Teacher Evaluation

This morning I was cleaning out my Google Reader. I often leave my education postings to the weekend, not wanting to burn myself out on education during the week (between 7am-5pm, and twitter postings, it can be a bit much). One post I found today (from Dan Meyer) was a link to a Washington Post article on teacher evaluation. Teacher evaluation is a huge topic of discussion, particularly because of the documentary Waiting for Superman. In a nutshell, the discussion post-WFS has dealt with "bad teachers" and how to get rid of them. That doesn't even go into where "good teachers" come from, or where the line of teachers to replace the bad teachers is. Alas I digress.

The Washington Post article was difficult to read. I cringed a few times as I was reading, particularly as the evaluation wrapped up. The teacher had adjusted to meet the needs of his kids, but it appeared from the article that his lesson was flawed from the get-go. There are many blanks, largely because it is a reporter, the evaluator, and the teacher. Evaluation is objective, which is what scares people. If you don't get along with someone then they might be prejudiced in their evaluation of the teacher. The article showed that the teacher cared about his kids, but didn't clearly show if his planning set him up for effective instruction. I wonder a little bit why he moved from showing the commutative process to place value. Wouldn't you already have an idea about place value issues through some pre-assessment? It seemed a little curious to me.

The article made me think about teacher evaluation in my district. Administrators have a pre and post evaluation meeting with you to accompany your observation. This goes along with a summative meeting at the end of the year. Administrators gather where your lesson fits in your instructional plan, why you are doing it, and how you'll instruct to meet the needs of your kids. If you alter your instruction you can discuss why you made that change, and what signalled why that change should be made. Is there a chance that bias or prejudice comes the process? Sure, we are human beings. Do I know if it happens? I can only speak for my own experience, which I judge to have been very fair thus far (so no, it has not happened to me or someone I know of). I also operate under the premise that I am going to be judged fairly, not worrying about the emotion tied to evaluation. There isn't an expectation that you are perfect, but you definitely need to know what you are doing. You need to be thinking about the evidence that will speak to the effectiveness of you instruction. But shouldn't you already be doing that?

We are in an objective profession. We aren't perfect.

Assessment and forms

Today we explored seeds. The exploration was fairly successful, as judged by the engagement and ability to reach the objective. I still struggle when it comes to evaluating student work though. Above is an example, and perhaps it is one of the pitfalls of the form. It doesn't lend itself to multiple entries. Clearly the form doesn't lend itself to much more than a few things in each box (fewer the further right you go). I should have gotten rid of it and made my own.

But does filling in boxes mean you've met the objective? Well they can identify characteristics accurately of the various seeds. Did each get multiple characteristics? Yeah, kinda. The bottom one was a sunflower seed. Black, white and tiny are good characteristics. What about oval, rough, bumpy, salty? I am left trying to figure out whether the quality is there, or if it is that I want to raise expectations of what can be done?

Telling Stories

An interesting story was told to me by someone in another teaching certificate program. It goes like this... The intern was crafting a science unit for their student teaching, all the while the master teacher was planning to get a science kit for that same student teaching quarter. Hmmm.. Seems like a lack of communication.

That leads me to another point, how do universities ensure that master teachers are good models for the pedagogy they promote? How can universities be sure that these teachers are solid communicators as well? What exactly are their mechanisms for following up? I wonder (out loud of course) if universities shouldn't be more involved in selecting these teachers, and ensuring that the relationship leads to the growth of solid pedagogy. How prevalent is lack of followup that I perceive?

In a perfect world... I would like to see universities having their field instructors, or the school principals watching a lesson with the intern. They can then point out what the teacher is doing, and how it is evidence of good pedagogy for the intern. Additionally they can then evaluate the teacher at the same time. Another idea would be to interview each master teacher. By and large they receive a small stipend... shouldn't you interview for said position? Those are my 2 cents, take them for what you will.

Are Kids Widgets?

I've been thinking about kids, schools, factories, and widgets. I believe all kids can achieve. Do they develop at the same rate? No. There are many factors influencing their development. Should we hold schools and teachers accountable? Yes. The big question for me is what do you tie that accountability to? Is a teacher a bad teacher if their kids don't do well on a standardized test? Some would say yes. Personally, I disagree, as students are not widgets.

Isn't testing just like the quality control testing in factories? What happens when factories find a widget that doesn't meet their standard? They toss it, or perhaps sell it for less as a damaged/flawed version (typical with appliances... think the ones with the small ding in the side). For schools? We tell the kids that they have failed, or are a failure, and go through stages of closing schools. This makes me think of the government closing a factory because it is polluting too much. In the case of schools, it is as though the government is saying that the schools are producing a bad product that harms the environment.

The challenge ahead is changing the climate surrounding education. We need to move away from thinking of students as widgets/ovens/vacuum cleaners/TVs/cars/candy. They can all achieve, but jumping over the same bar at the same time seems incredibly silly. Worse so is then taking out our anger on schools for this failure. Additionally, how can we change our perspective from one that is penal to one that is positive?

Midwinter Break with Google Reader!

We're on Midwinter break this week! The wife and I are off through Tuesday, then she heads back to her 2nd/3rd grade kiddos and I head back to the university. January and February are awful as far as consistency, an underestimated part of learning in my eyes. Every other week has a day off because of a holiday, day between semesters, or teacher training day. This week is great for the student teacher, as it is a chance to focus on the classwork and get a little rest Monday and Tuesday.

For me, this week is a good chance to run some more (92 miles instead of the 75/wk I have averaged), and a chance to catch up on my Google reader. As I mentioned earlier in the week, the blog posts to be read ballooned to over 100. How about now? Well, I am down to 9... they are the ones that I need to really invest time to read (Bridging Differences, Will Richardson, etc).

What has Google Reader taught me?

• There are lots of people writing about writing instruction.
• Facebook has lots of users. It could be seen as a tipping point in ed-tech. I wonder if ed tech will change because of what the capabilities of a site like Facebook, and not facebook itself (the "see how useful this is" type of thing). Makes me think of globalization... it can be really good, but can also be really scary and/or misused.
• Alfie Kohn isn't universally liked. The line that stuck was "wet streets cause rain."
• Track records aren't just used in corporate America... imagine being a teacher, or superintendent evaluated based on how your kids did? Should they?
• Student teachers worry about standards. Me? Not so much. I want solid teaching that has a purpose, and is linked to standards, but I know you can't focus on the standards.
• We should be sure not to take the Internet as fact... kinda like how kids think everything in the newspaper is true.

Broad Student Teaching Reflections

Student teaching is a bizarre netherland. You are a teacher, but you aren't. You are an observer, but you are an active participant. You enforce rules but don't set the rules of the game. You are constructing knowledge internally, but acting like an empty vessel to be filled externally. It isn't your place to give feedback, but you might have some to give based on your newfound learnings/understandings. Just some odd observations about the concept of student teaching.

The implications of the last of the points is interesting when extrapolated to peer-to-peer review in the salary ladder (something Washington is considering). I see the inequity of having teaching make the same at each tier: some are far better quality teachers than others, some do more work than others, but they all are compensated the same. But I am not so sure that moving to having peers review each other advances the field. Doesn't that create a popularity contest like prom king and queen? If I were reviewed by 3 peers, 1 of which I don't jive with, how can I be sure I am getting a fair review? Maybe it makes sense in a post-racial, post-political party future we have tried to enter, but I don't see it. I think the process discourages peer constructive feedback... ugh.