A teacher from Montgomery County, Maryland, describes its innovative ad successful way of evaluating teachers in a professional way: with support and professional judgement, but not test scores. The state of Maryland had the misfortune to in Race to the Top funding, so the PAR program was found unacceptable because Arne Duncan demands test scores as the necessary measure of teacher quality.
She writes:
“Hi folks. I’m from Montgomery County which Diane references at the end of her blog. The PAR program we have in effect is fair, clear and spells out 6 Standards (and an additional Standard for school leaders) which provide a “rubric” for good teaching practices/skills. The standards are based on the book, “The Skillful Teacher,” by Jon Saphier, Mary Ann Haley and Robert Gower. As new teachers enter the county, they are asked to take The Skillful Teacher I and II PD courses valued with credits which clearly spell out the expectation MC has for it’s teachers. They are supported by teacher leaders in our schools as well as a Consulting Teacher outside of the school and connected with our union. If the new teacher or one who is tenured is found not to meet a standard, they typically have one year, with supports in place, to address the skills they are lacking. At the end of many observations, a PAR panel comprised of principals and teachers decide if they continue with their position in the county.
“Maryland rejected our county’s proposal to the state however, to evaluate teachers based on the PAR because it did not include using test scores as a part of Race to the Top. The county’s next steps are to be determined.
“As change is being pushed across the country in education, by other folks who clearly don’t have an understanding of what good practices in teaching are all about, can I suggest we, as educators find a solution to our individual issues in pockets across the US and WE take initiatives to advocate them. I often find myself complaining about what is wrong, just as many people on the outside of the education establishment complain about what they see as wrong…they’ve come up with a plan…what have we done?”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It’s a good idea that we take part in evaluation practices. However, the crisis of evaluation is largely a manufactured one, designed to blame teachers for problems largely not of their creation. Also, RttT and states passing laws to conform with it lends junk science status generally reserved for the Ten Commandments.
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PAR works because it gives the teacher in question appropriate staff development based in reality not test scores. Test scores and VAM are not a part of PAR. These committees usually override a principal’s desire to fire a teacher and instead give the teacher a year to improve. The teacher still holds their due process rights unlike NYS where 40%=100% and only a small percentage have the right to
due process.
Districts that use PAR are not awarded RTTT funding. RTTT would never even consider PAR–not because it’s a successful program in terms of teacher evals and student success, but because it does nothing to weaken teachers and public schools.
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I’m with you. After extensive research, this supposed issue of not evaluating teachers properly is completely manufactured and so is the idea that we have a quality issue with teachers.
I view teaching exclusively as an art. While I teach I view myself as painting a picture or writing and performing a piece of music. The approach I take is much like an artist – a comedian/motivation speaker/lecturer, etc…
I view this evaluation imposition as an approach to kill my creativity and ultimately kill public schools. These billionaires and politicians view the outcomes of learning as something you can empirically measure, but the outcomes are no such thing – they are complicated, social outcomes that involve intricate details no variable could ever serve.
While some may love Picasso, and others hate him, some of my students love me and learn accordingly, while others not so much.
The same goes when attempting to observe a teacher in action. An observer is predisposed to “like” some teacher activity and not others.
If we are to successfully observe teachers we ought to do it as observing an empty box that the teacher has the ability to fill – we ought to look for the “box” in that we ought to ensure the teacher has a plan, carries out the plan, and assesses and communicates the outcomes. The more we demand that teachers carry out certain actions to appease a rubric, the more we kill creativity and learning outcomes.
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I applaud the idea of teachers having “A Plan” for what is effective teacher evaluation as suggested in this post. I recently heard the Dean of Ed School at University of Michigan claiming that U of M has a “PLAN” for teacher preparation based on specific skills that can be taught and learned. Shouldn’t we who oppose the test-based eval systems also support what good teacher prep is? I am not pushing the U of M method unless others agree about it, but do think we should have an EASY to communicate check list for excellent teacher prep too.
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I suspect this conversation is timely for many of us: my district is considering applying for a Race to the Top grant (and I’m quite worried about it). I’d love to hear reactions to this idea: since the grant application requires some “significant” incorporation of test scores into the evaluation process (which is probably just a bad idea, but is required) do any of you think that it might be possible to incorporate them in a “formative” phase? What if teachers got “test score feedback” early in the process, and administrators worked with teachers to use those scores to plan goals, etc. Then the actual “summative” evaluation (also required by the grant) was done using a system of standards and rubrics, similar to the system this teacher describes above (our district uses the Danielson model). I bet there are many things wrong with this idea, but it’s the only thing I can come up with that might (might) satisfy the requirements of the grant that doesn’t completely horrify me.
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I suspect this conversation is timely for many of us: my district is considering applying for a Race to the Top grant (and I’m quite worried about it). I’d love to hear reactions to this idea: since the grant application requires some “significant” incorporation of test scores into the evaluation process (which is probably just a bad idea, but is required) do any of you think that it might be possible to incorporate them in a “formative” phase? What if teachers got “test score feedback” early in the process, and administrators worked with teachers to use those scores to plan goals, etc. Then the actual “summative” evaluation (also required by the grant) was done using a system of standards and rubrics, similar to the system this teacher describes above (our district uses the Danielson model). I bet there are many things wrong with this idea, but it’s the only thing I can come up with that might (might) satisfy the requirements of the grant that doesn’t completely horrify me.
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I dont believe you can win a RTTT grant without test scores being included in the evaluation. But , and i may be wrong here, it’s my understanding that if your state accepted an NCLB waiver, teacher evaluations including student test scores were part of the deal.
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Chris,
You are right. States had to accept Arne’s mandates about VAM in order to get an NCLB waiver. That’s what President Obama calls “flexibility.”
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Thanks for the comments, everyone. My state (NE) didn’t apply for a waiver (yet) so we aren’t tied by those strings. And I agree that not including test scores in “summative” teacher evaluation may hurt chances for the RTT grant, but since I agree with you, Diane, that the % should be 0, incorporating test scores as only part of the “formative phase” is the only way out/around/under I can think of. I’ll argue for it and probably get laughed out of the room 🙂 Thanks for the help, everyone.
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Do a search in the NYTimes and Michael Winerip on PAR. You will see how PAR works compared to RTTT which can fire a teacher based solely on test scores. RTTT will never accept PAR.
Unfortunately, many politicians are requiring a large percentage of VAM be used. The only suggestion I can give you is to make sure VAM is less than 40% and 60% based on a fair and balanced method.
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VAM should be approximately 0%.
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As a teacher, administrators have never spent enough time in my classroom to really know what I do so how can they know if I am effective enough. I have been on two different principals’ hit list. Both tried to blackball me when I tried to leave.
To be clear, I taught first grade. My students have written letters to congress requesting healthy foods. My students completed several projects each year, including Black History, Hispanic Heritage, an animals project, and a Me on the Map project. I integrated technology and had centers for the students. I lent books to my class and even bought each child two books a year.
I used research based practices including text sets and thematic units. I engaged students in authentic assessment that I used for differentiated instruction.
I had the low performers and they all passed the test. The math coach even came to me to be sure that i had the low group because my kids did as well as any others. ThenI had 16 boys and 8 girls and no one questioned my classroom management. When I taught this group, someone from the county came and observed and said that my teaching mirrored teacher of the year.
So why were the principals at my throat. One said I was mean (until she actually came in my classroom). Neither my students, nor their parents would agree. The other said my classroom was junky. She caught me at a bad moment.
To be honest, teaching is very personal. You are sharing a part of yourself to the students each day. Evaluation of something so personal is quite touchy.
Let’s be clear, Finland doesn’t evaluate it’s teachers or subject their students to multiple batteries of tests per year. They hold their teachers responsible and they trust them. I for one am tired of being treated like a criminal and tired of my students being treated like criminals. Do we think that teachers won’t teach if they are not evaluated at all? Why are we trying to catch mistakes on the back end? Why don’t we just prepare teachers properly in the first place and then trust their professional judgement?
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I think a more robust teacher evaluation system can improve teaching, however, we should view teachers as the ultimate expert on the matter and give them leeway to determine what goes on in their classrooms.
Teacher evaluation systems involving test scores kill the teaching and learning process, and really, probably kill the whole evaluation process.
Lazy administrators will bypass multiple, random classroom observations in favor of looking at the bottom line (test scores) and be predisposed to judging their teachers solely based on test outcomes.
This is a time where administrators ought to up their number of classroom visits, even if that means 20 minute informals so they can act as a check-and-balance with VAM outcomes.
I doubt for many of us this will occur. If we get low scores, principals will move for dismissal. After all, their job depends on the test scores too.
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The part of my point that I failed to make is that teaching is not a desirable profession in the United States and a constant fear of being fired does not help teachers to be more effective. If it takes a teacher 3-5 years to become effective, why are they given only one year under this program? This means that a firs year teacher could be fired before they ever can their stride.
The real issue is that you have invested time into the teacher and if they don’t learn fast enough, they are fired and the time invested is for nothing once the teacher is fired.
This is not to say that we should allow this person to ruin children’s lives by being a bad teacher, but they clearly need support. In my opinion, ideally, there would be a fail safe for children whose teacher are in need of support. Ideally, the first three years teachers would receive this support and a fail safe for the students.
However, this would take a lot of people working together collaboratively. It would take developing a support system that includes more than just a mentor and some classes.
Too bad that the budget crunch couldn’t possibly allow for any type of alternative. Teacher turnover is high, and now teacher firing is about to be high. Who is going to teach? Oh yeah! We have computers! Smh
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What part of “Intentionally Destructive Evaluation System” (IDES) do people not understand?
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I would love to see a part time use of retired teachers with at least 20 years experience, who excelled, coming in to help evaluate and mentor teachers. They have the time, experience and commitment to do such without political reasons. They are the last of the professional educators and many would love to help. I know I would.
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If they aren’t going to get seasoned educators to run the school and guide policy, they most certainly aren’t going to ask retirees to assist. It’s so unfortunate.
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Of course you are right. It is heartbreaking to someone who put 38 plus years in and believes that education was and still is the way to succeed in life, not just in a test.
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@ Jean Sachs – this is too logical. And the corporate elitists will not make any money.
It will not happen, at least where I’m from.
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No talks about what I believe to be a problem that must be solved before we even begin to talk about evaluating individual teachers.
The problem I refer to is the problem of a proper school-wide learning environment. And yes, to those who love research, my post here is anecdotal. I suppose some will stop reading right here. Allow me to say that I have lost faith in education research and especially the research that seeks to lend credibility to “reform.”
Anyway, how can you truly and fairly evaluate a teacher in an out of control school?
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I agree with you. I believe that a large percentage of teachers’ training should center on classroom management, and that the administrators should spend a lot of time working on creating a positive school culture. I’m not talking about the crazy practices you hear happen in crazy charters, but I think we both agree that we have to have student buy-in in order for any of our “best practices” teaching to make a true impact on student learning.
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Brutus – I never had faith in educational research. Its a soft science that transforms data multiple times, relies on variables to describe that which is NOT mathematical, and is not testable, controllable, or repeatable.
There are always lurking variables and the process involves an unfathomable amount of assumptions.
Assumptions do not make for good, hard science.
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And hopefully when you are on another major talk show, and the host asks you about a better evaluation plan, you will enlighten him/her on PAR.
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School gal,
I always explain to talk shows about PAR as better than VAM.
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I am glad to hear that. I should have been more specific since I was talking about your interview with Charlie Rose. He directly asked you about that. And if I recall, you didn’t bring it up.
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As I recall, I did respond to Charlie Rose but the interview was cut in half.
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And Diane if you recall I questioned you about it right after the interview, and that was not your response. I am sure you will see that if you recheck that blog post. In fact, I was the only person bringing up PAR on your blog at the time.
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Absolutely—but you know this district is going for the RTTT funding. And an application like that will land in Duncan’s FU pile. It takes guts for any district to stand up to Duncan and Obama. Yet, both union heads are still endorsing VAM. Our allies are really our enemies. We have people bought and paid for by Gates running this circus.
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Hawaii teachers will be voting for a new contract in a few weeks. They will get back the 5% that was taken from them and some other salary steps. Unfortunately it comes with a heavy evaluation package that also includes student surveys. I am all for student feedback to help teachers self-evaluate, but not as a factor for the evaluation process along with VAM of course. Teachers in Hawaii will most likely follow suit with most teachers and accept the money over everything else. I truly wish the teachers of Hawaii the best. They put up a good fight w/o union assistance. Yet, it was the union who accepted this eval deal. What a surprise!!!!! Nowhere is their mention of reducing class size or any factors that will truly benefit the students. What’s really sad is that the students will suffer, schools will close and expect more privatization to come to that marvelous state.
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The real irony here is of course that the teaching profession is at every level one of the most self-critical professions there is, certainly head and shoulders above anything we find practiced in business or politics today. And the art of reflective practice in teaching — an art that takes meaningful measures of personal and social good into account — long ago evolved beyond the stage of brainless bean-counting that amateur do-no-gooders just discovered and in their value-addled way slaver over as the latest rage.
And irony on irony — it is that very practice of critical reflection that these out-of-date out-of-mind nouveau reformers are trying the hardest to stamp out.
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Would anything different be expected of a state DoE lead by Broad graduate, Lillian Lowery? Call your friends is Delaware if you have any doubts.
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The last time peer evaluation was raised here, there was significant opposition voiced in the comments. I am heartened that there seems to be less opposition voiced now.
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PAR seems much more teacher-friendly than VAM. Are there other research studies that folks can point me to about the benefits of PAR? Also, can someone point me to teacher evaluation practices in other countries.
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