Everyone at the Table

Compromise Reached on Public Release of Teacher Evaluations

Publicly advertising teacher evaluation results would seem like a really great idea if we had a universally accepted way of evaluating teachers.

But too often evaluation data is taken out of context and serves to shame teachers rather than improve the school system. Schoolbook’s release of teacher test scores created a “worst teacher in New York” scenario that New York legislators wanted to make sure didn’t happen again. This week, they opted to give parents information about schools that doesn’t put specific individuals’ results into the public eye, without additional context.

While the plan seems like a decent compromise—and won over the United Federation of Teachers as well as Bill Gates who had previously commented on the issue— Bloomberg still stands behind full disclosure, stating “I am disappointed that this bill falls short of that goal.”*

What the governor and other full disclosure backers fail to consider is the way a public ranking may serve as a barrier to the creation and implementation of a much-needed, working evaluation system, and again is evidence of a misdirected system that cares more for scrutinizing and punishing our teachers than ensuring educational success for our kids.

*from The Christian Science Monitor, June 22, 2012, by Kevin Loria

Cuomo Gives Parents Access to Teacher Grades

Parents, you will now be able to see the evaluation scores of your child’s teachers this upcoming school year.  On first glance, that seems great; it puts you more in control of your child’s education. But realistically, what are you supposed to do with that information? You won’t know what teachers your child has been assigned until the first day of school. At that point, well, what are your options?

Chiara Coletti, a spokeswoman for the Council of Supervisors and Administrators, which represents public school principals, said the notion that parents can use evaluation scores to determine which teachers their child has, or whether or not to attend that school at all, is “out of touch with the way schools work — public schools or private schools.” Students and parents cannot assign their teachers by popularity contest, and parents whose child cannot get the teachers they want don’t always have the option of choosing another school.  Private schools accept applications through the winter and offer acceptance letters in early spring.  Parents who choose to homeschool must file paperwork before the first day of school begins. Moving, or religious schools, are the only feasible options, if a family has this kind of flexibility and if the school is a good fit. But if a child must stay in a class with a formerly “unsatisfactory” or “developing” teacher, how will it impact the family’s relationship to the school and the relationship between the teacher and the student? 

Coletti called wide dissemination of teachers’ ratings with names attached “cruel and punitive,” adding, “The only people who need to know that kind of information are parents who feel they have a good reason to.”   But New York City’s Mayor Bloomberg stands firmly behind the notion that more information is better, even if it increases the competition of the system and, potentially, overrides the outcomes.

There is no question: the teaching profession is changing. Teachers will be held accountable in a way they’ve never been held accountable before, and faced with a rigorous public evaluation process every year that will determine how long they keep their job.  Raising the stakes can work, but there is a risk:  without careful thought and planning, the system of evaluating teachers can become hasty and ineffective (as we’ve already seen with inaccurate Schoolbook scores) and the impact of publishing wrong information can hurt our best teachers, who may, of their own volition, choose to opt out of the profession. We need to make sure that as we make decisions about teachers’ jobs, we are only making decisions that will support our students.  

Duncan, King and Walcott: City, State and National Reformers Gather to Discuss the State of Education

Originally published on On the Agenda, the blog for Public Agenda, a partner in Everyone at the Table.

By Allison Rizzolo

For the first time ever, Secretary Arne Duncan, Commissioner John King and Chancellor Dennis Walcott gathered together in one room to talk about education reform. During Philanthropy New York’s 33rd Annual Meeting, on Monday, June 4th, the three education reformers addressed controversial subjects such as teacher effectiveness, student assessments, Common Core and school turnaround.

During the discussion, moderated by WNYC’s Beth Fertig, there was a surprising and encouraging degree of agreement among the education leaders, who represented the city, state and national levels. All three repeatedly returned to a number of basic principles and values.

Giving our children access to a well-rounded education is our utmost priority. With Common Core, which was mapped backward from a lens of college and career success, the education leaders hope the system can move toward a well-rounded model of education. People who know more about the world tend to read better, said Commissioner King.

We need to lift up and strengthen the teaching profession. ”When we say teaching doesn’t matter, we demean these extraordinary teachers and principals that are making an amazing difference in our students’ lives,” said Secretary Duncan. All three agreed that it would do no good to simply raise the bar and tell students to meet it; our education system needs to also help our teachers teach more effectively.

We need multiple measurements. Whether we are assessing students, teachers, principals, schools or states, we have to look at multiple measures and avoid situations where reliance on one measure creates perverse incentives that are harmful to students.

“I think we’re in a golden age of changing education like never before,” said Chancellor Walcott. Yet with our economic reality and fiscal challenges, is this “golden age” sustainable? All three pointed to the importance of philanthropy in helping the education system and third-party organizations, like Public Agenda, which experiment with innovations, integrate technology, build strong leadership and support the courses that contribute to a well-rounded education.

“If you want our children to do better in math, try some music. If you want to our kids to sit and concentrate in class, try some recess,” said Secretary Duncan. “We can’t let tough budget times be an excuse for perpetuating the status quo that is not working for our young people.”

A recording of the panel is available online, and you can read tweets from the event as well. Want to join the discussion? Mention @PublicAgenda on Twitter and use the hashtag #PNYMeet.

Teachers Talking about Evaluation

Miriam Shumba was part of a team of schoolteachers who participated in a teacher evaluation policy discussion using free handouts and facilitation guidelines from www.Everyoneatthetable.org, a suite of resources created with the intention to reach out to teachers around the country by helping facilitate locally based dialogue on teacher evaluation. 

When I first heard about “Everyone at the Table” I didn’t know what to expect but I already liked the concept of teachers getting together and discussing important issues that affect all teachers and students.

After having a conference call I was one of the people asked to facilitate the discussion with teachers at our school. I was really curious to see how everybody felt about teacher assessments. After watching the video on the website and going through the material our group was ready to have the discussion.

This was probably the first time I had time to talk to other teachers about issues we all face and it was absolutely wonderful. From the beginning, we felt really free to be ourselves and openly share our thoughts, going from question to question. I was able to facilitate the discussion easily and each member of our group was able to voice their thoughts, while other facilitators wrote down what everybody thought on the board.

For me the whole experience was refreshing— having time to discuss issues and come up with ideas that could become law in the future. There was a sense of camaraderie and respect in our group as we wrote down our ideas. Seeing how well this worked, I think schools should adapt the idea of “Everyone at the Table” whenever important decisions have to be made. That way everybody is heard and everybody has a chance to give input. Voting on such important things is also important so that whenever policies are made, everyone had a chance to have a say.

What was interesting for me was that most of the people agreed on how they want the teacher assessments to be done. Now I’m also curious to see what the other groups say and what the rest of the people in the country think.  

I look forward to more discussions like this with colleagues on other issues.

Miriam Shumba

Michigan Teachers Find Their Voice on Teacher Evaluation using EATT

By Cass Daubenspeck

***

Lots of people are waiting on policymakers to reach decisions about teacher evaluation. But some teachers aren’t waiting. They’re working on tackling the issue themselves.

Last month, the teachers and administrators at Nataki Talibah Schoolhouse charter school in Detroit, Michigan, used materials from Everyone at the Table to hold a professional development session around the issue of teacher evaluation reform.  This team pioneered a staff-wide discussion around what a great evaluation system would look like—including who should have a say in a teacher’s development and what percentage of the evaluation should consist of test scores and other factors—-all using free Everyone at the Table downloads.

“It was one of the most meaningful conversations we’ve had for a long time,” said a middle school ELA teacher on staff.  “Everyone who came to the table really enjoyed having that discussion.”

When we spoke with the teachers, they said that the materials had helped them realize both what they agreed on and what they didn’t when it came to meaningful and productive evaluation. Largely, they shared similar views and values on how a teacher should be evaluated. None were in favor of the outside observer option present in some teacher evaluation conversations across the nation.

“We’re such a close community here, that we find outside observers might not understand who we are or what we’re doing. None of us liked the idea of that,” said one of the teachers who participated in the discussion.

Another teacher added that an informal training session, which they’d had with an Everyone at the Table team leader before their own professional development meeting, had introduced them to the Everyone at the Table materials and helped them facilitate the discussion on their own more easily.  But, as one teacher who had missed that training noted, the materials were clear and straightforward enough that she was able to join right into the conversation without trouble.

Often, when weighing the value of a conversation around teacher evaluation, teachers have questions such as, “What is the intended outcome for this? Will my opinion even count?” or “Why should I take the time to have this conversation if my ideas might not make a difference?”

Plenty of educators, myself included, have felt unacknowledged even after taking the time to voice thoughtful opinions about improving how current and traditional systems work in our schools.  It is common for teachers to avoid policy conversations because there is already so little time for us to do the other things our demanding jobs require.

We asked the staff what they could get out of a discussion like this, even if for some reason their principal or district administrators rejected their ideas. They told us, “It’s nice if everyone is heard, even if you aren’t able to get what you want. And then when decisions are made, you know everybody talked about it and agreed on it, not just one person making the decision.”

The takeaways of having this discussion, as shown to us by this pioneering group from a single school in Michigan, are too great to be overlooked. The outcome of sitting down to have a conversation about how teachers are evaluated is one of the small but critical steps needed to help broaden the scope of this conversation and help other teachers see how important it is that we—teachers— have a voice in what’s going on.   The conversations that include teacher voice have to happen. That’s what this is about.

We’re excited and hopeful that as the teacher evaluation debate continues to heat up, we will see more teachers using the resources at Everyone at the Table to hash out their own ideas with their colleagues and administrators and have their voices heard.  We look forward to hearing more results from those who do, and we encourage the continuation of positive, thoughtful conversations by teachers around issues that affect teachers most.

Support teacher voice, and bring the conversation into your school next. You can find all the materials you need, including an instructional video, handouts, and moderator’s guide at www.everyoneatthetable.org. For more information, or for assistance, contact Allison at arizzolo@publicagenda.org.  

Best Published Piece About Teacher Evaluation

Virtually everyone agrees that teacher evaluation in the United States needs an overhaul. Existing systems rarely help teachers improve or clearly distinguish those who are succeeding from those who are struggling.

The tools that are used do not always represent the important features of good teaching. Criteria and methods for evaluating teachers vary substantially across districts and at key career milestones—when teachers complete pre-service teacher education, become initially licensed, are considered for tenure, and receive a professional license.

A comprehensive system should address these purposes in a coherent way and provide support for supervision and professional learning, identify teachers who need additional assistance and—in some cases—a change of career, and recognize expert teachers who can contribute to the learning of their peers.

This report outlines an integrated approach that connects these goals to a teaching-career continuum and a professional development system that supports effectiveness for all teachers at every stage of their careers.

Support for this work was provided by the Ford Foundation and the Sandler Foundation.

Download the full report  here: http://edpolicy.stanford.edu/publications/pubs/591

Straight from the Teacher’s Lounge: Six Teachers Who Inspire

What is one thing you would like to change about the current state of the teaching profession?

Increasing teacher voice at every level in the sphere of education. I would like to see schools incorporate teachers in decision-making, as well as provide teachers with career ladders that bring classroom and leadership roles together. I would like districts to listen to teachers and assure teachers that they have a seat at the table when they are buying textbooks, evaluating principals, adopting new after school programs, and more. I would like teachers to crowdsource their experiences of curriculum, professional development, webinars, and other products to hold vendors accountable and responsive to teachers. I would love to see an EdYelp, PDYelp, Angie’s List for Educational Service Providers, and more!

Read more from this interview with Darren Burris, middle school instructional coach and high school math teacher, from Boston Collegiate Charter school: 

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What Does Well-Designed Teacher Evaluation Look Like?

It’s hard to open up the education section of a newspaper these days without reading about a controversy around teacher evaluation, or about an evaluation plan that is either unraveling or falling off a cliff. But what does a GOOD teacher evaluation plan look like? While their evaluation policy may not be perfect, we think Washington state has done an admirable job.

At the Great Teachers for Our City Schools National Summitlast week in Denver, Colorado, Washington state representative Sharon Tomiko Santos shared the state’s recipe for success when it comes to formulating teacher evaluation plans. What did they do well?

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