Common Ground Will Improve Teacher Quality and Student Achievement

I was encouraged to see Joel Klein's recent opinion piece ("What the School Reform Debate Misses About Teachers," Sunday, March 13, 2011) in the Washington Post.

While he ignored the proposals the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has advanced in the last 14 months (A Continuous Improvement Model for Teacher Evaluation and A Framework for Addressing Allegations of Teacher Wrongdoing) and the progress we have made to improve teacher quality, I believe we share some common ground with what Mr. Klein outlines.

The AFT has long focused on good teaching and the critical role it plays in student achievement. We differ with Mr. Klein and others on a very fundamental point: We believe you can't make a thorough and objective decision about a teacher's qualifications without a valid evaluation system. They believe those decisions can be made by the arbitrary and subjective judgment of administrators. In most school districts, teacher evaluations are done -- if they're done at all -- in an uneven way that fails on almost every level. The current evaluation process does not adequately distinguish good teaching from bad, and it does nothing to offer strategies to help improve teaching -- and, thereby, student learning. That's why, in January 2010, the AFT proposed an evaluation framework designed to replace the universally derided systems used currently, a framework focused on promoting consistent and continuous improvement.

We believe that no discussion of teacher quality can be legitimate if you're not willing to concede that a comprehensive teacher evaluation and development system is needed. It's the necessary underpinning of all discussions about how we determine who should or should not be in the classroom. Those who begin and end the discussion of teacher quality with tenure and "last in, first out" reveal only an interest in getting rid of some teachers, and not a commitment to improving all teachers.

If a comprehensive evaluation system -- one similar to the AFT's plan -- were in place all across the country, there would never again be a question of whether "seniority" or "tenure" could be used as a vehicle or excuse to mask incompetence. Tenure would be simply an acknowledgment that after meeting a probationary period, teachers have a right to be treated fairly before facing disciplinary action. And seniority would simply mean experience on the job -- something that is valued in all other professions. Based on the views expressed in his opinion piece, I believe Mr. Klein and the AFT may be able to find common ground on the issue of teacher evaluation.

Improving teaching quality also involves more than overhauling evaluation. Over the last two years, we have worked on innovative reforms to change compensation, promote collaboration and teamwork, turn around struggling schools, and fight for resources and services (similar to those offered at the Harlem Children's Zone) for kids who are economically disadvantaged. In school districts like New Haven, Conn.; Baltimore; Hillsborough County, Fla.; and Douglas County, Colo., our approach is beginning to transform schools and prepare children for the new knowledge economy they will compete in.

As a former teacher, I know how critical a good teacher is in the lives of students. I also know from experience that, at times, a teacher can't do it all. I've had success with students in the classroom and helped propel them forward. But I also have known real heartache when, despite trying everything, I couldn't find a way to reach a student.

If Mr. Klein and I can find common ground on using evaluation to help grow and develop good teachers, I hope we can go a step further and agree on other changes that will improve teacher quality and student achievement -- things like supporting teachers and giving them the tools they need to do their jobs; developing deep and robust curriculum that will challenge students and engage them in critical thinking and problem solving; and providing access to wraparound services like health care and tutoring to help children overcome the effects of poverty.

Mr. Klein and I share the goal of transforming our public schools to prepare our children for the knowledge economy. There is no time to waste in finding even more common ground.

 

Follow Randi Weingarten on Twitter: www.twitter.com/rweingarten

Comments

[ampizzo]

11:57 PM on 03/22/2011

The AFT statement is progress from prior positions, but continues to demand far more than is necessary to evaluate teachers and demand more than taxpayers can afford. Evaluation and development are both critical to any job function, but they are not to be mixed up:

http://schoolsteach.blogspot.com/2011/03/teaching-is-not-performance-art-teacher.html

If a baseball player has all of the best techniques his coaches teach, but yet still cannot get a hit, he is not an effective player. Likewise, everyone has room for improvement and will benefit most from focused development plans, but teacher evaluations need to focus on whether teachers, in fact, teach the students to whom they are assigned.

Imagine if you were a student in a class. According to the experts observing your teacher, he/she used all of the best practices on how to teach the subject you're studying. The thing is, you still don't understand the material. Was your teacher effective at teaching you? If you believe teaching is a performance art, then the answer is YES, your teacher performed brilliantly. However, if you believe that the intention of teaching is for students to learn, then you will have to admit that, despite best practices, in this case, the answer is NO, the teacher was not effective at teaching you.

[poeticjustice4all]

06:29 PM on 03/22/2011

I'm with Randi who believes "no discussion of teacher quality can be legitimate if you're not willing to concede that a comprehensive teacher evaluation and development system is needed."

[grammasher]

09:07 AM on 03/22/2011

If you want to improve education, the best thing to do is to reduce the size of our school. Many schools are bigger than the town I live in. If teachers, administrators, and students know each other better, they will work together more effectively to create a good educational environment. As long as we continue to warehouse our children in these huge schools, we will have a failing educational system.

[FalstaffsMind]

08:57 AM on 03/22/2011

The problem is teachers aren't the problem. If your car gets bad mileage, and you've spent years tuning it and checking the air pressure, you would naturally look elsewhere for a problem. Nobody seems to think of looking elsewhere when it comes to education. I want to see efforts to increase parental involvement in their children's education.

Some of the things my daughter's Fundamental school does come to mind...

Parental signature on all homework.
Require attendance at PTA meetings.
Parent signature on any test grade lower than a C.

Failure to do these things can result in demerits and more than 6 demerits in any one class can lead to probation, detention and finally dismissal.

I am convinced that if this was done district-wide, that the schools would improve.

[Pembrokelib]

09:11 AM on 03/22/2011

This system may work in a school where parents care about education and are willing to participate. However, in the schools which have serious
problems, primarily in disadvantaged neighborhoods, parents have neither
the time or the knowledge to become involved. There are exceptions, of
course, but non English speaking parents would have problems. Public
schools cannot dismiss students this easily, and private schools do not
Have to admit unruly or mentally challenged students.

[FalstaffsMind]

09:43 AM on 03/22/2011

I understand what you are saying about disadvantaged students, but I don't think they are helped by tolerance. They need the structure the most. My solution there would be to set up remedial schools with hard core discipline, uniforms and no school bus service for students that are dismissed. If we are going to improve our schools we need to quit bending over backwards and start getting tough. I am tired of watching teachers be the sacrificial lambs when bad parenting is to blame.

[Debater60660]

11:11 PM on 03/21/2011

I am guessing that Mr. Klein wouldn't charcterize himself as a supporter or arbitrary administrator judgment. I am also guessing that the administrators who evaluate would argue that there's nothing arbitrary about their judgments, that they are based on evidence gather from observation and that they are consistent with standards of good teaching practice.

It is nonetheless good to hear that AFT supports teacher evaluation and the goal of ensuring good teaching through continuous improvement. It's locals however are not universally supportive and some have done much to hamper efforts to install such systems, even system that most professional educators support -- like the Danielson framework, which our local AFT affiliate the Chicago Teachers Union, did much to interfere with after some initial support for it.

So good for you Ms. Weingarten -- now put your money where your locals mouths are and tell them to stop the interference and get on board with evalations that develop teachers while holding them accountable for student achievement.

[scmucas2001]

11:38 PM on 03/21/2011

While I don't think that administrator judgments are arbitrary, they are human. Humans are prone to bias and making mistakes from that bias. I have seen good teachers who have been reduced to tears by an administrator that disagrees on the concept of "best practices". There needs to be a better definition of what best practices are across the board so that teachers/administrators/students/parents/and anyone else who comes into a classroom can agree that those best practices are being followed and if they aren't, that everyone is doing all that they can to ensure that the teacher either gets with the program or gets replaced.

[saintjule]

10:52 PM on 03/21/2011

We have a real problem in this country of assuming that every child can be or wants to be a participant in the Knowledge based economy, itself a dead end and mind numbing concept. Some will be happy being cashiers or moving up to greeters at Wall Mart.Some will want to design homes and others just kitchens and some will want to build the homes and things. Those that choose to show others how this all works want to be teachers (i.e. do gooders). 99.9% discover the first year that they love it or hate it. those that are left should be cherished and held dearly. Let's define what the century will need for human beings and stop shipping all our sweat equity to China so we have things to do here. We have been the most creative culture in the world because we did not choose to replicate those oppressive societies like China. Let's not start now.

[Angie Sullivan]

08:30 PM on 03/21/2011

The other day I looked at a piece of art - it really moved me, brought me to tears, affected me deeply in a life changing way. I stood there looking at it and loving it. Shocked at how wonderful it was to see and experience such a thing.

15 minutes later some people walked by - I was excited to hear what they thought. They spewed hate. It was a waste of space, disgusting, vulgar, should be removed. One person walked past without even noticing.

I marveled that I could value this piece so much and then experience opinions so directly opposite my own. Worse, some didn't even NOTICE this piece of work.

Teachers are like art. It's hard to develop a fair evaluation system because not all teachers will be everyone's cup of tea. Even the well known "super-teacher" will have students, parents, and administrators who will think they are a waste of time - or worse yet, not notice them at all. Some things are art, hard to quantify.

[dudervision]

06:57 PM on 03/21/2011

Reading through the comments here, I find far too many focusing on how to "get rid of bad teachers". If assessment (evaluation) of K-12 students was run the same way, we'd be expelling all kids who didn't get high enough scores on their standardized tests instead of giving them remedial learning. As a former High School teacher, I am all for evaluating teachers and their methods. But, the purpose should be to find out who needs improvement and help them do that. AND, it also should be to discover who is doing a particularly good job and get them to help improve the system through their insight. We Americans are far to punitive in our methods of solving problems. We wait until something has gone wrong, then look for "somebody to blame". That works only the next time the problem happens again, but doesn't nothing to solve the problem.

[6p023E23]

07:29 PM on 03/21/2011

Students are not only the product they are also the customers of our public school.
you are suggesting get rid of the customer?

and about improvement? why should they be given a chance to improve at the expanse of the kids they are teaching....if a teacher is incompetent...she should be fired and can be rehired after she gets the credentials back......

Go and learn from Singapore, Malaysia and Korea about teachers quality. one more hint...there are no unions there. Bad teachers are fired....period.

[Angie Sullivan]

08:34 PM on 03/21/2011

Business can refuse service. No shirt, no shoes, no service. If you have no money, please exit stage right.

Public schools aren't allowed to refuse anyone. We can't fire a teacher based on students in a business type model - because students are not customers, they have a right to service even if they participate in no way at all.

[eceresa]

08:56 PM on 03/21/2011

Website for the National Union of the Teaching Profession Malaysia:
http://www.nutp.org/new/

Website for the Korean Teacher and Education Workers Union:
http://eng­lish.eduho­pe.net/

Website for the Singapore Teachers Union:
http://www­.stu.org.s­g/

And as you did before, you neglected to mention high-performing, highly-unionized Finland.

[eceresa]

05:49 PM on 03/21/2011

Randi Weingarten trying to find common ground with Joel Klein is like Barack Obama trying to find common ground with John Boehner. It's hard to find common ground when the other party doesn't believe in your right to exist. When you try to be the rational adult and the party you're trying to compromise with refuses to budge, you end up with a strategy of appeasement. That's not where the president should be, and it's not where the teachers' union should be.

[saintjule]

11:03 PM on 03/21/2011

YUP

[been2there]

05:43 PM on 03/21/2011

Every teacher I know is more than willing to be held accountable for what we control--knowing the material; having a coherent, age-appropriate lesson plan; designing appropriate reinforcement and practice activities; and a fair evaluation.
Teachers do not control who pays attention in class, who does the work, and who asks for help. We do not control who comes to school tired, hungry, distressed, or abused. We do not control who goes home to a quiet place to study and expectations that study will occur.
A good teacher evaluation framework is desperately needed, but no one should think that a good teacher guarantees good students, and no one should forget that it is students who must learn.

[Angie Sullivan]

08:36 PM on 03/21/2011

I love my students. If they aren't successful, I admit it could be me. MORE LIKELY it could be because:

1. Lack of prenatal care
2. Parent(s) took drugs or alcohol during conception or pregnancy
3. Lack of adequate basic needs being met - food, shelter, clothing, love
4. Lack of literacy stimulation - no books or reading material or educational discussions in the home
5. Lack of genetic ability - born with a chromosomal deficiency
6. Transiency - parents unable to stay in one location during school year or multiple school years
7. Abuse - emotional, psychological, or sexual
8. Racial or cultural influences - you have to respect a person's culture if it dictates that success in school is not a quality to own in their own personal view
9. Sexism/Sexual issues
10. Personality/motivation
11. Health problems
12. Accidental Impairment - car accidents etc.
13. Bullying
14. Lack of support at home
15. English is not the primary language spoken in the home
16. Not enough sleep
17. Not enough to eat - hunger
18. Children raising other siblings in the household
19. Children having to work
20. Parents not having the financial means to make sure children are supported in school
21. Parental/Family illiteracy
22. Gangs
23. Peer Pressure
24. Emotional problems
25. Behavioral problems/Fighting/Tantrums/Running Off
26. Learning disabilities/Autism/ Autistic Spectrum Disorders
27. Worried about events outside of the school ie divorce
28. Foster children
29. Latchkey kids
30. Talents lie in areas outside the general education

[andyc1110]

09:46 PM on 03/21/2011

Wow!

[Gem Mayers]

10:22 PM on 03/21/2011

But remember it's the teacher's fault and their responsibility to fix/provide all these 30 things... sigh.

[Gregory Gull]

05:24 PM on 03/21/2011

Until we change the focus of the conversation from teachers to the system of as a whole there can be no improvement of quality.

http://www.forprogressnotgrowth.com/2011/03/11/the-worker-is-not-the-problem/

http://www.forprogressnotgrowth.com/2011/02/10/better-thinking-leads-to-better-solutions/

[dudervision]

06:50 PM on 03/21/2011

Excellent comment, though I suggest we take this beyond schools to include the environment kids are raised in. A large percentage of what children learn, they get from sources other than school. Parents, friends, tv, video games, just the world they live in all have a direct effect on them and what they learn. We need to take a broader view and how we can leverage other parts of their experience to add to learning.

[Gregory Gull]

06:08 AM on 03/22/2011

Yes the system of education must not be examined in isolation of the socio-economic system within which it operates. The (reciprocal) interdependence between the economic system and the educational system cannot be ignored. (http://www.forprogressnotgrowth.com/2011/03/03/insights-from-the-impoverished/)

[alpina]

05:02 PM on 03/21/2011

Currently the system is gamed to make it harder and harder for excellent teachers to excel. It champions mediocrity and shelters those who do the greatest harm. It has placed commerce above education and the interests of teachers above children. We have perpetually lowered the bar on what we expect from our students, and teachers in order to keep patting ourselves on the back. Time for a brutally honest look at where we are and education is a failing enterprise in this country right now. I am not saying that is completely the fault of poor teachers, on the contrary. Politiicians need to start making hard choices that aren't politically expedient. Administrators have to stop looking at themselves as untouchable when it comes to budget trimming. Parents need to hold school boards accountable and take it upon themselves to discipline their child so as to not make it the teacher's job. And students...we must take away all the excuses we have provided them for failing and return the expectations to high.

[6p023E23]

06:51 PM on 03/21/2011

Unionized public school education, in spite of constantly increasing resources year over year has failed our kids.
Time to take a really hard look and use the stick on teachers performance and evaluation.
The crud must be purged.

[eceresa]

07:08 PM on 03/21/2011

...and yet non-unionized public school education does a worse job.

But still people put the blame on the unions.

[Gem Mayers]

10:20 PM on 03/21/2011

I totally agree with you...100% and I explore some of these ideas in my blog http://3rseduc.blogspot.com special interest groups, test and text publishers, and all non-educators need to stop being the decision makers. However, some "big businesses" do care...my husband works for a fortune 500 company that wonders, what is happening to this new workforce which is, well, lazy and simple-minded? Why has education dumbed down our children ,the future workers and leaders?

[6p023E23]

04:12 PM on 03/21/2011

In what profession you can say..."do not judge us by the products we make"

[daughterusmc]

05:07 PM on 03/21/2011

regardless of the quality of materials given? ( I am stealing this from another post).

[been2there]

05:43 PM on 03/21/2011

Teachers do not "make" the students--the students make themselves with the teachers' help.

[6p023E23]

06:32 PM on 03/21/2011

Wait a min: I thought that is what teachers claim.

[6p023E23]

04:06 PM on 03/21/2011

The big low hanging fruit / big bang for the buck to improve student performance is to BAN teachers unions for the next 10years.

[Ndhammer]

04:40 PM on 03/21/2011

If unions are the problem then why does Wisconsin have some of the highest achieving students in the country?

[been2there]

05:44 PM on 03/21/2011

And Mississippi and Misoura the lowest.

[eceresa]

05:50 PM on 03/21/2011

We've tried that in some states, and gotten close to it in others. Those are the states, for the most part, that are dragging our national averages DOWN, not up.

[changing]

02:25 PM on 03/21/2011

Randi,

Nice little post but is not about teachers or evaluations. It is about money and privatizing all our governments. Remember Wisconsin? Get off this evaluation kick and get out there with the real message about the hostile takevoer of our schools. Glad we have some real union leaders in our locals who do not waste time enabling the enemy.