Archives for category: Teacher Evaluations
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Thomas Friedman Needs Your Help

By dianeravitch
October 21, 2012 //
25

I am assuming Thomas Friedman knows a lot about foreign affairs, which is what he mostly writes about. He certainly knows very little about America’s public schools. I wonder when was the last time he stepped into a school or talked to a real teacher. My guess: it has been many years. Maybe he went to a public school.

His article in Sunday’s New York Times demonstrates that he is not only out of touch, but woefully misinformed. Everything he knows about Race to the Top he learned not by any research or school visits or investigative reporting, but by talking to Arne Duncan.

Guess what? Arne Duncan thinks Race to the Top is a huge success. He says so. It must be so. It will make the entire population college-ready. Everyone will go to college, get a good job, poverty will end, and we will outcompete every other nation in the world.

If you believe that, I have a bridge I’d like to sell you. It’s not too far from where I live, and it is regularly sold to the gullible.

Of course, Friedman also really admires No Child Left Behind too, even though it wasn’t perfect. and he sees the close connection between NCLB and RTTT. Where do you begin with a man who opines but knows so little?

Please, someone, bombard Mr. Thomas Friedman with the nearly 400 letters from parents, teachers, administrators, and students about the massive disaster called Race to the Top.

Ask him where we are racing. Ask him who will get to the top. Ask him why we ditched equality of educational opportunity.

Categories NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Privatization, Race to the Top, Teacher Evaluations, Testing

The Upside of the Florida VAM Disaster

By dianeravitch
October 21, 2012 //
18

A reader called my attention to this comment by an anonymous teacher in Florida. It appears following an article in the Tampa Bay Times about the disastrous implementation of the value-added methodology in Pinellas County.

I was reminded when I read this comment about a conversation with an economist in Austin, Texas, who wondered if it might be fruitful to study the question of why “reformers” assert they are improving education when everything they do demoralizes teachers. How can one improve the profession, she asked, by making it unattractive. I hope she follows through, because this is a crucial issue.

Teachers in Florida, Tennessee, and other states are suffering under the inaccuracy and invalidity of value-added assessment; careers and reputations are being heedlessly ruined. The damage will continue as long as the Obama administration blindly clings to this nutty scheme in which numbers replace professional judgment. But there is some comfort in knowing that these methods are so harmful that they educate the public about the destructive nature of the alleged reforms. The more the public understands the damage they are doing, the sooner the day will come when these so-called reforms are exposed as fraudulent. They will blow up in the faces of those who designed them. This whole house of cards will come down, hopefully sooner rather than later. As the reformers like to say about their hare-brained schemes, “we can’t wait.”

The following is a comment on the article cited above:

Dedicated Educator18 hours ago
I am a Pinellas County teacher that has received ratings of “highly effective” for the past 20+ years. I have received nominations for “Math Teacher Of The Year” from a top performing elementary school. I have been featured in various newspaper articles for innovative teaching, and my students have been featured on the news for outstanding work that promotes community. My students have consistently done well on state and county tests, and I have had the privilege of training other teachers in various educational fields. However, now according to the VAM and the new evaluation scale, I am a ” teacher that needs improvement”.I can handle being among the worst paid teachers in the United States. (49th out of 50th). I can handle them taking away a portion of our promised retirement. I can handle the mounds of new paperwork and mandates by the state. But, there is one thing I cannot handle, and that is being called a “teacher that needs improvement. “Just ask the hundreds of students I have taught what they learned in my classroom. It is far beyond academics. I have loved my students and my families. I have dedicated my life to the children of this county.And now my heart is broken. If I told my former students, they would be up in arms. However, I am too embarrassed to even share that I am not the great teacher they thought I once was when they were in my classroom… because the “secret formula” the state has developed said so.

Categories Accountability, Florida, Teacher Evaluations

Why Won’t the Reformers Let Us Teach?

By dianeravitch
October 21, 2012 //
20

An English teacher in Rhode Island writes:

I’m a great teacher. I’m waiting for the opportunity, at the ripe old age of 49, to switch careers. My heart is broken. I am deluged with PLC’s, SLO’s, dog and pony lesson plans that go nowhere, and impossible observations that require me to make my students lie through their teeth. I’m tired of the “idiocracy” that states things like “the SAT is an achievement test” and that “all children can learn” without providing qualifiers and quantifiers. I am waiting for the hammer to fall when I get caught not teaching the new Common Core Curriculum because I’m ignoring it and teaching to the curriculum I created that works VERY well. If I have to learn one new acronym I’m going to eat a bullet. Rhode Island is being run into the ground by a Broad Academy robot. Teachers in my district are running scared, the administrators are capos, the union has been neutered, and the school board couldn’t find it’s hiney with a flashlight. All of this “educational reform” is just making us chase our tails; it’s not letting us teach.

Categories Broad Foundation, Corporate Reformers, Education Reform, Race to the Top, Teacher Evaluations, Teachers and Teaching

Louisiana Evaluation System Flunks Top Teachers

By dianeravitch
October 21, 2012 //
18

Teachers in some of Louisiana’s best schools are getting low ratings. Because their students already have high scores, the teachers are not getting high value-added scores, and many of he state’s best teachers will be rated ineffective. A teacher rated ineffective two years in a row may be fired.

Test scores count for 50% of every teacher’s evaluation.

State Commissioner of Education John White defends the state’s harsh system, even though it appears set to remove excellent teachers from top schools.

How long will it take before the people who launched this inaccurate, unreliable, invalid way of evaluating teachers acknowledge their error? Will they ever admit they were wrong or will they just continue ruining the lives of children and teachers? How long until the public throws them all out and tells them to find another line of work?

Categories Accountability, Louisiana, Teacher Evaluations

Breaking News! VAM in Florida County is a Disaster

By dianeravitch
October 20, 2012 //
36

The Tampa Bay Times reports that teachers are baffled, confused, and outraged by their value-added ratings, which will determine their evaluation, their longevity and their career.

The story begins like this:

Geoffrey Robinson is a National Board certified teacher at Osceola High School in Pinellas County who says 60 percent of his upper-level calculus students last year tested so well they earned college credit.

But this week Robinson received his teacher evaluation, based on a controversial new formula being rolled out statewide.

He was shocked to see how poorly he scored in the “student achievement” portion: 10.63 out of 40.

He’s not alone. Teachers all over Pinellashave received their scores, calculated by a new formula that confounds even math teachers. Hillsborough teachers also got their scores, though their situation is different due to participation in a grant program with its own evaluation rules. In Pasco, the scoring is on hold while the teachers union and the district figure out how to implement it.

Another teacher said that she is one of the best in the state in terms of test scores, but was rated only 57 out of 100 points. She said:

“I know I’m good, I’ve been teaching for 19 years, I’m not stressing about that. But if I was new, I’d go home crying.”

Teachers were wondering how these wildly erratic and inaccurate ratings are supposed to improve education.

In Hillsborough, where the Gates Foundation poured in many millions of dollars ($100 million?), 95 percent of teachers were rated either “effective” or “highly effective.” So they are not as unhappy as the bewildered teachers in Pinellas County.

Some teachers were rated based on the scores of students they never taught.

As one teacher says in the article, this system is not ready for prime time.

Can anyone remember how or why it was supposed to improve education?

It would be interesting if someone figures out how much money Florida received from Race to the Top and how much it has spent to implement the mandates of Race to the Top.

 

Categories Florida, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Race to the Top, Teacher Evaluations, Testing

He Can Get High Ratings from Students–or High Scores

By dianeravitch
October 20, 2012 //
6

Arthur Goldstein teaches English in a high school in Queens, New York City. If you want to know what teachers in New York City are saying, you have to read his blog. It’s funny, sad, outrageous, and honest. Here’s Arthur:

I found your piece about student ratings very interesting.

I taught almost 20 years at the English Language Institute at Queens College. Student ratings were very important—word of mouth kept enrollment very robust. I‘d come to this position from the POV of a high school teacher. As such, I insisted on homework and participation. I also gave people a pretty hard time if they didn’t do the work. For a number of years I scored 80% favorable with the students, but one year I got a bad rating. It was partially my insistence on assignments done on time, but mostly my fault—I’d selected a text that was too tough.

After that, I chose texts more carefully. I also stopped bothering students about missing homework. My scores jumped to 99% favorable, and could have hit 100 were it not for my awful handwriting. They stayed there until I quit about five years ago. So if student ratings are important, I can do that.

On the other hand, if test scores are what you want, I can teach to the test and be a total pain. When I taught ESL kids how to pass the English Regents, my Chinese-teaching colleague overheard and translated the following exchange:

“I don’t know what to do. I can’t seem to pass the English Regents.”

“That’s too bad. You should take Goldstein’s class.”

“Why? Is it good?”

“No, it’s terrible. You will hate every minute of it. But you will pass the Regents.”

I was lucky enough not to be rated by the students in that class. But they wouldn’t have been able to graduate without passing that test, so I did what I could for them. Many kids, who really did not know English, managed to pass the test anyway.

Now, I teach near-beginners the English they really need. I hassle them if they don’t participate or do the work. I call their parents, or have people who speak their languages do so. I think the kids would give me a good rating, but not 99%. However, if you put a gun to my head and demand I teach to a test that doesn’t really suit them, I’ll take another approach, and there goes my rating.

If Gates and his band of know-nothings have their way, we’ll be judged both on test scores and student ratings. I can cater to one or the other if I have to. I’ve done it.

That’s why I know a better system would be to trust me to do my job and teach my kids what they need to know. Unlike the folks at Pearson who sit in offices writing tests, I see these kids every day. I can adjust the course to their needs, and adjust the tests to their needs too.

It’s not like I run around telling “reformers” how to run their hedge funds. I don’t even know what a hedge fund is. And after ten years of “reform,” it’s clear to me that billionaires making rules about my business haven’t got the slightest notion what makes that work, let alone how to put “Children First, Ever.”

Categories Students, Teacher Evaluations

Why Foist an Unproven Method on the Entire Nation All at Once?

By dianeravitch
October 19, 2012 //
26

The U.S. Department of Education is doing something to the nation’s schools that has never been done before.

Through the leverage of its Race to the Top program, it has persuaded, pushed, and prodded at least 36 states to evaluate teachers by the test scores of their students.

There is no evidence that this will improve education or teaching. There is reason to believe it will incentivize narrowing the curriculum, cheating, and teaching to the test.

There is plenty of evidence from sources like the National Academy of Education and the American Educational Research Association that the ratings will reflect who is in the class, not teacher quality.

John Thompson, guest-blogging for Anthony Cody, asks why the Gates Foundation went full-steam ahead with value-added assessment and the MET Project, encouraging rapid implementation of value-added assessment without waiting to get the results of its experimentation.

Wouldn’t it have been wiser to learn how to do it right rather than imposing this untried, unproven methodology on millions of students and teachers?

Never before has the U.S. Department of Education imposed its views on the nation–even when there was ample evidence to support its policies.

No one knows how to make VAA work without incentivizing all the wrong consequences.

It would have been a good idea to do this right, not fast.

Unfortunately both Gates and Duncan agreed that the basic problem of U.S. education is “bad” teachers.

They are wrong, and they won’t admit it.

The basic problem of American education is poverty.

The kids in affluent districts are doing very well indeed.

Categories Education Reform, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Teacher Evaluations

The Most Important Voice in State Education Policy

By dianeravitch
October 19, 2012 //
3

The most important voice in state education policy today is the American Legislative Exchange Council, known as ALEC.

ALEC has 2,000 state legislators as members, and dozens of corporate sponsors, including the biggest names in business.

Here is an excellent summary of ALEC’s legislative priorities.

ALEC writes model legislation. Its members carry it home and introduce it as their own in their states.

ALEC promotes charters and vouchers.

ALEC likes the parent trigger.

ALEC likes it when the governor can create a commission to approve charters over the opposition of local school boards.

ALEC favors unregulated, for-profit online schooling.

ALEC wants to eliminate collective bargaining.

ALEC doesn’t think teachers need any certification or credential.

ALEC opposes teacher tenure.

ALEC likes evaluating teachers by test scores.

You should learn about ALEC. Read up on it. It is the most influential voice in the nation on education policy.

Categories ALEC, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, On-Line Education, Parent trigger, Privatization, Teacher Evaluations, Teacher Tenure, Testing, Unions, US Education

LA Times Sues to Get Teachers’ Names

By dianeravitch
October 18, 2012 //
10

Remember that the LA Times created a firestorm in 2010 when it created value added ratings for teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District and released the names and ratings of thousands of teachers. Arne Duncan said it was a good idea, but many researchers warned that the ratings were volatile, inaccurate, and unstable. And others saw a violation of confidentiality as well as ethical issues. In the aftermath, a teacher named Roberto Riguelas committed suicide, and his family said he was depressed to see what he thought was an unfair rating of his work.

New York City released the teacher ratings earlier this year, and again there were many complaints about inaccuracy. This time, Bill Gates published an op-Ed opposing the practice on grounds that it makes it impossible for supervisors to counsel teachers when their ratings are published.

Be all that as it may, the Los Angeles Times is now suing LAUSD for access to teachers’ names so they can release their ratings again.

I am still trying to understand what the newspaper thinks it is accomplishing, what purpose is served other than selling papers.

Categories California, Duncan, Arne, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Los Angeles, Teacher Evaluations

What “Reform” Is Doing to Teachers

By dianeravitch
October 16, 2012 //
11

A teacher reflects on how teachers are perceived, how little support they get, and how teaching has changed:

Being in the teaching profession, most of the public generally hates you because they ‘see’ you with the summer off and a pension, which most of us hope will be intact by the time we get there. If summers off were only true. During the summer is when most of your planning and professional growth goes on…’behind the scenes.’

I went into this profession because of kids and making an impact in their lives. Believe me it wasn’t for the money and it wasn’t for the summers off. If money was my primary motivator, I certainly wouldn’t have went into education. I would have went into the private sector with a car and expense account.

I have been in education now for thirteen years. When I look back over my career, I am saddened by how much it has changed. It has gone from keeping kids after school for projects, helping kids during lunch, talking with kids through problems and challenges they are facing. Basically, genuinely caring about the child as ‘whole’ person. It has gone from parents standing behind the teacher and enforcing what the teacher taught at home. To teachers having to answer and explain their every move – grading, discipline, etc.

How things have changed. Society has changed, and I am afraid to say, not for the better. I had the pleasure of working with a man for a few years before the end of his career. I looked up to him and had great respect for him for who he was, who he is, how he taught, and what he stood for. My last year working with him I remember discussing a tough school issue. Our discussion ended in him telling me that I will be saying ‘these were the good old days.’ I never thought that that statement would ring true, but it does.

Our greatest resource is our children. It doesn’t take being in education to know that. New York State is no longer holding children as our primary focus. New York State is holding greed as the number one goal. It is insulting and degrading what they are attempting to do to the public school systems. It is tragic. This state can not blame everything on education, but that is exactly what the media is doing. If we had to play the blame game, I would blame state testing. Kids hate the tests, and so do the teachers. It has taken the ‘real’ learning out of school and made learning into a ‘teach to the test nightmare.’

I am good at what I do. I love what I teach. I have motivated and inspired many students and parents. I have battled my share too, for the child. My job’s dynamics have changed drastically over the years. To say I work hard would be a gross understatement. I work hard every single day. I take work home nightly and work extensively on weekends to catch up and work ahead. My ‘growth score’ from the 2012 NYS ELA is ‘developing.’ It is insulting to say the least for many different reasons. One thing is for sure, I will not apologize for how my students perform on a three day exam. My students work hard and do their best.

In China, the people respect doctors, lawyers and teachers. The parents stand behind the school and enforce education at home. Take a close look at how their society runs. In America, the people respect rock stars and professional athletes. The parents fight the teachers tooth and nail. The system fights the teacher tooth and nail.
Take a close look at how our society is currently functioning?

Public education is not to blame for the budget issues this country faces. It never was and never will be. However, public education is the scapegoat.

I suggest all of the ‘professionals’ designing this APPR for our country come on into the classrooms and teach for a year to see what it is like.

Also, I would like some facts from NYS: how much did testing cost NYS last year – isn’t it to the tune of $385 million dollars? If we follow the money of Pearson, policy makers, and charter schools, what would we find at the end of the road? I would like to see the policy makers salary too. I know it is greater than mine at $57,000. I know it is greater than my brother in law’s who has been education for close to 26 years making $90,000. People in the private sector after 26 years are making well above $90,000 a year. Believe me.

Public education and school taxes are an easy target to get people fired up about because school taxes are one of the only things they have the control to vote on. So what a great way to get people enraged.

I wonder what validity is this APPR? What is the purpose? I wonder, if I ran my classroom the way the state is running the schools what that would look like?

“Thank you for coming to your child’s conference Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Your child’s average is a 73% in ELA. Why? Well, I can’t really tell you that. I do not grade papers for parents to see. I have my own formula that is a secret. You will just have to trust me. Your child is below average. What can you do to help? Oh, I can’t really tell you that because it is a moving target.”

As Troy Aikman said at last week’s tragic football game due to poor referee calling, “This is a joke.” I agree, this APPR scam is a complete joke. Even though APPR is out to destroy the unions and the public school system, the true tragedy at the end of the day is the children and our society loses at the end.

The state’s agenda is to conquer and divide the unions and public education for nothing more than their own greed. Bring it. Get the attorneys in place. When it is uncovered and exposed to the true agenda, and it will be, these policy makers may need to leave this country.

Widen your lense to see the big picture. We will not let our children and this country suffer. Game on.

Categories New York, Teacher Evaluations, Teachers and Teaching
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