Caution: Unfair Teacher Evaluations on the Horizon

On Wednesday, June 21, Representative Tim Melton (D) introduced HB 4796 which deals with how teacher evaluations would be conducted in Michigan.  There are several problems with this legislation.  First, it is not based on sound principles that will show the effectiveness of  teachers, nor will it improve the quality of teachers by retaining the best and brightest individuals in the profession.  This legislation is aimed at getting rid of "ineffective" teachers by using a methodology of "gotcha" instead of trying to help teachers improve their practices.

Under this proposed legislation, teachers will be evaluated annually, with a mid-year "progress report" that rates a teacher as  "highly effective," "effective," "minimally effective," or "ineffective".  Beginning in 2013-2014 school year, this annual evaluation will consist of  25% of the teacher's evaluation being based on student growth data.  This amount increases to 40% in the 2014-2015, and then to 50% for the 2015-2016 school year.

What IS student growth data?  According to this document, it is either the state test (MEAP, MME) or for subjects not tested on these assessments, it is a locally developed assessment.

One very troubling section of this proposed legislation is the section that deals with the available student growth data.  It states that student growth data should be available for at least three years, but if there isn't data available, then the evaluation will just be based on the data available for that teacher.  What this means is that if you are a brand new teacher, you won't have data available for you for three years, so they will just use your first year data.  The next year they will use your first and second year, and if you make it to the third year, then they will have their three years of data on you.  Using student growth data to evaluate a teacher after only one year is not fair or objective.  Nearly half of teachers leave the profession during the first five years.  Is this policy going to make retention any better?  Doubtful.

I guess the larger question here is why are legislators putting so much emphasis on student growth data?  As of last year, there were 21 states where districts used student test data as part of teacher evaluations.  The testing craze began with NCLB legislation, but really kicked in when President Obama made it a requirement for states applying for the Race to the Top funding.  Michigan changed the law about teacher evaluations hoping to get the funding, which we didn't.  Now, we need to figure out how we are going to conduct the annual evaluations.  HB 4796 is not the answer.

Since the NCLB legislation, there has been plenty of data collected around the country from districts using student test data.  One such example is Dade County, Florida.  In a study of the data from 2000-2005,only 33% of teachers who ranked in the top 20%, stayed there the following year..  The same effect was found on the opposite end of the scale.  Teachers who ranked in the bottom one year, did not the following year.  This data points to some of the problems with relying on student test data to evaluate teachers:  it isn't reliable information.  The Department of Education conducted a study that shows that even when three years of data are collected, one in four teachers will be mis-ranked because of the unreliability of the data.  

The really scary part of all of this is the percentage of student growth data being proposed.  By 2015-2016, this legislation proposes to use 50% of student growth data in a teacher's evaluation!  In Washington D.C. last year, 150 teachers were fired based on their performance.  In Washington D.C., they use 50% of student test data in their teacher evaluations.  Therefore, teachers were fired in Washington D.C. after being evaluated using unreliable information.  We should not be placing so much emphasis on student test data.  If student test data is to be used, I believe it should not count as more than 20% of the total evaluation.  Other more important factors should be considered.  Number one on that list should be  classroom observations and feedback from an administrator.  

Finally, everyone wants to have excellent teachers and excellent schools.  There is no argument about that.  Michigan legislators need to listen to the people who are in the front lines every day, not listen to people who are out of touch with the realities of teaching.  There is information available about using testing data to evaluate teachers.  It just needs to be considered before passing "reforms" that will not strengthen our educational system.

Sources:
1.  "House Bill 4796 (2011)." www.legislature.mi.gov.
2.  Bialik, Carl. "Needs Improvement: Where Teacher Report Cards Fall Short." WSJ.com. 21 Aug. 2010.

Can Gov. Snyder Save Detroit Public Schools?

Today Governor Snyder unveiled his plan for failing schools in the Detroit Public School system.  This announcement was made with the Emergency Financial Manager for DPS, Roy Roberts.  Snyder is looking at the bottom five percent of schools in Detroit and created a new "authority" he calls the Education Achievement System (EAS) to take control of forty-five failing schools in Detroit.  This acronym is funny to me because when my husband worked in retail, he had an EAS system in his store.  This system alerted security when shoppers try to leave the store without paying.  Maybe an EAS system is exactly what DPS needs? 

Snyder's plan involves using Eastern Michigan University as a resource to help train teachers who need it, and it also relies on "philanthropic" investment by members of the business community to offer scholarships and job training to Detroit students. He also promises a balanced budget for DPS in five years.

Is this what will "fix" DPS?  I doubt it.  What I would really like to know is how much the appointees (11 of them) will make being on the EAS Board?  Can I get on that board because I'm pretty sure that those people will make more than  I do.  And, I bet the people the governor appoints don't currently work in DPS or are familiar at all with its unique problems.  The board is going to give administrators in these failing schools more authority to hire and fire teachers (quickly), so the state may be looking at some lawsuits from fired teachers.  Maybe Snyder is really banking on the anti-teacher tenure laws going through so he won't have to worry about that one?  One thing's for sure, I would not want to be a teacher in one of those failing schools right now.

I predict that in five years DPS will have a balanced budget, but test scores and graduation rates will not have improved much.  The one thing that Snyder is really missing is dealing with the violence and poverty in Detroit.  No EAS Board is going to solve that...

Beginning of Summer

Yesterday marked the beginning of another summer vacation for me.  I have been a public school teacher for nearly 15 years, and the end of the school year is highly-anticipated by me as well as my students.  This year was no exception. 

Some people feel jealous when I talk about having my summers off.  What these people fail to realize is that summer vacation is necessary for teachers and students to rest, process, and gear up for the next school year.  I truly do not have three months off because I will spend the summer doing quite a bit of reading.  Yes, some of it will be for my own pleasure, but often I read new material or material that I haven';t read in several years in preparation for the next year.   I also will work on curriculum writing.  This seems to be a never-ending process because of changes sent down to us by the state.  Sometimes I even take college classes to renew my certification.  Thankfully, I don't need to do that this summer!

If you feel a twinge of jealousy because I don't have to get up and go to work tomorrow, please keep in mind that most of my work is compressed into nine or ten months and that I need to decompress in order to be at my best at the beginning of next year.

I will be posting some of my musings here throughout the summer.  Many polarizing events have been taking place around the country regarding education recently.  I feel the need to express my thoughts about some of the situations facing teachers in the near future, so stay tuned!