In his interview with Mark Mellinger on Ch. 15 last night Gov. Mitch Daniels proclaimed his love for Indiana teachers. Unfortunately few teachers are going to love him back, if he's serious about using something other than seniority to determine retention and pay. Even though the Governor and Tony Bennett are talking about a growth or "value added" model to quantify teacher effectiveness, I've never heard a teacher in favor of being judged by statistics or any kind. It seems that performance in their profession can't be measured. They are the exception to the scientific rule that theories (of competence) have to be supported by data.
The use of test scores as a component of teacher evaluations seems to be gaining ground. Obama and Arne Duncan are pushing it in Race to the Top. Last fall the ACLU sued the Los Angeles Public Schools to prevent the layoffs of teachers by seniority, arguing that losing younger teachers would disproportionately affect the success of inner city schools because most older teachers refused to work there and those that did were not necessarily better teachers. They got the district and the union to modify their layoff criterion. In the recent "interview" issue of Newsweek Bill Gates challenged union leader Randi Weingartner on why teacher pay should be predictable by nothing other than the length of their tenure. Randi didn't have an answer. She defended teachers unions by saying that unions are the basis for our middle class.
Does that mean without unions teachers would be lower class?
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Evert, you make it sound as if our only two choices for evaluating teachers are statistical analysis of their performance or worthless seniority rules.
Have you never seen The Changing of the Guard? All we have to do is wait until they retire. If no ghost students visit to tell them how good they did, then we take away their pensions. In this manner, they will be compelled to teach well.
The state is proposing that statistics derived from improvements in test scores become a major part of the evaluation, rather than the totally subjective reviews they have now. The current system doesn't differentiate and almost everyone's performance is "satisfactory". What I heard Mitch say is that they will leave the details up to the district, pending approval by the IDE. As various districts gain experience they can hopefully learn from each other and refine their methods.
I see this as something that will evolve over time so it can be fine tuned as people get used to it. But we need a need a measureable way to evaluate teacher effectiveness, at least in the core subjects. I'll probably be a ghost hanging out on your corner by the time it happens.
As someone with a background working in the education system, I believe basing teaching scores on test scores is not objective, rather it is subjective.
Beginning of the end of 2nd grade, teachers game the test and teach to it in most the urban school systems across the state. The majority of the 3rd grade teachers have seen the previous years' test. An example is that the students had a persuasive letter in their essay section of the test last year. As of right now, all students in Allen County are learning how to right a persuasive letter. Thus, the students are prepared for the test by knowing what is exactly going to be on the test. It's not the fair advantage you would expect.
Secondly, the more pressure you put on the test scores the higher incidences of cheating that will occur. Administration and others will look the other way to save their own jobs, when the teacher is assisting students select the correct answer.
The alternative to this measurement is a comprehensive unit that promotes the teachers ability to differentiate learning, engage learners of all ability and assist each student find their true passion, i.e. art, music, etc.
I will agree I have seen a number of teachers who are absolutely horrible, but in my experience these teachers can raise test scores. I have done without even really doing anything except whipping out a book and teaching to the test. The result was the students raising their scores by 25% or more.
A few thoughts:
Who is a good teacher? Who is a good parent? Sometimes these things are not as easy to evaluate as we would think. I know a former student whose front teeth were knocked out by the father...is that a good parent? Consider that this person is now a well-paid accomplished professional. Change your opinion?
Of course, the current FWCS evaluation system is a joke. Imagine being evaluated every three years by two pre-scheduled observations. Silly.
In grades 6 - 12, student test scores only can be used to evaluate certain teachers. No tests in social studies or foreign language or many other subjects. And for math and English, only two courses take a test.
Want to use grades? Yikes, that would be a huge can of worms.
The bigger problem, as I see it, is that once a teacher is determined to be deficient, there are too many hoops to jump through to terminate them. In a large district such as FWCS it becomes the "dance of the lemons".
Anon - well said! Do we really want a country of "good test takers".
By 2104, Indiana wants all students to take tests online. Right now, I doubt any school has the capability to test all students at the same time. Think any of the answers will "filter" down to the students taking the test last?
Right now, FWCS has a credit recovery program online. I forget the name of the software but every test is the same if you take it a 2nd and 3rd time...they don't even randomize the questions!!
If a test covers what kids are supposed to have mastered, then teaching to the test is not necessarily evil. Doing well on test is a subject near and dear to anyone who has gone to college. Its part of the game.
With FWCS' demographics that's what I'd being doing if I were a teacher. At least they might learn the very basics they seem to be struggling with now. How can they go on to appreciate art, music, etc. let alone function in the real world when they can barely read?
Whilst I understand the importance of reading and math, the problem IS we are teaching the test. And our kids are not getting the even the basics, because the focus of the test.
Art and music are great outlets and actually support reading. If you know about Canterbury, they have an OUTSTANDING arts program that accompanies their reading and math program. If you ever attend an event that is sponsored by United Arts, the majority of parents in attendance are those from Canterbury.
What happened to Tom Smith at Wayne?
Thomas Smith is gone from Wayne. He packed up his office right after the start of Christmas break but of course FWCS is not saying anything.
Yes, I agree art and music are important but the basics come first. At most private schools, the ISTEP is a non event. It's not a hard test and they don't spend time prepping for it or teaching to it. The fact that urban districts have to teach to the test just indicates how badly those kids are struggling with just the basics.
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