I sat at my dining room table this morning, finishing up a crossword, before moving on to what’s new in education news.
Budget cuts, great numbers of teachers leaving the profession, and frustrating class sizes are creating an education dilemma. An edulemma, if you will.
In an effort to view the current situation from all perspectives, I donned my alter ego, William P. Levitt, and found that solutions to our educational situation are within reach.
By Mark
Of my seniors, some may graduate, some may become a statistic.
Of the total FTE in my building, some may have jobs next year, some may be RIF'd.
Of the courses on the master schedule, some classes may be scratched, some may be cobbled together.
I may decide to stay in the classroom. So much depends.
All of these this-or-thats will be decided in May. How appropriate.
By Mark
For several years, my building has been identifying and aligning curriculum to standards–first state standards and now Common Core Standards–with part of this process being the identification of the Power Standards! each unit of instruction is to focus upon.
Simultaneously, we are gearing up for a new teacher evaluation system which figures heavily on a teacher's ability to define what his/her students' learning targets are and assess and document student progress toward those targets.
To an extent, both have been an uneasy fit for me as a high school English teacher. It is not so much in the philosophies underpinning these movements. It is that no one that I talk to seems to understand what I've started calling "The English Problem."
By Mark
Everyone has probably heard about, or actually read, the New York Times website article that discussed the supposed downward spiral of teacher morale. It highlighted how teachers working in struggling schools had the lowest morale, and the teachers with greater satisfaction tended to have "more opportunities for professional development, more time to prepare their lessons and greater parental involvement in their schools."
Travis recently shared his one cent about how morale can easily crumble in our present atmosphere. Tamara shared some thought provoking questions, too. And Tom found himself indigo and then entered stage five.
In my meetings and phone calls and emails and faxes (yep, faxes) with legislators the last few weeks, I've found myself repeating the phrase that I feel like I have "a target on my back and the blame for all society's ills on my shoulders." In quiet moments in the car or after my kids are in bed, I too have thought about what other jobs I could apply for.
But the next day, I walk into my classroom, close the door on it all, turn to face them and breathe a sigh of relief.
By Travis
As I turned on my classroom lights this morning, I saw an envelope, sitting, in the middle of the floor. It was out of place. I paused as I picked it up, wondering. Someone had slipped the envelope under my door late last night (I left school at 6 pm) or the did so early this morning (I arrived at 7 am).
The note was from a former student. As I read, I was torn between the emotional beauty of being a teacher, and the sad reality of how Washington State views its teachers. I believe this is a feeling many teachers have had recently.
Today was the culmination of a decision I made sparked by authoring this post, titled "What to do when you need someone to tell you what to do." If you click back to that post, I lined out eight levels of involvement as an advocate for the education profession, and basically posed the question: "how do we move ourselves to the next step in advocating for students, teachers, and the profession as a whole?" Realizing that I needed to practice what I preached, I made the decision to participate in the February 20th WEA-NBCT political action day.
I realized that I was hovering in the lower levels, having occasionally crested as high as level six. Never, before today at least, had I set foot in any offices in Olympia to meet with senators or representatives. Before I reflect on my meetings, I have three simple take-aways from today:
1. This was way easier than I thought it would be.
2. This was easy because we have a system in Washington that seeks to amplify teacher voice.
3. You can do this, too. (See take-away #1.)
By Mark
Teacher evaluation is back on the radar. Senate Bill 5895 is due to be heard by the House Education Committee on February 16th (CSTP has produced a summary for quick review, but the whole bill is linked above).
One of the sticking points for me–of which there often many in any policy–has to do with the provision that at least three of the eight dimensions on which I am to be evaluated must be supported with student growth data.
There's that d-word again.
Luckily, I found language in the bill clarifying "student growth data":
By Travis
The school of the future will not be housed on a cloud, or a floating pod. The school of the future will not have whole sides of buildings made out of windows, nor will students sit, discussing great works of literature through their hand-held discussion devices.
No, the school of the future is more real.
It IS attainable.
It IS possible.
The school if the future will have No Tardies, No Failing Students, and No Homework. The school of the future is only a few years away.
Each spring the uncertainties of student enrollment, teacher transfers or retirement, and funding make budgetary predictions difficult.
To remain financially sound some districts send out pink slips to the newest teachers. In no way is this ideal. These teachers face uncertainty about their employment future. Some of the district’s best teachers, who happen to be new hires, may not have their contracts renewed.
New legislation, yet to be introduced, may change how districts respond to RIFs. Instead of RIFs base on level of experience they may be based on a teacher’s evaluation relative to other teachers.
This bill, I assume, is in response to schools being unable to retain effective teachers when they are forced to lay off staff.
In 2009-2010, 3% of Washington’s teachers were given RIF notices. 87% of those teachers were recalled. Evidence does not suggest that the best and brightest young teachers are losing out to ineffective veterans.
Still, this idea is compelling. Shouldn’t the best teachers be the last ones to be laid off? Yes. If only it were that simple.
Distinguishing between the best and the worst teacher in a school may not be that difficult. But it is much more difficult to distinguish between the second and the third worst (one may keep their job while the other may not).
New evaluation systems are expected to have different criteria for novice and experienced teachers. Is a good novice teacher more effective than an average experienced teacher? Who wins in this RIF race a teacher with five years of solid student growth and one recent year of poor growth or the second year teacher with two years of average growth?
What are the recall rights for a RIFed teacher?
When the art program is cut can somebody determine the relative effectiveness between a high school and elementary art teacher?
The idea, keeping the best, is elegant. Implementing this idea? Not so much. Since relatively few new teachers actually lose positions this law is unlikely to result in an improved teaching force.
I'd like to see lawmakers put their efforts elsewhere. If lawmakers want to address the problems related to RIFs they should fulfill their paramount duty and fully fund education. And they should allow local school districts the time and space to implement the new evaluation criteria. Many stakeholders came together to put this evaluation model in place. Rolling out this system will be challenging. Rolling out this system while simultaneously addressing the complexities of a new model for RIFs seems unwise. But I'm no lawmaker…
By Rob
Some time ago I was struggling to set up procedures during my literacy instruction. I was attempting to meet with a guided reading group while the reminder of my class was engaged independently in a meaningful activity. For some students the “independent” activity was a too challenging and they needed support. For other students it was too easy and they were finishing early. Other students had difficulty remaining on task and caused disruptions. These are the challenges of a novice teacher.
All things considered I was doing pretty well but I knew it could be done better. But I wasn’t sure how. I was building the boat as I was crossing the ocean.
I spoke with some other teachers and we shared the same struggles. After I confided in my principal I found this “struggle” reflected in my evaluation. Prior to that evaluators found little to criticize. I regretted opening up my practice.