From the Washington Posts Answer Sheet
By Valerie Strauss
Former D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee likes to say that everything she does is for kids. But the first big campaign of her “Students First” organization, announced Wednesday, isn't really about them.
Rhee announced today what she is calling the national Save Great Teachers campaign.
What it’s not about: Giving great teachers what they say they want -- more support to do their jobs in school.
What it is about: Getting state legislatures to eliminate policies that require school districts, in the event of layoffs, to let the last-hired employees go first. This way, principals can supposedly save great young teachers and get rid of lousy older teachers.
Rhee’s intentions become transparent when one considers how to really protect great teachers: a reliable, valid, multi-part assessment system. If Rhee were so concerned about saving great teachers of any age, she would be more interested in immediately pursuing a valid assessment tool. If teachers were properly evaluated and those who don't belong in the classroom really removed, then the last-hired first-fired wouldn't be an issue, and the kids and adults would benefit.
Rhee did create a new teacher assessment system while she was D.C. schools chancelleor, called IMPACT, but after millions of dollars put into it, the system has been sharply criticized.
Among the problems cited about IMPACT are that it is highly punitive though provides little support for teachers, and that it relies on student standardized test scores, which research has shown are prone to error and ignore the fact that the quality of teaching isn’t the only factor that goes into how well a student performs on a single test. The system, unveiled in 2009, has undergone revisions though teachers still say it is unfair.
It is now common currency in school reform circles to blame teachers unions for pretty much everything wrong in schools, except for those things that can be laid at the steps of bad parents and lazy students. It doesn’t matter to people who want to union bash that the problems in schools are identical in states with unionized teachers and with non-unionized teachers, and that, perhaps, whatever one thinks about unions, the basic problems lie elsewhere.
It's tiring to hear the mantra “it’s for the kids,” or “students first” every time someone takes an anti-union step, but that any teacher who fights for his/her rights is only thinking about themselves and not the kids.
That is what is being said of the protesting teachers in Wisconsin by their critics, because they are fighting to keep their collective bargaining rights, which the Republican governor, Scott Walker, has vowed to eliminate.
Why shouldn’t the teachers protest? They already made monetary concessions and the governor still wants to strip them of the right to bargain in the future.
Why didn’t anybody say that plans just announced in Detroit to close half of the schools, a move that will create high school classes of about 60 students, is all about the adults and their failure to properly budget? Where is the concern for the kids here? Why isn’t someone figuring out how to protect the kids from humongous classes?
Maybe Michelle Rhee could have offered financial help to reduce class size in Detroit. Now THAT would be kid-friendly.
Meanwhile, the assault on teachers and their unions continues. As an example: In Amelia Island, Fla., last week, the Philanthropy Roundtable, a national association of individual donors, corporate giving officers, and foundation trustees and staff, held its annual conference and there was a session entitled “How to End Teacher Tenure.” That's what's on the minds of the rich folks who are dabbling in education policy with their millions.
It is true that over time teachers and their unions haven’t done themselves any great favors by saving the ultimate tool -- taking to the streets and shutting down schools -- to save their own collective bargaining rights.
How come teachers did not actively protest the imposition of a standardized testing dominated accountability system hen they knew that it would narrow curriculum and perpetuate invalid notions of success and failure?
It is safe to say that had they taken to the streets over No Child Left Behind, they would have been been accused of being obstructionist, lazy and afraid of being held accountable.
Oh wait. That happened anyway.
If they didn't loudly protest before over the shape of school reform as they should have, teachers are now worked up. Teachers and parents are planning a march on Washington July 28-31 in an effort to “organize and reclaim control of our schools.” That’s what the Save Our Schools March Web site says.
They can only hope that someone will be listening listening, and that they aren't too lat
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/michelle-rhee/rhees-new-initiative-not-all-a.html?wprss=answer-sheet
Showing posts with label IMPACT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IMPACT. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Michelle Rhee's teacher evaluation system has numerous flaws
Is she trying to sell this? Is this her million dollar idea? In a few months are we going to have to follow the money to her pockets? Sickening... -cpg
From the Washington Post
by Bill Turque
Mayor Vincent C. Gray says that the IMPACT teacher evaluation system, regarded as former schools chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's signature reform, has "a long way to go" before it is fair because it disadvantages instructors in schools with large numbers of students challenged by the effects of poverty and other social conditions.
"It's a step in the right direction, but it's got a long way to go to be a fair evaluation," Gray (D) said Saturday during a panel discussion on education and poverty at Adas Israel synagogue in Northwest Washington.
Gray's criticism of IMPACT, his most explicit since entering office, echoes that of the Washington Teachers' Union, a major financial supporter of his candidacy. It appears to clash with a core tenet of Rhee and her successor, Interim Chancellor Kaya Henderson: that excellent teachers can help children thrive academically, regardless of the students' economic or social backgrounds.
It also is the first public sign that Gray and Henderson - who is his choice for the interim post and is regarded as front-runner for permanent appointment - differ on how education reform should go forward.
To illustrate his point, Gray cited two schools at opposite ends of the District's public education spectrum.
At Horace Mann Elementary in Northwest, 80 percent of the 269 students are white, 90 percent read at proficiency level or better, and none is eligible for free or reduced-price lunch - a common barometer of household poverty.
At Stanton Elementary in Southeast, where 100 percent of the students are black, 13 percent read proficiently. More than 90 percent are eligible for federally subsidized lunches. This year, the school was placed under the control of Scholar Academies, a Philadelphia charter school operator.
"It's not the same to teach in Horace Mann as to teach in Stanton Elementary," Gray said. "That's a very different challenge. And frankly, I'm not convinced that we have figured out yet how, with an evaluation system that covers all teachers across the city, that you account for the social challenges that inevitably are to be addressed."
Gray said that he has raised the fairness issue with Henderson and that she expressed a willingness to meet his concerns. Henderson expressed confidence Tuesday that she and Gray could reach common ground.
"The mayor and I share a common outcome at the end of the road, which is a great teacher in every classroom," she said. "He and I have a track record of working together on vexing problems."
The union plans to push Gray and Henderson for substantial changes in IMPACT and is working on an alternative evaluation system that it plans to propose.
"IMPACT is tremendously flawed," said Nathan Saunders, president of the union. "The question is, is the District attempting to maintain IMPACT as a legacy to Michelle Rhee, or does it have a commitment to a fair evaluation tool?"
Rhee drew national attention when she launched IMPACT in 2009. It replaced an evaluation tool that she said gave more than 90 percent of the District's teachers ratings of "meet" or "exceeds" expectations. Such assessments, she said, were not justifiable, given the school system's historically dismal academic record. Under IMPACT, more than 120 teachers were dismissed for poor performance last summer, an unprecedented number for the District.
IMPACT takes some student challenges into account when assessing a small segment of the teaching force. Half of the evaluation for reading and math teachers in grades 4 through 8 is based on growth in the standardized test scores of individual students. A model is developed for each student, predicting how he or she should do on the next round of tests. The model includes prior test scores, special education and English language status, and eligibility for subsidized lunch. The District does not use race or ethnicity as a predictive factor.
But 80 percent of the annual evaluation for most other regular classroom teachers makes no allowance for student challenges. Teachers receive five classroom observations in a school year - three from an administrator, and two from an outside "master educator" - assessing their fidelity to an elaborate set of guidelines called the Teaching and Learning Framework. It covers virtually every aspect of a teacher's classroom performance, including delivery of course material and checking for student understanding.
In the classroom of a highly effective teacher, according to the framework, the flow of the lesson "is never impeded by inappropriate or off-task student behavior, either because no such behavior occurs or because when such behavior occurs, the teacher efficiently addresses it."
Henderson said the framework is a tool to measure pedagogical expertise, "something all our teachers should have, regardless of the student population with which they work," she said.
D.C. Council member Sekou Biddle (D-At Large), a former schoolteacher, said that teachers in high-poverty areas need more and different resources to do their jobs, but he agreed with Henderson that teaching standards shouldn't vary.
"If we allow people to say that a community is more challenging because the kids are poor, so they should be allowed to perform less well, then we are really missing the key thing here," Biddle said.
Staff writer Mike DeBonis contributed to this report.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/18/AR2011011804873_2.html
From the Washington Post
by Bill Turque
Mayor Vincent C. Gray says that the IMPACT teacher evaluation system, regarded as former schools chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's signature reform, has "a long way to go" before it is fair because it disadvantages instructors in schools with large numbers of students challenged by the effects of poverty and other social conditions.
"It's a step in the right direction, but it's got a long way to go to be a fair evaluation," Gray (D) said Saturday during a panel discussion on education and poverty at Adas Israel synagogue in Northwest Washington.
Gray's criticism of IMPACT, his most explicit since entering office, echoes that of the Washington Teachers' Union, a major financial supporter of his candidacy. It appears to clash with a core tenet of Rhee and her successor, Interim Chancellor Kaya Henderson: that excellent teachers can help children thrive academically, regardless of the students' economic or social backgrounds.
It also is the first public sign that Gray and Henderson - who is his choice for the interim post and is regarded as front-runner for permanent appointment - differ on how education reform should go forward.
To illustrate his point, Gray cited two schools at opposite ends of the District's public education spectrum.
At Horace Mann Elementary in Northwest, 80 percent of the 269 students are white, 90 percent read at proficiency level or better, and none is eligible for free or reduced-price lunch - a common barometer of household poverty.
At Stanton Elementary in Southeast, where 100 percent of the students are black, 13 percent read proficiently. More than 90 percent are eligible for federally subsidized lunches. This year, the school was placed under the control of Scholar Academies, a Philadelphia charter school operator.
"It's not the same to teach in Horace Mann as to teach in Stanton Elementary," Gray said. "That's a very different challenge. And frankly, I'm not convinced that we have figured out yet how, with an evaluation system that covers all teachers across the city, that you account for the social challenges that inevitably are to be addressed."
Gray said that he has raised the fairness issue with Henderson and that she expressed a willingness to meet his concerns. Henderson expressed confidence Tuesday that she and Gray could reach common ground.
"The mayor and I share a common outcome at the end of the road, which is a great teacher in every classroom," she said. "He and I have a track record of working together on vexing problems."
The union plans to push Gray and Henderson for substantial changes in IMPACT and is working on an alternative evaluation system that it plans to propose.
"IMPACT is tremendously flawed," said Nathan Saunders, president of the union. "The question is, is the District attempting to maintain IMPACT as a legacy to Michelle Rhee, or does it have a commitment to a fair evaluation tool?"
Rhee drew national attention when she launched IMPACT in 2009. It replaced an evaluation tool that she said gave more than 90 percent of the District's teachers ratings of "meet" or "exceeds" expectations. Such assessments, she said, were not justifiable, given the school system's historically dismal academic record. Under IMPACT, more than 120 teachers were dismissed for poor performance last summer, an unprecedented number for the District.
IMPACT takes some student challenges into account when assessing a small segment of the teaching force. Half of the evaluation for reading and math teachers in grades 4 through 8 is based on growth in the standardized test scores of individual students. A model is developed for each student, predicting how he or she should do on the next round of tests. The model includes prior test scores, special education and English language status, and eligibility for subsidized lunch. The District does not use race or ethnicity as a predictive factor.
But 80 percent of the annual evaluation for most other regular classroom teachers makes no allowance for student challenges. Teachers receive five classroom observations in a school year - three from an administrator, and two from an outside "master educator" - assessing their fidelity to an elaborate set of guidelines called the Teaching and Learning Framework. It covers virtually every aspect of a teacher's classroom performance, including delivery of course material and checking for student understanding.
In the classroom of a highly effective teacher, according to the framework, the flow of the lesson "is never impeded by inappropriate or off-task student behavior, either because no such behavior occurs or because when such behavior occurs, the teacher efficiently addresses it."
Henderson said the framework is a tool to measure pedagogical expertise, "something all our teachers should have, regardless of the student population with which they work," she said.
D.C. Council member Sekou Biddle (D-At Large), a former schoolteacher, said that teachers in high-poverty areas need more and different resources to do their jobs, but he agreed with Henderson that teaching standards shouldn't vary.
"If we allow people to say that a community is more challenging because the kids are poor, so they should be allowed to perform less well, then we are really missing the key thing here," Biddle said.
Staff writer Mike DeBonis contributed to this report.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/18/AR2011011804873_2.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)