Don't panic, yet, about reading endorsements in Duval County

Somebody told me ,the beatings will continue until moral improves, and nothing describes our district philosophy better.

The thing is don't panic, yet, anyways.

I sent below to the superintendent and school board about the avalanche of reading endorsements and the consternation, panic and anguish it has caused. Let's see if the district is interested cares about its teachers or not.

Hello,

A few weeks back a teacher reached out to me and said they were being overwhelmed at their school because of all the reading endorsements they are now required to get. They said their entire staff was being required to get them, and the admin wasn’t giving any time or help. They said this was burning out the staff and making them miserable.

So, I asked on FB and twitter is any other teachers were experiencing the same thing and wow were there. Here are just a few of their answers.

Yes, our whole school was pushed into it. Even the resource teachers like Art & PE... most teachers already have some of the classes though. College of Ed often 1-4 and Alt Cert has 1-2. Ppl just need to send their transcripts to be verified.

I asked them what school they were at, and where they told me, they asked me not to mention it however because of fear of retaliation, but that’s another matter. Here is another.

Hey there. In response to your question. Yes we have to do the reading endorsement classes mostly because as elementary we never know what we will be told to teach from year to year. And no, we aren’t allowed time or support to do them. It’s on our own dime and own time. I asked Tammie from DTU about getting early release time or such to do them and she said no as it wouldn’t be enough time. Plus the classes are filling because there are only so many people who can teach them.

 I asked them, so teachers that don't teach reading have to get it too, in case they teach reading at some point

They replied Yep. Only departmentalized 2nd through fifth. Most elementary teachers are certified k-6 or 1-6 and can be pretty much placed anywhere. I myself have been moved around a lot. Fifth ELA, 3rd ELA, 2nd everything, 1st everything, 3rd math science, 2nd math science. And back and forth.

Here are some more comments I received from teachers each break represents a comment.

.Hi Chris! Yes I am having to take reading endorsement and esol class, must take a class for each endorsement by the end of the year. The amount of work that is expected is Exhausting and unbelievable.! I love teaching, honestly, I do, but i have a limited personal life and family life bc of unrealistic expectations 

All on line with two face to face and a ton of work! People are stressed beyond belief! How is that helpful to them teaching children daily? It’s ludicrous!

If we could maybe get more time that would help! Absolutely no course one openings for spring offered for free through Duval available

The law says only tier 3 reading teachers in elem. ed bit because the positions change we were told all have to be endorsed. If you get flagged out of field you are screwed!

Yes. OMG. 5 courses. Free through the district but we are talking 5 60 hour courses. If you were lucky enough to get in. Courses filled quickly. On our own time. 100 pages of reading on some of them. 5 assignments on some. Plus grading and planning. And charters exempt. I assume because they don’t have to be certified. Can’t get an endorsement not certified. Oh and some teachers have to get esol. And we know have to have 40 hours of reading to renew certificates. On top of 20 ESE. Oh and we were told we couldn’t double dip. So the reading endorsement doesn’t count towards the 40 additional just to get recertifications

It’s online. Once you are tagged, you must do two a year. Only we don’t know which kids will tag us. “They” will tell us. Don’t know who is defined by they. No TDE. No suspension of common planning or early release.

this whole reading endorsement requirement is absolutely unfair and the lack of planning (this law was passed 5 years ago) is creating more panic. I hate that the state is taking more time away from my family.

Yes! No time and difficult to get a spot in any of the courses offered.

We are told we have to take two classes a year and that is 60 hours. What time do we have for this? They act as if we have no families or other responsibilities.

Yes! Have to take all 5 courses. And by the time we were told, most filled up. I signed up (along with some friends) for Competency 2 for this April since 1 was completely filled. No support. No one really knows much. No time during early release. We asked about having a class held at school in the evenings once a week and were told it probably won’t happen because they don’t have enough instructors. Also, I emailed and asked if my hundreds of hours for Literacy 101, 201, 301, and many Reading Academy and other type inservice would count. They replied that I should send them my transcript to see if any college classes will count. Which wasn’t even my question! I know my college courses won’t count, as I graduated in 1992.

I’m not even sure if I need the reading endorsement. I teach XXXX, which would be a no, but I’m ALSO teaching XXXX this year. DTU said ill be notified if I do need it, but I haven’t been. I guess I’ll do it just in case so I don’t lose my job.

Somebody from the district also reached out to try and explain what was happening, they to wanted to be anonymous because of that whole retaliation thing, again another issue for another time, I guess.

I saw some of the posts by teachers about the reading endorsements and there seems to be a lot of false information being given. The mandate was hidden in the train bill 7055 that was passed and signed into law in June of 2018. The state just gave guidance this year to districts. There is no way to define which teachers are attached to students for 2020-2021 school year because the school year hasn’t started. Secondary has a code for these students because it would be in intensive reading but elementary does not so the district will have to figure out how to meet the mandate and track who is providing tier 2-3. It only applies to teachers who provide tier 2 and tier 3 interventions for reading. Right now, that depends on each individual school and who the administration has providing these supports. The guidance from the state to districts says a teacher must be working on it to remain in field so that mean two courses a year starting next year. Districts across the state are struggling to accommodate the mandate because of the lack of time and guidance and there frankly aren’t enough trainers who can train all of the teachers.

Please do not use my name on this but I thought you should know so maybe you could pass along more accurate information than what other teachers have been posting. This is clearly a teacher tax and burden that was placed on districts to meet without enough trained staff and time.

Sure, I can pass on the information but um I shouldn’t have to. There has been a huge communication breakdown with staff, and it doesn’t seem like the district had much of a plan more than telling people to get it done.

I want to remind you too that this doesn’t affect me in the least. I am just passing on concerns.

I also get it the state sucks, teachers at voucher schools don’t have to have any certifications, and their guidance has been woeful but that doesn’t excuse the districts poor rollout and lack of communication.

I have some suggestions, send out an email explaining what is going on, then go to the schools and tell them because sometimes we need it explained a couple times and in person.

Then prioritize who should get the reading endorsements and allow them to sign up first.

Finally give all the teachers time and support. A TDE day a quarter, time to do it during common planning or early release. Those things are about training right, well the classes are training so it works.

These teachers are hurting and need help. I hope you recognize that and do all you can to help them, we can’t afford to lose many more.

Regards