As teachers we are constantly assessing our students to ensure that they are being successful. We want our students to be given the best education so they can succeed in the future. Their best education starts with great educators and we know that there are fantastic educators out there; many of you are reading this. President Obama made a recent speech in Wisconsin stating that we need to give our students the best education so they can get degrees and work successfully in the job world. What can schools do to provide students the best education? To start we can make sure that the best educators are in the classroom. I think this is where we can start making some changes. I want you to think about how you as a teacher are evaluated. Currently in my teaching position I am evaluated once a year by my principal. After he observes one of my lessons we discuss what my strengths and weaknesses are and what needs to be improved. That right there in a nut shell is how my performance is evaluated. Once in awhile my principal pokes his head in and looks over my lessons plans when I email them weekly. In your opinion is this enough to evaluate a teacher’s performance? If we were grading our students, would one assessment be enough? Are you evaluated differently? Do you think schools are doing enough to evaluate their teacher’s performance?
In the article it discusses the current “firewall” that does not allow student’s test scores to measure teacher performance. Some propose that this changes. Wisconsin is possibility going to get rid of the current firewall and use test scores in the future to grade teacher’s performance. What are your thoughts on this? I think this could be a small component to use as a teacher evaluation. Do you think I’m totally crazy thinking this? I understand that a class can be very unique but some tests (MAP for example) shows growth for each student as individuals. Again, I think this should be a small way to evaluate a teacher. If a teacher’s students are continuously not showing progress on assessments wouldn’t that show something about the teacher? In Wisconsin, if test scores are eventually used to evaluate teacher’s performance it is guaranteed that teachers cannot receive suspension or terminations from their job from these results. I believe it would take more than test scores for that type of action.
More about Wisconsin’s decision to use test scores is included in this article. Some Chicago schools may also be starting to evaluate their teachers by student’s progress. This new move is being supported by Obama’s administration and has very mixed feelings. What are yours?
Why restructure? Does it really do anything?
15 years ago
Trista--You've certainly found a hot topic in the profession of teaching with an enormous amount of controversy not only in the general public, but also among teachers themselves!
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm not sure that I could suppport teacher evaluations being "based" off of the state-mandated tests, I certainly could justify making this one component of a system that really should include more than the single pillar of which teachers are currently evaluated on--an observation made by the principal.
What I think will be especially interesting to watch unfold will be the sequence that follows Wisconsin's lead in going in this direction! Will all other states eventually follow suit? Will Wisconsin prove to be happy with this movement or abandon it?
Thanks for the thoughts!
Mindy, I agree with you that teachers evaluations cannot be the primary teacher evaluation but I think it would be ok if it was a small portion of it. Thanks for your comment.
ReplyDeleteI personally would love to be evaluated. I want to do my very best for students and if I am weak in areas, I want to know. I had my supervisor pop in for a surprise visit last week and I asked her to give me any feedback. I want my program to be the best and if she has seen something that needs to be changed or could be made better, I want to change. I do not understand how this could be a problem for teachers.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see that teachers who are outstanding in their field get more recognition for the jobs that they do.
This is a very big issue in my school right now. I think teachers should be evaluated on the job they are doing. I would love for my principal to give me constructive criticism on what I can improve in the classroom. The only way you grow as a teacher is to continue learning. If a teacher is not up to standard then they need to change themselves or find a new profession. I have found that many teachers go above and beyond while others just skate by. If we are not giving our students our best then we are not doing our jobs. I think those who whine about it need to get over it.
ReplyDeleteGood article.
I don't give tests as a technology teacher so this mold would not exactly fit my situation. The same goes for music, art, home ec, and a slew of other subjects. I feel the problem is that using test scores does not lend its self to a level form of evaluation. Teachers would end up being held to a different bar depending on the subject they teach. I feel that this is an issue of having equality of evaluation criteria.
ReplyDelete