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.
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
200 comments Add your comment
Beverly Fraud
January 20th, 2013
5:44 pm
“Teachers, however, refuse to police their own and fight to the death any attempt to dispel the myth that all teachers are excellent, which becomes even more unbelievable in the face of annual student achievement reports”
I just don’t think that’s true, for no other reason that when exactly have teachers been given authority to “police their own”?
Numerous examples exist in APS where teachers tried to do exactly that and were harassed beyond belief for doing so.
The thing is, but some protections with real teeth in them then you put teachers in a “put up or shut up” mode. But how can we in good conscience blame teachers when the one protection this evaluation instrument has (allowing for outside observers) has been totally discarded before the process even starts by the vast majority of schools using it?
Isn’t that kind of like saying “Don’t worry, you’ll get a fair trail…other than discarding the protections offered in the Bill of Rights we are going to follow accepted courtroom procedures.”?
indigo
January 20th, 2013
6:13 pm
Do we still have the STAR teacher award in Georgia?
If so, there’s your indicator of what good teaching is about.
AlreadySheared
January 20th, 2013
6:16 pm
@Beverly,
My plaint, Bev, is that ever and always in this forum I hear about why this, that, and the other thing WON’T work with respect to evaluating teachers. When it comes to countering with an evaluation scheme that WILL work, what I hear from the naysayers is completely drowned out by the faint chirping of distant crickets.
ColonelJack
January 20th, 2013
6:19 pm
Yes, Indigo, we still have the STAR teacher/student awards in Georgia. I was selected STAR teacher for one of our county’s high schools in 2004, by a student who had me in 7th grade. He went on to become our system’s STAR student (and me, STAR teacher). It didn’t help when a new administrator – who didn’t even have her certification as such when she started – was instructed to reduce payroll and got rid of me, the only teacher with a Specialist’s degree and lots of experience. Being a STAR teacher didn’t do anything to help me.
Though I will say that, in my entire career, that’s the only real evaluation I’ve cared anything about. Even my last two, which led to my non-renewal (and decision to retire)…and here’s the weirdest part of all. In both of those, I had “satisfactory” ratings in my in-class observations. It was the GTDRI in which I came up short on one subjective measure, which was the only thing they COULD score me badly on. It was enough to do me in.
ColonelJack
January 20th, 2013
6:25 pm
And Bev, I find myself in full agreement with you about the effectiveness (or lack thereof) regarding GAE and PAGE. After 20+ years of paying dues into GAE, they didn’t do a hell of a lot to help me when push came to shove.
ColonelJack
January 20th, 2013
6:28 pm
And I want to add this to the body of thought about any kind of evaluation system for teachers: If it can be used as anything other than a way to help improve teacher performance (or, in the final analysis, to show that a teacher really shouldn’t be in the classroom), then any evaluation system is fatally flawed. If it can be used politically to remove teachers who cost too much or who don’t necessarily jive with administrators, then it shouldn’t be used at all.
ColonelJack
January 20th, 2013
6:29 pm
That last sentence in my last post should read, “If it can be used politically to remove OTHERWISE GOOD teachers who cost too much or who don’t necessarily jive with administrators, then it shouldn’t be used at all.”
FBT
January 20th, 2013
6:40 pm
I’ve always thought a third party should observe teachers.
Georgia coach
January 20th, 2013
6:50 pm
Colonel jack, if the gtdri was your undoing, you obviously shirked duties because that instrument is scored by exception.
indigo
January 20th, 2013
6:51 pm
ColonelJack
So, the Georgia school system fired a STAR teacher.
Unfortunately, that is exactly what you would expect from Georgia’s extremely substandard school administrators.
ElemPrin
January 20th, 2013
7:06 pm
Indigo – the STAR teachers are simply chosen by the STAR student. There is no other criteria for selection. The STAR teacher my senior year in high school (way back in the dark ages) was adored by the STAR student – as well as the girl in our class he was sleeping with. So, firing a STAR teacher is not always a bad thing.
Colonel Jack this comment was in no way directed to you. I, too, am a former STAR teacher, but I wanted to make the point that we can’t paint AL:L STAR teachers, ALL administrators, ALL of any group with the same brush.
crankee-yankee
January 20th, 2013
7:10 pm
Dr. MH
I’ve seen poor teachers in every one of the buildings I have taught in. Most of them were burnt out vs. incapable at the start of their careers. Some administrators are better than others at addressing the situation. The better ones dot their i’s, cross their t’s and are in a position to remove the teacher if there is no improvement. The failures at removal that I have seen are due to incomplete work by the administrator. But BF’s point as to where we as teachers have the power to police ourselves is spot on. If there was a peer review board, I am confident we would have less incompetence in our ranks.
A peer review board may also have helped CJ in his situation. But the paternalistic atmosphere that permeates this state does not allow for the worker bees to have any say in policing themselves.
AlreadySheared – I see BF as saying exactly what you bemoan does not happen. My take is BF is willing to see how the new evaluation instrument works if it is used in the fashion it was developed, I am as well. But the ONE THING that could possibly keep personal bias out of the evaluation, outside evaluators, is disregarded simply because it would cost more money. Doing it right will always take second place to doing it cheap so long as the current workplace philosophies remain in place. So there is nothing truly new, a pig is still a pig no matter what how much make-up you put on it.
ColonelJack
January 20th, 2013
7:13 pm
@Georgia coach … No duty-shirking here. If I was assigned to it, asked to do it, or even saw that it needed doing … I did it. I even volunteered for additional things to do.
The GTDRI is very easy to manipulate, especially when there’s a directive from above to find a reason to remove someone. And since there is no way to appeal anything on the GTDRI, an administrator can say pretty much whatever they want, and the teacher is stuck with it. (Oh, yes, there’s an area there for “Teacher Comments,” but let’s be honest with each other … who actually reads those, or lets what’s written there influence them?)
ColonelJack
January 20th, 2013
7:15 pm
@ElemPrin … No offense taken. I knew where you were going with that response, and I agree with what you say.
But the fact that this young student, who had more than a dozen other teachers just in his high school years alone from which to choose, went back to 7th grade and selected me is why I consider this the best evaluation I ever received, and the only one I put any credence to at all.
ElemPrincipal
January 20th, 2013
7:20 pm
crankee – I think the administrators in my district, for the most part, are using the TKES as a tool for improvement and great conversation with teachers. However, I am very interested in your thoughts from the teacher’s view.
The way the instrument is designed, the summative report is a combination of the classroom observations, day-to-day duties and responsibilities, supplied documentation, etc. Are you suggesting that the classroom observations be done by outside personnel or the entire evaluation?
I am thinking that for the entire evaluation to be completed by outside personnel, the person would be in the building so much that they would no longer be “outside.” I understand your thoughts about bias, I am just not sure about the logistics.
ElemPrincipal
January 20th, 2013
7:22 pm
Colonel Jack – I agree! I was a middle school teacher, as well. The endorsement of a student 6 years later certainly ranks at the top of my list, too.
Jerry Eads
January 20th, 2013
7:40 pm
My goodness this one got some attention.
My shortest analysis yet to your title question: No.
Just so you’re not disappointed in my going on – - -: The largest issue is that we do not have a consistent pool of competent raters (e.g., principals), and they cannot gather sufficient data in the time they have availabile given all their other duties. Please understand that this is not to slight the fabulous principals who before had spent many years in the classroom and understand (and care) what teaching is. And the few of those who could care less what their incompetent superintendents or area superintendents think and hang onto their “kids are first” belief. It’s just that they’re too far and few between. And, of course, that’s a terribly simplistic representation. It’s much more complex.
Let’s remember, while I do tend to defend Bill, that not all that long ago he was duped into believing that teachers don’t get better after three years – based on stupidly faulty research using only minimum competency factoid recognition test data. He also noted that advanced degrees for teachers are worthless. While there has indeed been an avalanche of worthless mail order degrees (which we’ve hopefully at least slowed)(and not to mention laughably idiotic “leadership” advanced degrees from many brick and mortars), there are real degrees offered by real institutions that make for better teachers – to think otherwise would assume that universities might as well not pay the bux to hire professors with real Ph.D.s from real brick and mortar institutions.
Dr. Monica Henson
January 20th, 2013
8:10 pm
Jerry, have you been a school principal? (I’m not being snotty, just curious.) lt’s not a matter of insufficient time given “all the other duties.” It’s a matter of priorities and delegating “other duties” when possible and advisable. Instructional leadership is, after ensuring safety, the single most important responsibility of a school principal. I’ve been a principal at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, and I can assure you that there is plenty of time if you make classroom observation your top priority after ensuring safety.
crankee-yankee
January 20th, 2013
8:43 pm
ElemPrincipal
January 20th, 2013
7:20 pm
On the surface, it sounds like your exposure so far is with how it is supposed to be utilized. I have no problem with that. However, I have been evaluated with it once so far this year and wonder how my admins will fit in the rest. The first eval lasted 10 minutes at the end of class which included 5 minutes for clean-up in the lab. There was no discussion afterwards, just a sheet in my box awaiting my signature. So my exposure so far is “…meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” You can understand my skepticism. What I am seeing is preconceived opinions, incomplete training, incomplete evaluations and by extension, an incomplete summative report. Not worth much IMHO.
Understanding that there is limited time to do these and APs & Principals only have so much time they can devote to observations because their other duties have NOT been lessened, I do not see it being an effective instrument the way things are.
As far as external evaluators, I am not advocating all the evaluations be done by them but maybe 1/3 of them as well as multiple evaluators from the home building. That way, there is at least a percentage of the evaluations that were done without any preconceived biases, positive or negative. The outsider would, theoretically, be a check against internal politics.
The next problem I see is how to negate internal influences on the external evaluator. Principals in my county have breakfast once every week or two. One of the results of this is commonality between buildings in how some things get implemented. One example is in the daily schedules. You will find odd scheduling quirks that make little sense in schools whose principals breakfast together. One principal addressed something in his/her building and the rest jumped on the band-wagon for no good reason. So my fear would be that these coffee klatches could become a backdoor method of communicating how an evaluation on someone should read. Maybe I’m being paranoid but…
ElemPrincipal
January 20th, 2013
8:57 pm
Dr. Henson,
I think my comments over the last two days make it very clear that I believe instructional leadership is a top priority. However, to say that there is “plenty of time” misrepresents the time that is spent outside the school day taking care of other duties and responsibilities.
We all know that a broken toilet, an upset parent, an out-of-control student, a state report, or one of a thousand other things, can take us away from our planned agenda for the day. Sure, some things can be delegated, but there are some things that must be generated from the principal’s desk. So we spend many hours before and after the school day doing paperwork, answering emails, writing reports, making phone calls, and inspecting our buildings.
Of course, the observations are not the part of the TKES that is taking our time. The electronic platform from the DOE is consistently inconsistent! Spending an hour or more writing up an evaluation only to have it disappear, is what is consuming me!
ElemPrincipal
January 20th, 2013
9:03 pm
crankee-yankee
January 20th, 2013
8:43 pm
Sounds like you have reason to be skeptical. It sounds like everything else we implement – good process get bastardized because of the logistics.
Is your school not using the electronic platform?
ElemPrincipal
January 20th, 2013
9:05 pm
crankee-yankee
January 20th, 2013
8:43 pm
It sounds like you have reason to be skeptical. Doesn’t sound like your administration has been able to implement the process with fidelity. Is your system not using the electronic platform?
paulo977
January 20th, 2013
9:52 pm
Get the hell out of the classrooms and let the teachers teach!!! They have been ‘teacher educated ‘ and are quite aware of what it is that inspires learning . All you guys are doing is banning together to degrade teachers!!!
Dr. Monica Henson
January 20th, 2013
10:00 pm
ElemPrincipal, I hear you on the time factor. I do feel that as administrators we know going in that we will not work 40-hour weeks. When I say there is “plenty of time,” I’m not trying to imply that we are all sitting around with loads of free time on our planners.
I generally work a 70- to 80-hour work now that I am at the superintendent level, and as a principal I routinely worked 60- to 70-hour weeks. I’m not complaining, because I love what I do and am compensated fairly for it–but it’s a truly time-consuming job.
I am of the firm conviction, however, that if we put the important ahead of the simply urgent (understanding that at times we cannot avoid the urgent, depending on the circumstances), if we put the same priority on those evaluations and conferences that we put on meetings with the superintendent and other similar pulls on our time, we are able to devote sufficient time to the process to ensure that it gets done well.
Those who advocate getting rid of assistant principals have, simply stated, no clue what’s involved in administering a school.
Dr. Monica Henson
January 20th, 2013
10:03 pm
ElemPrincipal, we haven’t encountered difficulties so far with the electronic platform, other than the times it’s been down for work by True North Logic. We haven’t had anything disappear.
crankee-yankee
January 20th, 2013
10:29 pm
ElemPrincipal
January 20th, 2013
9:05 pm
I have not seen any evidence of an electronic platform, only paper.
N. GA Teacher
January 21st, 2013
12:28 am
Great, experience-based response by “I love teaching..I hate what it is becoming”. First of all, although trendy now, it is NOT the principals’ “first priority” to continuously monitor instruction, although instruction IS the most important aspect of a school. The responsibility of the principal is to ensure that school activities and functions are safe, well-planned and run effectively. The best principals learn that the key to this is to hire good people, then delegate accordingly. The best principals KNOW who their star teachers are just through general discourse with parents, students, teachers, secretaries and other school workers. And, yes, principals SHOULD do frequent walk-arounds, which I think are much more effective than sitting in on one class for a half hour per teacher per year. The sum of frequent short visits help a principal feel confident that a teacher is engaging the kids, that standards are being taught, that a diversity of methods are being used, and that the kids are behaving properly (the major problem in low-performing schools). After 30 years of teaching in the public schools, I think we need a model of administrative visitation that is teacher-driven, not evaluation-driven. For example, new teachers may want didactive, organization, or management advice, so they request the admin. to sit in. A veteran teacher may encounter a group of abnormally unruly, defiant kids, so she wants a greater-than-usual admin. presence. This model is much more cooperative, ethical, and positive than the traditional evaluation sit-in, which can be intimidating and biased if for no other reason that it can occur on a very bad day for the teacher. The other thing about teachers is that they are very proud professionals who WANT their colleagues to be strong, so mutual teacher observations are wonderful. They also have the benefit of the extra adult in the classroom, which is the single most effective classroom management tool. Students are acutely aware of the second pair of adult eyes and ears. One thing that usually does not happen is for guidance counselors to sit in on classes. These professionals should visit classrooms for at least 1two hours a weeks (out of 40 that is not a big deal) to gain some familiarity with teaching personas and styles, so that when issues DO come up they have some understanding of situations.
JamVet is an idiot
January 21st, 2013
7:11 am
“Is there really enough time for reliable classroom observations?”
Yes.
Lee
January 21st, 2013
7:33 am
Interesting that not only do teachers not want parental input/feedback into their evaluations, but also the level of animosity toward the parents.
Maybe that’s why parents are calling for vouchers, charter schools, private school tax credits, hell, ANYTHING to get their kids away from the traditional public schools and these same teachers?
Yes public schools, you DO have a certain percentage of teachers who just aren’t worth a crap. Most parents know who these teachers are as do fellow teachers and the administrators. It’s just that many administrators will refuse to do anything about it as long as there are not too many complaints.
GT Alumna
January 21st, 2013
8:44 am
Thank you, Lee, for your observations. That is what I was trying to say earlier. I’m not asking for parents to have a survey or a seat at the table, but I think all parents would like to know when teachers are being evaluated so that any parent can provide input (with back-up detail) to be included in the evaluation.
And to others on this blog, not all of us parents with complaints are insane; some of us actually have valid points to make. Additionally, our input is not always negative. For instance, I have two positive tidbits I wouldn’t mind sharing with the elementary school and high school regarding two of their teachers. IMHO, I think any evaluation which doesn’t include the whole picture (360 degrees) is just window dressing.
Parents do talk to each other… and often. We also review Rate My Teacher sites for other insight. We discuss administrators too. So next time your asking for us to open our checkbooks (again), just remember we are not just rapidly emptying wallets. Some of us have a brain and we’re not afraid to use it.
That said, I want to also address the concept of favoritism. As I alluded to in my previous post, I suspect the two teachers I complained about were protected by the administration due to favoritism. If personal bias can have a role in this evaluation, I don’t think we’ll ever get to the point where ineffective teachers are shown the door.
bootney farnsworth
January 21st, 2013
9:19 am
” I suspect the two teachers I complained about were protected by the administration due to favoritism”
GT is staring directly at the issue but I’m not sure is seeing it. we deal with this issue every stinkin’ day. its not that we don’t want to police our own, we can’t.
the over 300 people at GPC who were let go mostly got the shaft due to lack of a political patron, or having pissed someone off. DCSS is self explanatory. ditto Clayton and APS.
for some reason I can’t fathom, the angry mob refuses to demand the expulsion of these idiots and focus on us instead. its not like the evidence isn’t there.
GT Alumna
January 21st, 2013
9:29 am
@ Bootney,
I am seeing it. I just don’t think it will ever change. It is happening everywhere. Like I said before, others felt the same way I did but lived in fear of complaining lest it impacted their kids. Bottom line, it did impact their kids. Their deluding themselves into thinking we’re better off b/c of where we live. A bad teacher changes the trajectory of each and every student. A bad administrator does even more damage. I gather my own evidence and they brush it aside.
Dr. Monica Henson
January 21st, 2013
10:22 am
N GA Teacher posted, “…we need a model of administrative visitation that is teacher-driven, not evaluation-driven.”
Precisely! A teacher-driven model of visitation would lead to true job-embedded professional development of teachers by their peers. This is the direction where I’d like to see TKES head. Teachers who reach “Exemplary” need very minimal administrative observation, and only every other year or even two years. If we freed up our Exemplary teachers to do formative observations of teachers in the lowest two tiers (Ineffective and Needs Development), they could share their knowledge and expertise in a very valuable manner. I also think that it makes eminent good sense for Ineffective and Needs Development teachers to have released time to observe the classrooms of Exemplary teachers, not to participate in formative observation, but to learn from the masters.
Dr. Monica Henson
January 21st, 2013
10:25 am
GT Alumna posted, “A bad teacher changes the trajectory of each and every student. A bad administrator does even more damage.”
Very well said, and very sadly true. This is part of my mission in life: to highlight these two facts and do whatever I can in my own (charter) school, which is fast becoming a district itself, to show that it doesn’t have to be that way. Remove the politics, remove the good old boy system, and focus like a laser on what’s best for kids.
Colonel Jack
January 21st, 2013
10:33 am
Ah, Dr. Henson, but there’s the rub.
Evaluating the way you suggest removes something else from the central office’s arsenal … getting rid of people who either don’t “play ball” or who cost too much and can’t otherwise be eliminated.
I wish things were the way you say they should be. I really do.
Beverly Fraud
January 21st, 2013
11:42 am
Colonel Jack is right. APS officials in the past have even gone so far to say that even if it can be verified that a principal falsified information on an evaluation, it still cannot be appealed.
Until you deal with the issue of administrative retaliation, systemically speaking you really don’t have integrity in the process, (even if you do have those who approach the exercise with integrity)
Jerry Eads
January 21st, 2013
12:19 pm
Hi Monica and the other principals – and all the most important: our teachers. Nope, as you all hopefully know by now, I’ve not been either teacher or principal. And I never, ever suggest that I’ve been there or done that.
Pretty sure from my study and the many folks I’ve worked with over the decades, the only job harder than being a great teacher is being a great principal. My take is also that of one of the other principals posting, that the job pulls you in MANY directions every hour of every day. That great principal DOES know who the great teachers are, and has little need for the system being shoved down your throats (which, by definition, means it will fail).
The problem is that we’re not good at celebrating greatness, nor do we have sufficient resources to help the rest get better. So the naive focus on trying to get rid of some of them, and others push to resegregate the schools to for-profit (from the research clearly not for-kids) for the elite and “separate but equal” public schools for the rest of us.
There are many things about which we should be proactive instead of defensive, but one of the most important is that we could do a much, MUCH better job of selecting and training those who lead our schools. Then much of the teacher evaluation hoopla would disappear.
ColonelJack
January 21st, 2013
1:21 pm
Beverly … it can even be worse than that. My last “evaluation” contains changes made after I signed the form and it was filed. I know this because I have my copy of the original, and a copy from my personnel folder, and they’re not the same. The principal added negative information without my knowledge or approval (or signature) and went so far as to change the day I signed a form to another, later date. But that meant nothing, apparently.
I know I sound bitter. I’m sorry to come across that way.
Beverly Fraud
January 21st, 2013
1:42 pm
My last “evaluation” contains changes made after I signed the form and it was filed.
And Colonel, GAE and PAGE know full well these things occur yet say next to nothing about administrative retaliation.
But if teachers are going to continue to give them money…
Beverly Fraud
January 21st, 2013
1:47 pm
“And to others on this blog, not all of us parents with complaints are insane; some of us actually have valid points to make.”
Of course you do GT Alumna, but by logical definition if you involve all parents in evaluating teachers, you are exposing teachers to be evaluated by the incompetent and insane
Like they aren’t dealing with enough of those types in the education bureaucracy to begin with…
Dr. Monica Henson
January 21st, 2013
9:56 pm
Jerry, re “for-profit (from the research clearly not for-kids) for the elite”: PLEASE come visit us at 100 Edgewood Avenue NE in Atlanta and see for yourself. We are truly breaking the mold for online learning, high school alternative education, and charter partnership with a for-profit provider.
I can promise you: we are nothing like the typical “for-profit charter school,” which technically, does not exist, as all charter schools are required to be governed by non-profit boards of directors.
As far as an “elite” student body, our kids are more than 70% free and reduced lunch-eligible, more than 60% minority, and more than 16% special education. Hardly an elite population.
Dr. Monica Henson
January 21st, 2013
10:05 pm
Also, Jerry, I take serious issue with your characterization of TKES/LKES as “the system being shoved down your throats (which, by definition, means it will fail).”
The system is well-grounded in the research (I did my doctoral work in teacher supervision and evaluation) and is, in my opinion, an excellent tool. I share the concern of many teachers who post about incompetent and unscrupulous administrators who will misuse the system. Nevertheless, that’s going to happen regardless of what instrument is in place–it’s not a result of the instrument itself.
mom of elementary teacher
January 22nd, 2013
9:32 am
Regarding the checklist by which to judge great teaching. I agree that it’s a good thing for principals to observe classrooms. My problem is that never is it taken into account that there are so many more factors into classroom students and their progress. I think parent participation is essential.
A teacher has no control over home life and if a student receives encouragement or direction that is in line with the teacher’s plans. In the lower grades a teacher spends most of the day trying to get the attention of all students and many distractions occur. A number of children are passed to the next grade when they are clearing no where near ready. I think a lot of the problems later in their education can be attributed to advancing in grades when they shouldn’t have. Maybe if students were taught manners and respect for others at home, there would be that many more hours in the day for teachers to teach and maybe complete a lesson! I don’t know the answer to how to judge a teacher better, but just wish all those who chose this as their calling the best of luck. It’s a tough
job being mom, mentor and educator to 23 young minds!!
Patrick Edmondson
January 22nd, 2013
1:57 pm
Much of the problem with observations of teachers is that the higher you rise in the educational establishment of most counties, the further you get from anyone who has made any effort to keep current in educational practices. Instead they use idiosyncratic memories of their own experiences as the sole guide. When approached about basic science equipment teachers were told instead we would get new spelling books with just word lists, no exercises or meanings, because the administrator “had such warm memories of cuddling into her mother’s lap to study the new spelling words.” Unfortunately most of the current students lacked any such caring person or nurturing environment so the books went home and back with spines unbroken.
When I was among the first computer literate educators around, I was charged with helping create a computer magnet school curriculum. We were teaching students to use tools like databases, spreadsheets, or even word processing in research. After a powershift in Dekalb County the principal was bumped by an administrator who mistrusted computers but was seeking a refuge; perfect choice to head a computer magnet. I was observed teaching artificial intelligence programming to a class. Each student had used LOGO to design a unique project using math and logic to create an animated display. I was moving among them as they eagerly worked, needing advice or suggestions to try to solve problems. I was very happy that even the “slower” students were fully engaged and caring about error proofing their creation. The administrator’s review said I had no control over my students because each one was doing something different. I was encouraged to have them en masse write a line of code as dictated by me. I protested that this removed them from any intellectual growth and was told keeping them orderly was of more importance. The same administrator wanted all kids with a finger over their lips at all times when not answering a teacher’s question, even on the playground!
Would we put people in charge of a hospital if they had no knowledge about caring for people? Yet we do similar in education with coaches, then let these people sit in judgement over true educators.
The other problem with observations are their inflexibility. I had experience working with some colleagues who should never have been in a classroom. One openly said she disliked children, but she was always given rave reviews by her sorority sister administrator.
Others taught to the observation. They had a planned lesson all ready. It had been designed to hit every point on the checklist and had been practiced with students. On each question all hands went up and the called upon student always knew the answer. The trick was all were ordered to raise their hand and the ones who knew the answer closed their fists so only there were called upon to answer.
The real heroes are the ones who teach the “slow” students not in special ed. I was a teacher of the gifted, but also handled a computerized reading assistance lab for juniors who barely read. Surprise, surprise, they got bored taking tests they could not read nor comprehend and just played with the answer sheets. Even though they might make years progress in one quarter with a teacher, the teacher is a failure because of low test scores. That the scores have risen is irrelevant if they are not “on grade level”.
You are correct that is is potentially dangerous to your career to venture outside the accepted box of practices sent down unchanged from the past.
beteachin
January 22nd, 2013
3:00 pm
Administrators can find the time to check the boxes, but they often aren’t the best people to do the job of teacher observation. I respect and admire most administrators, but I know that their job and the classroom teacher’s job are vastly different. In many cases, administrators were unhappy, ineffective teachers themselves. So they follow their hearts to find administrative, non-classroom jobs that better suit their personality (or their pocketbook), but they may not have a clue about what good teaching really takes. They may learn to recognize it, but “it” is different among schools/subjects/personality types/class levels/grade levels. I’m not sure the public understands that TEACHERS don’t get PROMOTED to ADMINISTRATORS; teachers LEAVE teaching on purpose to become managers–not EXPERTS in teaching. The best observations I have ever had in my career are from fellow teachers. If I respect the person’s classroom knowledge/technique/style, then I respect their feedback about my knowledge/technique/style. Teachers need more informal observations with feedback and fewer formal evaluations. Administrators are there to support teachers, and most of them do a great job with that and with overall school management.
ColonelJack
January 22nd, 2013
4:35 pm
@Dr. Henson … you said: The system is well-grounded in the research (I did my doctoral work in teacher supervision and evaluation) and is, in my opinion, an excellent tool. I share the concern of many teachers who post about incompetent and unscrupulous administrators who will misuse the system. Nevertheless, that’s going to happen regardless of what instrument is in place–it’s not a result of the instrument itself.”
If this is so, why bother? Why introduce a new instrument if it is already conceded that it will not be used properly and that it will be used for purposes other than its original design? Why even have the bloody thing in the first place?
I stand firmly with BeTeachin … teachers should be observed by other teachers, especially those who at least understand what’s supposed to be going on in the classrooms. I’d add that there should be a review of those observations with an administrator, but the administrator shouldn’t necessarily conduct them.
BeTeachin is right … many, perhaps most, administrators became such because they couldn’t hack it in the classroom, or because they found themselves unhappy in the classroom, or because they realized that the REAL money to be made wasn’t in the classroom. (Not all administrators fit that description, certainly.) The best principal I ever worked under told me after a faculty meeting that she regretted leaving the classroom and would like to go back to just teaching, but she couldn’t afford the pay cut she’d have to take.
Good grief.
Karen
January 22nd, 2013
5:29 pm
Great article! Asked lots of good questions. I agree with many of the comments about there not being enough time for administrators to do an adequate job of evaluation. Here’s my question though: How will teachers’ evaluations be effected by highly capable students who show no growth on our state assessments because they already hit the ceiling of the tests designed for the “average” student? When students top out the tests year after year because they are so bright, they don’t show growth. What now? How about the students who are so far below grade level when they walk into the classroom that they don’t show growth, but have actually made good progress in moving closer to just one grade level below? How about the students whose parents provide no support for education? I’m sure you get the point. My questions have been asked before, but the “Powers that Be” who make the decisions don’t seem to be listening.
As a teacher who has been in the field for a long time, I think it’s time to step up evaluations to make them more fair, valid, and consistent. That would allow the system to identify those teachers who need support to help their students become successful academically. It would also give those poor teachers, who don’t care to improve their practice, a sign that it’s time to go.
Maybe the decision makers should ask teachers what would be a good way to evaluate. I’m sure they could do better than what states currently have in mind.
Dr. Monica Henson
January 22nd, 2013
9:33 pm
Colonel Jack, the answer to your question about why use the new system is not just that it’s an improvement over the old ones. The improvements include the stipulation that the evaluators are to look at the whole of the evidence; teachers have ample opportunity to provide artifacts, student work, etc; and it is tied in small part to student achievement outcomes. Teachers have the opportunity, and administrators have the obligation, to include an explanation of the student outcomes are not in the range to be expected. It’s entirely possible that a teacher can be doing an excellent job with a class filled with kids who started out reading far below grade level, for example, and by spring they are still not reading at grade level, but they’ve made substantial progress. The system does not indicate that the teacher is to be rated low in this kind of instance, but that the value the teacher added is to be taken into account.
Most importantly, this system is creating a dialogue that really needs to be conducted: what is it about teacher evaluation systems that have NOT been successful in the past? The answers are becoming clear, and they don’t point toward teachers, kids, or parents. It all comes back to leadership.
Colonel Jack avowed that “teachers should be observed by other teachers, especially those who at least understand what’s supposed to be going on in the classrooms. I’d add that there should be a review of those observations with an administrator, but the administrator shouldn’t necessarily conduct them.”
I completely agree, and I can assure you that the good folks in the Teacher and Leader Effectiveness division at GaDOE are actively seeking feedback from the districts and charters piloting the TKES and LKES launch, and they are hearing this sentiment from us as well. Heck, I’ll bet they are even following this thread on Maureen’s blog.
Dr. Monica Henson
January 22nd, 2013
9:38 pm
Karen, there’s an FAQ page on the GaDOE website for Student Growth Percentile questions such as yours.
With regard to kids who already achieve at high levels:
How do continuously high-performing students
demonstrate growth?
Growth percentiles represent how a student performed
this year relative to academically similar students. While
there are a few students statewide who continuously score
at the top of the assessment scale range, there is enough
variability in scale scores to produce growth percentiles.
Therefore, even high-performing students have the ability
to demonstrate all levels of growth. It is important to
remember that demonstrating low growth does not mean a
student is low achieving. Even very high-achieving
students will demonstrate low growth if they scored lower
on the current assessment when compared with other
high-achieving students. Therefore it is always important
to consider both status achievement and growth.
Is it fair to compare the growth rates of students in a
class when some may have entered the classroom at
vastly different achievement levels?
An SGP describes a student’s growth relative to other
students in the state with similar prior achievement.
Therefore each student’s growth percentile takes into
account his or her prior achievement or “starting point.”
This makes the SGP a fair method of comparing the
growth of different students.
http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/School-Improvement/Teacher-and-Leader-Effectiveness/Documents/SGPs%20FAQ%20091212.pdf
Teacher evaluations: Is there really enough time for reliable classroom observations? | Headlines for School Leaders | Scoop.it
January 31st, 2013
11:09 am
[...] Building a better teacher evaluation system won’t help anyone if it depends on time and resources that aren’t realistic. [...]