New York’s Evaluation Nightmare

June 13, 2013 //

Arthur Goldstein, aka Néw York Educator, describes the vain and convoluted effort to create a teacher evaluation system in Néw York. A pinch of this, a heavy dose of testing, and the computer will tell us which teachers are great and which are the stinkers.

Categories New York, Teacher Evaluations

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southside teacher says:

June 13, 2013 at 2:43 pm

“which teachers are great and which are the stinkers”
Not even close. It will only determing who gets fired. This week.

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artseagal says:

June 13, 2013 at 3:29 pm

NYC’s system sounds like a recipe for absolute disaster. Here is one BIG ISSUE.. WHY IS DANIELSON REMAINING SILENT ON THE ABUSIVE WAY HER IDEAS are being used? I would surmise she is joining the ranks of Lucy Caulkins in getting rich off of the system no matter how her philosophy is twisted to meet the needs of a larger “corporate ed reform” agenda.

Read the latest on merit pay and teacher evaluations in LA:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-teacher-raises-based-on-scores-20130612,0,3857379.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lanowblog+%28L.A.+Now%29

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- Mister V says:
  
  June 13, 2013 at 5:56 pm
  
  WHY IS DANIELSON REMAINING SILENT ON THE ABUSIVE WAY HER IDEAS are being used?
  
  Until I hear differently from Charlotte or Lucy, I will assume that the almighty dollar trumps any educational ethics or morals that either of them may have. Same goes for Fountas and Pinnell. There is a lot of money being made off of the CCSS, and it is not by public school teachers.
  
  Reply
  - M.Schneider says:
    
    June 13, 2013 at 11:40 pm
    
    If Charlotte Danielson contracted to write an abbreviated instrument, her hands might be tied regarding legally intervening. But regarding a truncated version on her rubric in Louisiana, she has gone public with her reservations:
    
    http://hechingerreport.org/content/teacher-evaluation-architect-warns-of-lawsuits-against-louisianas-new-system_10338/
  - M.Schneider says:
    
    June 13, 2013 at 11:47 pm
    
    Consider the exchange between Louisiana DOE Chief of Staff, former TFAer Kunjan Narechania, and Supt. John White, regarding Danielson’s “being a pain” for going public with her concerns about the abbreviated rubric:
    
    DOE emails reveal secretive programs, ties to Gates, Rupert Murdoch and Fox News Network; agency in general disarray
  - gitapik says:
    
    June 13, 2013 at 11:58 pm
    
    Unreal and too real
  - Mister V says:
    
    June 14, 2013 at 6:13 am
    
    Thanks for posting those articles M. Schneider. It does look like Charlotte is taking a stand here on how her work is being used but her hands might be tied, you are right. It gives me hope that there still may be a few education guru/ authors out there who aren’t riding the CCGT (Common Core Gravy Train)!
  - gitapik says:
    
    June 14, 2013 at 6:22 am
    
    It’s easy to assume that the attitude of the powers that be in Louisiana are representative of others throughout the USA.
George Buzzetti says:

June 13, 2013 at 3:41 pm

That is a jumbled mess of who knows what if I ever did see one. Maybe this and maybe that and if you do this and we do that. What?????

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Bob Grandt says:

June 13, 2013 at 3:54 pm

One cannot help but wonder if the intent of of John King’s 100 page ukase is to purge the system of veteran educators, while replacing them with low salaried rookies and warm bodies.

Where will the talented super teachers come from who replace the outstanding talented personnel who exit the city schools as a result of this academic Chernobyl? What cum laud college graduate will sign up to work in the city schools knowing he will have the Herculean task of successfully navigating educational requirements that even senior teachers will find highly difficult, if not impossible? Moreover, the new recruit will face the challenge of teaching some of the nation’s most difficult to educate inner city students.

The odds of any rookie lasting more than a year or two under the weight of the new evaluation system is highly improbable. In the future there will be massive teacher turnovers of conservatively over 50% in many schools.

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- gitapik says:
  
  June 13, 2013 at 11:53 pm
  
  It’s not such a far stretch to imagine this intent, Bob. One of the common themes at all (not some) of the new curriculum introductions and sales pitches that I’ve seen over the past 10 years is that of, “You don’t have to do anything. It’s all scripted out for you…”.
  
  As though this is a good thing.
  
  With that mindset comes the concept that the teacher’s skill level is second in importance to that of the program that she or he is being given to administer.
  
  So, according to this philosophy, experience is not necessary.
  
  Reply
- retiredbutmissthekids says:
  
  June 14, 2013 at 2:24 am
  
  Well, Bob, as to your first paragraph–yes, that’s his exact intent.
  As it is of all the privatizers in all the major cities–coming soon to a city near you all.
  
  Reply
- retiredbutmissthekids says:
  
  June 14, 2013 at 2:39 am
  
  Yes, Bob, what you say in your first paragraph is EXACTLY his intent, as much as it also belongs to others in power, in cities across the U.S. Coming soon, to a city (town, village, suburb) near you…
  
  Reply
  - retiredbutmissthekids says:
    
    June 14, 2013 at 2:40 am
    
    Sorry this came up 2x (NOT my intent, speaking of intents!)
gitapik says:

June 13, 2013 at 4:13 pm

Everyone sat and listened to the webinar at 9:00AM, Monday morning. A nice way to begin our day of staff development.

Our morale is very, very low at the moment.

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artseagal says:

June 13, 2013 at 4:55 pm

I was just reading a BBC article that should make the American people THINK about what all this obsession with data is doing to “discourage” the thinking process. Read on…
http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20130612-will-big-data-drown-out-genius

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zeno (@excessedteacher) says:

June 13, 2013 at 5:51 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e-TXS1kfVg or how to eliminate tenure in two easy steps a la King.

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- Bob Grandt says:
  
  June 13, 2013 at 8:33 pm
  
  That’s exactly what they are doing. TENURE IS NOW A RELIC OF THE PAST.
  
  Reply
  - gitapik says:
    
    June 13, 2013 at 8:40 pm
    
    We’re laying down pretty easy, here…
Claudia Bee says:

June 13, 2013 at 9:27 pm

You guys are on to something here. They don’t want quality teachers. They want moldab TFA clones who will spit out full cooperate learning. Kids will be learning just enough to make them citizens of the cooperate world. It is going on in NYC – this is the beginning. The Race to Erase good teaching and replace it with these pliable automatons is here. This erases the culture and sets the stage for the end of learning as we know it.

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Robert Grandt says:

June 14, 2013 at 9:21 am

Under the new evaluation system teachers will be rated on a 100 point scale, to be divided into two parts, 60 and 40. In the 60 you will need to amass 46 or more points to be judged EFFECTIVE, with 56 or more resulting in a HIGHLY EFFECTIVE designation. For example, each observation will yield you a number of points toward the magic 46.
It makeS teachers like salesmen, who garner points for each sale they make.

At least 20 points in the 40 are tied to a school wide average such as the composite Regents grades (or SAT scores) for every student in the school. (The scoring rubric will be determined in each school by four teachers and four administrators conferring with the principal.) If the scores plummet most, if not all, teachers in a school can be designated as INEFFECTIVE. This now makes all teachers responsible for the overall grade of a school. It is also a back door way to close or reorganize a school.

In a bit of Kakfaesque surrealistic logic the 40 point portion of the rating trumps the 60.
If a teacher fails to accrue enough points on the 40 he or she will be rated INEFFECTIVE regardless of the point total on the 60. Even if a teacher amasses the full 60 points, but falls short on the 40, they will be rated INEFFECTIVE.

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- gitapik says:
  
  June 15, 2013 at 2:07 pm
  
  I asked my union rep why there hasn’t been a union response to the DOE’s interpretation of the new system. She said that it would be coming out at the end of the summer, just before the new school year.
  
  Reply
- Harlan Underhill says:
  
  June 15, 2013 at 9:31 pm
  
  What are the other 20 points of the 40 based on?
  
  Reply
  - gitapik says:
    
    June 15, 2013 at 11:17 pm
    
    My understanding is that the other 20 points are based on a a school’s personal scoring system that’s agreed upon and set in place by an 8 member panel within that school. Four delegates chosen by admins and four chosen by the union rep. Obviously, these appointees would take the posts voluntarily. They’ll receive training this summer.
    
    I get confused, though, with what happens should the two sides not create a “common ground”. My understanding is that the principal’s personal scoring system would take precedent in a situation of that sort.
    
    I am, admittedly, unclear about this provision. I’d appreciate clarification.
n. lane says:

June 15, 2013 at 10:51 pm

20 pts.are state assessment, oh and did you know that 5% of the 60% is student surveys. I value my students opinions on what’s going on in the classroom (interest, content,etc.) but, excuse me,they’re not my bosses. They’re not signing my paycheck. Why do they have a say in my evaluation?

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