By Tom

Washington State will not be applying for a waiver next month from the regulations of No Child Left Behind. As I’m sure you’ve heard, The Obama Administration has responded to the inevitable collision between reality and NCLB by offering waivers to those states who agree to certain school reform measures.

Although Washington isn’t among the first seventeen to apply for a waiver, they’re keeping their options open by declaring their intent to do so early next year.

The main problem for Washington is that the Federal Administration’s school reform measures don’t seem to match ours. Specifically, we don’t have a teacher evaluation system that uses student test scores. We don’t have anything like that right now, and the new evaluation system – currently being piloted – doesn’t have it either. According to last summer’s report on the pilot, they’ve appointed a task force to look into using student achievement scores, but that’s it.

It doesn’t seem to me like there’s any point in even applying for a waiver. We have the “wrong” evaluation system, our new system will still be wrong, and there’s nothing else in the works.

Meanwhile, most of our kids aren’t passing the math test, a lot of them aren’t passing the reading test, and 2014, the point in time in which everyone has to pass everything, is fast approaching.

What to do? It looks like our only hope is a new ESEA bill; one without the ridiculous demand that every child everywhere performs at grade level.

Not so fast. Senator Tom Harkin, in his draft of the new bill, calls for teacher evaluation based on student test scores, and since there’s no question about which way the Administration is leaning, we’d essentially have the same problem we have now.

 Personally, I’m not in favor of using student test scores to evaluate teachers. I think there are too many issues involving validity, reliability and fairness. That seems to be the prevailing view among educators in this state; a state that by and large is functioning pretty well.

So here we are, faced with the fact that our brand new teacher evaluation system isn’t good enough for the feds. Should we change it?  Adding a requirement that we use student test scores?  Or should we sit tight and hope the feds somehow change their minds?

It doesn't really look like we have much choice.

By Mark

In the last few days, it seems I've received easily a dozen Outlook meeting requests–those convenient little emails which, once clicked the right way, immediately update your calendar and thereby run your life.

Lately, though, every single time I hovered over the "accept" button, I was greeted by another dialog box warning me about this new appointment: "Conflicts with another appointment on your calendar."

Microsoft Outlook is trying to tell me something.

I think it is trying to tell me I need to start "declining" meeting requests. I wish the dialog box were more direct: "Say no."

So, I sat down and made a list of my school-related obligations not directly related to the teaching of my classes.

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By Mark

Assuming no ugly run-ins with Occupy Portland protesters, a number of my fellow teachers from Clark County will be finishing the Portland Marathon this weekend.

My seniors will be finishing their own marathon in a few short months. The finish line, that stage at graduation, is at the end of a run that is strenuous and filled with hills, potholes, and the occasional broken shoelace.

As I struggle to give meaningful feedback on the piles of student writing which keep appearing on my desk, it is growing more and more apparent that we are truly nearing the end of the race. Or perhaps, rather than using the metaphor in terms of distance (since in a real marathon, the distance runners travel is the constant) I ought to consider it in terms of time, since in education, time is the constant and distance is the variable.

In the asphalt marathon, when the runners start they are generally all bunched together. Sure, there are the ones in front who have arrived with preparation, tools and training, good nutrition and certainly some natural talents and dispositions that lend themselves to success in such a grueling race. These ones immediately take off, widening the gap within seconds. 

Then there are those toward the back–perhaps the hobby runners, less rigorously trained, perhaps less physically sound, but running nonetheless. 

Take a snapshot in the first five seconds, and the distance from the front of the pack to the back of the pack is not all that great.

Come back in two hours, though, and take a picture.

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By Kristin

In the spirit of keeping our energy on the issues and not parties or people, I want to say right up front that I'm not intending this to be a forum for endorsing either candidate for governor.  I hope we can keep the conversation focused on schools and what schools need from Olympia right now.  I'm opening this topic up because  Rob McKenna has a clear plan for education in Washington State and Jay Inslee does not.  Frankly, that concerns me.  I think they need to hear from us.

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Note: Debra Howell, a recent inductee to the Teacher Hall of Fame, authored this guest blog.

This past June I experienced something that I wish all teachers could feel about being an educator.  Along with four other educators from across the United States (South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Indiana) I was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame (NTHF). Being chosen was and continues to be something I am profoundly proud of.

 The NTHF celebrated their 20^th year of inductions. The five days I spent there will always remain some of my proudest days of being an educator. The town, the citizens, the university, the board members…everyone we met treated us like royalty! My family as well was treated with the utmost respect and honor. No matter where they went they were given extra special treatment. Imagine that, family members of teachers being treated like royalty? Why shouldn’t that be the norm?

Everywhere the five of us traveled we were treated with honor and pride because we were teachers. One of the most unique activities we participated in was a large community band evening concert that played in the center of the town in a huge park. There were over 600 people that convened to come and celebrate teaching! People were in line to get free root beer floats while the Santé Fe railroad came steaming by the edge of the park blasting its horns. It was spectacular! It was a bit like being in Mayberry RFD! After they introduced us to the crowd we received such a rousing applause and standing ovation that I was really taken aback. As we walked through the crowd the many comments I heard were, “thank you for teaching our kids” and “we are so proud of you teachers”. It was then that I realized we were not there just to represent ourselves, our school and our community. No, we were being honored as teachers that represent ALL educators across the country.

The city of Emporia is so proud to host the National Teacher Hall of Fame and the induction activities and ceremony. I truly appreciated the respect and honor they showed for ALL teachers…  I have NEVER been prouder to be an educator! I left Kansas with a renewed sense of pride in my chosen profession. I have a heightened sense of the importance of working with kids and being a positive contributor to our society. I hope to carry that into the remaining years and help spread that sense of pride.

In light of all the teacher cuts, decrease in pay, larger class size, and fewer support staff to help us…I am still left with the feeling that the greater community DOES still value teachers. They do believe we are making a difference. They do respect us. There is a sense of honor for educators.

If you would like to find out more about the National Teacher Hall of Fame check out their web site at www.nthf.org. You must have 20 or more years of teaching experience in order to be nominated. The forms and additional nomination details are available there. Think about nominating someone you think is deserving of this honor.

Debra Rose Howell, NBCT

Monte Cristo Elementary 4-5-6 Multiage Teacher  Granite Falls SD

By Rob

For many years the school where I teach has housed a Family Connection Center (FCC).  When a student doesn’t have a coat for the winter or supplies for school I contact the FCC and these items get distributed to students.  The FCC also refers families to community resources provided by civic organizations, for-profit companies, non-profit groups, faith based groups, and organizations like the YMCA, United Way.

I’m grateful for the community resources provided by these non-profit and public agencies.  But even with the help of the FCC many families don’t qualify for services.  Some families can’t arrange reliable transportation outside the neighborhood.  Other families are unavailable during service hours.  Consequently, many of the community’s most valuable resources go underutilized.

Schools have long recognized the importance social and human services.  In communities where these services are lacking the schools suffer.  This was realized by Geoffery Canada.  It led to his establishment of the Harlem Children’s Zone, a non-profit organization that provides family, social, and health service programs.  The brilliance of Geoffery Canada’s Harlem Children’s Zone is it brought the services of a supporting community to a convenient but underused site: school.

A Federal grant from the Dept. of Health and Human Services has helped expand a similar program called “Wrap-Around Services” to the school where I teach.  The program is a partnership between the city (which leverages resources), the school district (which provides the facilities), and the United Way (which provides support for early childhood learning programs).   Using schools as the delivery site, this program coordinates resources and aligns the efforts of organizations providing health services, human services, and recreation activities.

Once, the Family Connection Center directed families to outside organizations.  Now, the Wrap-Around Service brings outside organizations to school.  A dental van provides teeth cleaning to students.  Before school child care is offered.  Families can receive food, clothing, furniture, emergency rent assistance or help to keep the lights on.  There are partnerships with KidsQuest, Drama Kids, Mad Science, Boys and Girls Club, YMCA, and others to provide meaningful and engaging after school activities at the school site for students and families.

While I’m not an active participant in this program I can see more community engagement at my school.  I’m seeing families a little more often.  I’m excited about the possibilities.  It benefits children, families, and communities.  If it takes a village to raise a child then it’s wise to bring the village’s resources closer to school.  This is one of the best ideas I’ve seen.

By Tamara

Last week I was notified of my acceptance to participate in the Washington State Policy Symposium discussing Teacher/Principal Evaluation and the Common Core Standards. Then I came across this article in the New York Times describing a teacher evaluation system with promising results in New Haven. The article describes a protocol that “holds teachers accountable without crushing morale and wrongfully dismissing teachers.” It goes on to detail how the New Haven system gives teachers regular, actionable feedback and provides support for those who are struggling.

I have been thinking a lot about teacher evaluation over the last year. Especially since the current system in my district rates the vast majority of us as “satisfactory”. Oh yay. That tells me what? I want an evaluation system that offers me usable feedback so I can improve my craft and grow professionally. I want an evaluation system that offers genuine support to new and struggling teachers so they can build confidence and improve or, if not, be counseled in pursuing a different career path. Such a system would make me feel that my efforts are worth something.

Now there are many aspects of teacher evaluation systems that jerk chains. Like how to include student progress and by what measure.  What about the potential for abusive administrators to have it “out” for certain teachers. All valid concerns.

Personally, I think student progress is non-negotiable. Since it is supposed to be the ultimate result of what we do, it absolutely must be a (not the) factor in our evaluation. After all, if the NBPTS can ask us to demonstrate student learning of stated objectives in every entry, shouldn’t our evaluators? On the subject of evaluators: Just as our evaluation should entail multiple and varied measures, so should our evaluators be multiple and varied. I would like to see my evaluation team consist of my principal, a master teacher or instructional coach, and a fellow teacher who teaches a similar subject and grade. And I would expect each of them to observe me multiple times through the year. Spreading evaluation out this way provides a check on those who could potentially abuse power.

There are plenty of other hot points such as tying evaluations to merit pay or promotions I don’t care to get into now (but will likely address in a future post). No teacher/principal evaluation system is going to be perfect. But I want to see an evaluation system that acknowledges I am an individual with strengths and areas to improve rather than just one more indistinguishable face in a “satisfactory” herd.

By Tom

Wednesday night found me attending my son’s curriculum night. He’s in middle school now, so they had us following our child’s schedule, changing rooms every 10 minutes. As I hustled around the campus, I couldn’t help but notice that the rooms seemed mostly empty, a far cry from the last two years in which we attended the same curriculum night at the same middle school for our older son. Those rooms were packed.

I was trying to figure this out when it suddenly dawned on me my wife pointed out that our older son was in the honors program and our younger son wasn’t. Now, it could be that honors kids have more curious parents. Perhaps. But it’s far more likely that they have parents who care enough about education that they’ll take 90 minutes out of a Wednesday night to find out what their children will be learning in school and how they can help them learn it. And it’s far more likely that these parents have been just as involved since their children were in kindergarten – maybe even earlier – and it was this level of involvement that produced these honors-level middle schoolers in the first place.

I was all set to include this information during my own curriculum presentation the following night. I was going to tell them what a difference it would make for them to take an active role in their child’s education. I was optimistic about the turnout; I had sent home written reminders every night for three weeks and talked it up in class every day, so I was sure the room would be full.

Fifteen people showed up, representing just under half of my 29 students.

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By Tracey

When I first saw the headline in the Seattle Times What's the Matter with Teachers Today?, I prepared myself for more teacher bashing.  I was relieved to find an article seeking to provide a historical perspective on the teaching profession, and how American society has perceived it over the years.  From the mid 1800's, when we were more concerned about shaping our youth into moral citizens than skilled workers, to today, when we expect everyone to go to college, Linda Shaw sheds just a little light on how we've come to where we are today — holding teachers' feet to the fire and raking them over the coals.  She even quotes our very own, Tom, and Jeanne Harmon, from CSTP.

While I won't say that the article solves any problems, or settles any arguments, I felt a little better after reading it.  It's reaffirming in the same way that when Ferris Bueller's sister goes home to catch her brother getting away with skipping school and she opens up his bedroom door to discover his fake snoring soundtrack hooked up to a pulley operated mannequin and screams, "I KNEW IT!"  

Knowing this doesn't change anything for me, nor did it for Jennifer Grey's character in the movie.  Maybe it will help others understand just a little more about the teaching profession and the pressures we face.  Towards the end of the article, Shaw alludes to just one more pressure teachers must deal with, poverty.  Yes, it would be nice if people took our profession more seriously; but honestly, I'd much rather see us take poverty more seriously, and not treat it as just another challenge teachers have to work with.  If we're truly serious about competing academically internationally, then we would end poverty today.