Archives for category: Teachers and Teaching
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Why She Left Teaching

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2012 //
35

I don’t think teachers who are passionate about teaching should quit, no matter how awful the circumstances.

I know it’s easy for me to say, because I am not there.

But it is important to keep experience and wisdom in the profession.

Don’t let them push you out.

Do what you love and what you believe in.

Be there the day this war on teachers ends, a victim of its inanity, stupidity, and ignorance.

Be there for your students.

This is a teacher who couldn’t take it anymore.

I retired early with just 20 years because the profession I have been so dedicated to and passionate about my entire life has been trashed by reformers like this idiot who don’t know what they are talking about; by the mayor and his educrats who have taken to vilifying teachers and disrespecting us at every turn; by the principals who haven’t taught long enough to be considered pedagogical experts on anything; by the most micromanaged, scripted, suffocating instructional mandates (everyone teaching the same lesson on the same day at the same time…day1, day2, day 3, day4, day 5, test); by the incessant and overwhelming collection of data that appears to have more value than actual creative planning and professional judgement. We have principals and Network leaders whose english and communication skills are abysmal; superintendents who don’t visit the schools they oversee; and a culture that supports the abusive and punitive treatment of teachers. This is antithetical to everything that made me want to become a teacher. New York City has lost many outstanding and experienced teachers in the past 5 years who left because they refuse to continue working under such conditions. Under the current system of school based budgeting, it’s always a good thing when a senior teacher leaves -they can hire two teachers at half the salary. When you’re looking at numbers and not people, that’s what really matters.
Categories NYC, Teachers and Teaching

A Florida Teacher Describes A Plan That Worked

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2012 //
29

In response to another reader, this Florida teacher describes a plan for teacher professionalism that worked very well but was de-funded by the Legislature.

In Florida, we used to have a system in place for such merit: It was pay for National Board Certification. Teachers went through a very rigorous process of evaluations, lesson planning, test-taking, etc. over a year and submitted their work to a national organization to be evaluated. It was a tough process, and not every teacher made it. Some teachers took several years of re-submitting their work before they were considered National Board Certified.

Once teachers earned initial certification, they were expected to become mentor teachers to newer teachers. The idea was to help develop and retain other strong teachers in the field.

Florida used to pay for the costly process of becoming certified. Once teachers were certified, they got an bonus of several thousand dollars- merit pay if you will- each year. They even had to re-certify every few years. Beyond that, NBCT teachers were paid bonus money for the number of hours they put in mentoring.

So what happened to this system of merit pay? It got cut. Completely done away with. The legislature used to fully fund it, but even before the economy tanked (because of course, that would be the argument for doing away with a program that actually improved the teaching profession and retained the best teachers) they cut all funding for the program. The very same legislators who pushed through our ill-conceived current merit pay plan- cut all funding for a merit-pay program that was actually working.

And how much funding is there now for our current merit-pay plan based strictly on test scores? Nada. Nothing. Zilch. How in the world does any businessman propose a merit pay plan with no actual merit?

It’s destined to fail in every capacity. Well, except one: increasing the bottom-line for test companies. As we divert (not come up with new funding, but divert from existing classroom funds) millions of dollars into hundreds of new poorly-written tests meant to “fit” this merit pay plan and determine who the “best” teachers are.

And as others have said, you are trying to quantify something that can’t be measured. Bonuses for coaching, sponsoring clubs, taking on leadership roles, extra tutoring, going through rigourous evaluation systems like National Board, I could buy it- those generally are your best teachers who truly are there for the kids.

But what we are doing with test scores is a complete joke. This WILL fail and I pray in a few years the pendulum starts to swing back towards common sense.

 

 
 
Categories Accountability, Florida, Teachers and Teaching

This School Took NY Times’ Advice: Carrots & Sticks for All

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2012 //
1

The New York Times was late in recommending carrots and sticks for teachers. Here is a school that is doing it already (satire alert!):

http://studentslast.blogspot.com/2012/08/grin-and-bear-it-teachers-paddled-in.html

Categories Merit pay, Teachers and Teaching

How to Incentivize Teachers

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2012 //
13

This is what teachers work for: knowing they made a difference in the lives of students.

Have you thanked a teacher lately?

I have every single note that a parent has sent me over the years and every card that my students, once old enough to actually write (i teach pre-) has sent me years later.  I have my entire fridge covered in notes and some of my kitchen cabinets as well, along with class pictures from every year I have been in my current school.
I have one family who send me pictures of the four of their children who have passed through my class.  I have one more coming next year.
No amount of money can give me the feeling that those cards and pictures and notes give me.
When my students come back to my room and tell my current pre-k children what they did when they were in my class and how important it is to listen and pay attention, I want to cry.
The people who think that carrots and sticks are the answer don’t understand that some people have callings and others just get a job.

Categories Merit pay, Teachers and Teaching

Which Metrics Matter in Judging a Teacher?

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2012 //
10

A reader asks a question, and I ask the teachers who follow this blog to answer him.

I suggest he read the earlier posts on the subject, but please feel free to give him your answer based on your experience:

What if metrics could be established apart from testing? Does anyone have ideas as to how metrics could be gleaned apart from testing? Seems to me the state (and its funding) want to frame teacher improvement within their own understandings of measurement.

If you could somehow assess another teaching aspect on a consistent basis, do you think that would help remove the otherwise normally applied incentive to good, hard work (salary or bonus compensation)?

I don’t mean to be rude, just curious as to your perspectives.
Categories Merit pay, Teachers and Teaching

This Made My Day

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2012 //
5

Yesterday I posted a comment by a reader who said that his teachers had saved his life and changed him for the better.

He thanked four of his teachers in the Chicago public schools and he named them.

One of the teachers he thanked just responded and thanked him!

How cool is that?

That is true psychic income!

That’s better than the shekels that the teacher might have been paid for raising test scores.

She changed his life.

Hey, Roland Fryer, what about that as an incentive to teach?

She made a difference.

When I ask myself why I spend so much time on this blog, I’ll remember this.

Categories Merit pay, Teachers and Teaching

Thanks to Teachers in Chicago for Saving Me

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2012 //
8

This reader writes about the teachers who changed his life:

I had four CPS public school teachers to thank for recognizing and nurturing my strengths in English, writing and creativity, in 7th through 10th grades: Miss Fox, Mrs. Langdon, Miss Schwartz and Mrs. Gordon.

Until middle school, I did not think I had any academic strengths. In part, this was because, in 4th grade, when my mom remarried, I gained a step-father who frequently referred to me as “dumb”. He often said that, in his estimation, I was just too stupid to be able to excel at school. He turned out to be an example of how wrong non-educators can be about students and learning.

Thanks to these great CPS teachers, I developed confidence in my abilities, was inspired to broaden my interests, and I graduated with straight A’s from high school and summa cum laude from college. I will be forever indebted to them for rekindling my love of learning, because in spite of my achievements, my step-father never did change his views about my capabilities and always found a way to downplay my academic success. Thank goodness I learned at an opportune time in my development that his opinion didn’t matter as much as the professional judgments of those who are skilled in learning and teaching.

Categories Chicago, Teachers and Teaching

What Is a Teacher’s Ethical Responsibiity?

By dianeravitch
August 5, 2012 //
14

Teachers and others have debated the post “Why Are Teachers Silent?” The post has generated more response than anything else I have posted, with (so far) 101 comments.

Clearly, many teachers feel keenly that they should speak up against the policies they know are wrong, the practices they know are harmful to children, but many are fearful. There is a climate of fear and intimidation that now pervades many schools and districts. There is a belief in the corporate reform world that top-down control and direction are necessary, and that those who disagree are troublemakers who must be silenced. And as I said in the original post, teachers need to put food on the table and pay their mortgage.

This teacher has wrestled with her sense of ethical and moral responsibility as a professional. She responded to another regular commenter on the blog, who goes by the sobriquet “Labor Lawyer”:

Labor Lawyer,
Thank you very much for making this clear.  As a tenured teacher, I feel very strongly that I must speak out.  Given the current atmosphere of administrative persecution of those who do so, I advise our bright, young, non-tenured teachers to take their counsel in private with those they trust.  I do feel that my speaking out is an ethical and moral imperative …… at least for myself. My problem is that I feel just as strongly about my perceived duty as a teacher of children to first do no harm.  This ususally means abstaining from implementing stupid reform policies pushed (very agressively) by my administration. When asked about my abstention by  my colleagues, I tell them that it is, for me, a matter of conscious.  I have often said publicly (and I believe) that I do NOT work for any administrator. Instead, I work for the people of my district as represented by the school board.  To my way of thinking, it is my moral and ethical obligation to teach the children of my district to the very best of my ability.  To fulfill this obligation, it is imperative that I ignore much of the foolishness that is modern school reform.  I must ask you (and will very much appreciate you expertise in this area), are my words and my perspective on this issue little more than bellicose rhetoric?  Legally, ethically, and morally, where do I stand in you evaluation?

Categories Education Reform, Teachers and Teaching

Another Strong Contender in Teacher Survivor

By dianeravitch
August 4, 2012 //
23

Who do you think should be required to teach? We are watching the entries in the teacher survivor contest, and here is another strong contender:

Im a fourth grade teacher in Texas.

My contestants would be George W. Bush, Rick Perry, my micro managing principal, Bill Gates, President Obama, M. Rhee, and Duncan. They would be assigned a fourth grade class in a so called low performing school. Living in the community on a teacher salary would be a must. Each contest would be responsable for getting their classroom ready and weekly lesson plans. Contestants would learn how they have narrowed the curriculum when 25 kids walk in that have no idea that Texas is our state not a country or how to write a complete sentence since their only focus in previous years has been reading and math, but they will take the Writing STAAR in March. Each contestant will have a variety of ELL, Sped, GT, RTI, and learning impaired students. Oh and dont forget students with behavioral and emotional issues. Contestants will have to differintiate their teaching for the above, on,and below level students. They must make note how they are doing this in their weekly lesson plans. After each benchmark the contestants with the lowest % of passing students will be placed in the middle of town to answer for their bad teaching and then fired. The contestants that make it past the first round will be required to tutor after school and on Saturdays for free. They will need to turn in lesson plans for this in addition to their weekly ones.
Categories Teachers and Teaching

Is This a Winner in Teacher Survivor Contest?

By dianeravitch
August 4, 2012 //
2

The contest: Nominate someone who should be a teacher and see what it is like. Here is a strong contender:

I would nominate my superintendent. He would have to teach according to his allotment of minutes per subject area that he sends out every September. The only problem with his schedule is that it allows no time for snack, transitioning between subjects/ specials, sharing, and sometimes just having fun (I should whisper that last word: fun left the curriculum years ago). I currently teach second grade. One kid coming in upset or eager to share the news of a new baby in the family can put the whole day’s schedule off. Children aren’t machines that can be turned on/ off when it suits our purposes. When did learning to be a human being leave the curriculum?

Categories Teachers and Teaching
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