’t know what I was talking about as “everyone just loves her.” Hmmm? Obviously, somebody loves her. I think they should have given me more credit when I PROVED the teacher couldn’t spell, had poor grammar, and couldn’t compute. Thankfully, my kid has a great teacher this year as there is no substitute for competency. IMHO, the parent-grapevine regarding teachers is pretty accurate. I sure hope we are allowed some avenue to complain or complement teachers.
Beverly Fraud
January 20th, 2013
9:18 am
@GTAlumna, did you go to teacher first with your concerns, or go straight over her head?
And if you did, what happened?
GT Alumna
January 20th, 2013
9:44 am
@ Beverly Fraud,
I went to both teachers first with my concerns. One was in absolute denial and the other was indignant. IOW, I got nowhere. And in case you think this issue was just mine alone, remember the adage that parents do talk to one another. I just happened to be the most vocal parent b/c everyone else was worried about potential blow-back on their kids. I was more concerned with kids not learning and then being rewarded for WRONG answers, which is exactly what did happen.
So, I went to the administrative staff. What a farce. I could tell they had no intention of doing a dang thing about it. These two teachers were personal favorites. When placement for this year came around, I used my past dealings with them as leverage to get the teacher my child needed (which I knew from previous experience with my son). She is not only competent, but she has worked hard to get my daughter back to where she should have been in preparation for middle school.
As an aside, you should know that even though my daughter got all A’s/B’s with even these poor teachers, I knew she had gaps in knowledge and her current teacher and I have worked as a team to fill. What perplexes me is how the other parents just put up with this garbage to the detriment of their kids.
And no… I am not a charter supporter, although I could be mistaken for one. I just expect people to do their jobs and I am not shy about communicating when I see a problem.
crankee-yankee
January 20th, 2013
9:58 am
“…she is formerly requesting…” perhaps you meant formally?
I just “proved” you have poor grammar skills.
Beverly Fraud makes a good point, did you ever approach any of the teachers you had a problem with? If that isn’t your first step, your complaint will not be taken very seriously and you will a develop a reputation as a complainer, deservedly or not.
You may want to reread Maureen’s opening piece where she observed in her own kids’ interactions with teachers and the very real differences in how they responded to the teaching styles. Perhaps your & your friend’s kids were a poor match to that teacher. That does not mean she is a poor teacher and if you make accusations without laying the groundwork, you will be relegated to complainer status.
That said, if she is a poor teacher, by not approaching the situation through the school’s accepted methods, you may have helped create a situation where it will take longer for the principal to address the situation. Every good administrator I have ever worked with expects a parent to contact the teacher first, they will not take immediate action if you have not done this.
Beverly Fraud
January 20th, 2013
9:59 am
Well I’m all for giving a fair chance for a teacher to address concerns. But if you got stonewalled by admin, and the teacher wasn’t responsive, did you ever consider the following:
“Well since you think I am mistaken, why don’t I just scan some of these examples, post them on the Internet, and let the world wide web decide who is right or wrong?
I’m guessing that might have put a little hitch in their giddy up!
Unfortunately it seems administrators often won’t do the right thing until they are faced with being shamed into doing so.
Now the problem with allowing you the parent to be part of the formal evaluation process. Imagine the teachers/admin you reference. Imagine if they were part of your evaluation process. Or imagine if parents aren’t alumna of any institution.
Imagine, to take it a step further, they are functionally illiterate. Do we really think it’s fair to base a teacher’s career in part on having a functionally illiterate parent read and respond in a meaningful way to a survey?
mountain man
January 20th, 2013
10:10 am
Teacher “evaluations” should start when hiring them. Are they in the top 20% of their class? If given a test in their subject matter, do they register a “full mastery” or do they barely squeak by? On their Praxis test, are they at the lower end? Of course, for a lot of Georgia counties, they have to hire “bottom of the barrel” teachers because those are the only ones who will agree to teach in the war zones. Then the system turns around and blames all of their achievement issues on the teachers!
Tell you what, ADMINISTRATORS, you hire top of the line teachers and see if your test scores go up. I can guarantee you they will NOT. You had better look at the basics first (attendance, social promotion, ad nauseum).
mountain man
January 20th, 2013
10:11 am
The other side of the coin is:
If you rate the teachers and identify the “failing” teachers and fire them, who are you going to replace them with?
(Silence)
Private Citizen
January 20th, 2013
10:42 am
ElemPrincipal, to continue our dialogue,
So, all the schools you have ever worked in were start up schools?
I worked in one of those schools where they did the NCLB nuclear option and seembled the staff anew from scratch.
Our faculty has great input on what is purchased with our money.
I think we’re talking about two different things. I am refering to linear development of knowledge through grade level based on textbooks and publishers, not ancillary materials and in-building spending money.
On worksheets: You have missed the whole point. Worksheets are not teachers.
So you’re really talking about active teaching method, not worksheets? We seem to be in agreement on this.
YOU came back with a rant about teacher awards.
Corrent. That is my opinion. In my prior work experience, top level people did not award each other. It’s a distraction. Professional’s time and dignity should be respected. That’s my opinion and I do not care for “award culture” as part of operations. That’s no distinction. Awards are great if they are substantial. In my experience, in-school teacher awards are more about the appointed. Frankly, you seem pretty comfortable throwing around that kind of authority. In my own experience, there has been zero teacher award culture and no one – at all – would want this, quite the opposite. I think you should realise there is more than one type operational structure out there in the world. A kid might like a big blue ribbon on their project. This is not what motivates adults. And besides, when I delivered real-world high results in the school house due to my own hard work, there was certainly no reward. I don’t know what the awards are for. In the situation you describe, they’re not for me.
Appreciating teachers: You demean my methods
You should be a little bigger than that. I’m not out to get you, but I do intend to share my own perspective based on my own experience.
Furthermore, there are things so much more important that high test scores.
First thought: Not if you’re trying to get into medical school.
I happen to be in an area of extreme poverty.
I love areas of extreme poverty and it is where I am most comfortable teaching.
I tell a teacher “good job” when he/she has made progress in teaching child to read and I also give thanks to the teacher who made sure a child had a coat to wear Friday morning in the cold.
That’s some excellent real-politik example of things. They say the love is in the details. Maybe my experience of award culture is different than what you practice in your building. You seem like a genuine person. Some head administrators have so much outside pressure on them that even if they start out as genuine, they get forced in being in conflict with themselves and be hypocrite. I sure hope you never have to deal with that level of outside interference. School districts in Georgia are inconsistent. Some are quality run, others it is like the main office are animals poking people with sharp sticks, and that’s before the real tune it up and displace a bunch of people so they can perpetuate their paranoid central office power. It sounds crazy, but I am not over stating it. If you work in a district where the main office does not seduce, place, and then malign people like “Suprise!” be thankful. I think the district I worked in basically fed off of outside talent. They need it to be able to survive, and then they subvert people. I’ve seen, like, ten good people run off in the area I am in, seen it done in government university, too. It is like the crooks come in and take over a dept. and screw everybody over. For many people in Georgia, this is what “education career” has turned into. Maybe I see too much. I should be writing scholarship on labor management and organization.
We are not producing widgits, we are educating children. There are many things every day that need to be recognized to keep my teachers coming back the next day.
You make it sounds like conditions go up and down. Whatever happened to consistency? I once did some contract work for a guy who mentored me in the process. He was the top person in his field and had done renovations on the state capitol building (this was not in Georgia). After I got the contract to do work for him, he told me the one thing he wanted was “consistent.” I had never heard this before. He was not messing around, either. He was a design consultant and he knew what he wanted.`
It is my job to make their job easier.
Not personal, but from reading this thread, I think your mission should be focused on the child / parent support side of things, and teacher should be capable to work with independence. Sort of like on a big contracting job, the skilled workers are doing the work and the big boss is hanging out with the client. This is my idea of a good crew. I’ve done a lot of crew chiefing. I recall a couple of job sites with absolutely top level people, 4 people on a crew and each of them were A-call talent and could perform several roles. About the only thing being said was “How’s every little thing today?” (with a smile). Point is, we had it covered.