March 22, 2016
“This is an enormous paradigm shift from the traditional way we’ve done
school. We’re still learning
and there are bumps along the road. But it’s been extraordinarily
positive so far.”
Superintendent
Tom Boasberg (“DPS to
expand teacher leadership program,” Chalkbeat
Colorado, 2/9/16)
|
Teacher
Leadership & Collaboration Model
# of
schools with Team Leads keeps growing
|
|
|
2013-14
|
14
|
|
2014-15
|
40
|
|
2015-16
|
72
|
|
2016-17
|
110 (projection)
|
It is not, I hope, a sign of the Apocalypse—to learn that the largest
school district in Colorado has adopted policies around teacher evaluation and
support that address concerns raised in Another
View, over several years, about Senate Bill 191, the Educator Effectiveness
law: AV#62, #68, #74B, #84, #113 (see page 4).
I, for one, applaud Denver Public Schools for deciding that we do a
better job of supporting teachers by peer review than by expecting principals
to “evaluate” 40-50 members of the faculty.
If my criticism and warnings now seem justified, for at least one school district, I take no pride in this. All I ever said was based on my experience,
especially of the benefits of colleagues, not administrators, observing my
classes and talking with me about what was and was not working well. If DPS wants to call this change “innovative,”
fine. I simply note it is similar to
what I witnessed in two private schools in the 1970’s and 1980’s. The point is: this development deserves our
attention.
The
state of teaching in Colorado – shortage, turnover, frustration
First, stepping back a bit–the big picture. Stories and reports this
year continue to raise alarms about the state of the teaching profession in
Colorado—and across the country. In our
state we hear of the teacher shortage as “crisis” in rural communities; fewer
grads earning a teaching degree from Colorado universities; fewer applications
for Teach for America; and the on-going challenge of how best to recruit and
keep teachers of color. Here in Douglas
County, we read of Ponderosa High students protesting the high turnover of
their teachers. One reason they leave, students
gather, is the district’s teacher evaluation policy. Courtney Smith, president of the Douglas County
Federation, points to this as a cause as well the higher turnover across the
district, telling The Denver Post
that “… teacher morale has never been lower. She counts the teacher evaluation
system — which she said was mostly about ‘uploading evidence’ rather than true
assessment of teaching skills — among the chief problems” (http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29615913/douglas-county-students-walk-out-protest-teacher-turnover).
Implied in all this is the larger question as to whether state (and
federal) teacher evaluation policies designed to improve learning has had the
unexpected (or was it?) result of burdening teachers—and principals—in ways
that actually do more damage than good. In particular, due to its impact on (both a
principal and a teacher’s) time—and that key intangible: trust. (Did SB 191 aim to judge, or to support?)
Two of the most influential voices in the country on teacher evaluation
suggest they also see ways in which the effort might have been—and still could
be—implemented in ways more helpful to teachers.
|
When we focus on
ratings, how much do teachers—and students—benefit?
We learn that in
Jefferson County in 2014-15, 98% were rated effective or highly effective.
Which says what—exactly? Is that what we wanted SB 191 to do?
|
Vicki
Phillips recently stepped down after eight years heading education grant-making
at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Under her leadership, the Gates Foundation
played a significant role in seeing 33 states with “teacher evaluation systems based
on the (Foundation’s) “Measures of Effective Teaching Practices” (MET) (https://www.edsurge.com/news/2015-10-27-vicki-phillips-to-leave-gates-foundation).
Asked about the foundation’s biggest successes and
missteps during her tenure, she answered:
"One of the things I am most proud of in
this job is the way we have worked to put teachers in the center of
everything….” That said, Phillips said the foundation does have a bit of a mea
culpa when it comes to teacher evaluation. “In the best of all worlds,
everyone would have loved it if [the MET study] had come out in time to inform
all the changes and policies around teacher evaluation, so people didn't jump too
quickly and overemphasize one component over another.... And as that happened and other things
happened, people would think the Gates Foundation is only about evaluation of
teachers, when we were, all along, about meaningful
improvement and actionable feedback.” (Bold mine) (http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/2015/10/gates_vicki_phillips_announces.html)
U.S. Secretary of Education John King – and formerly
Commissioner of Education in New York, where he saw the battle lines drawn on teacher
evaluation–went a step further in his remarks this past January:
Rethink
Teacher-Evaluation Systems if They're Not Working, John King Says - by Alyson Klein
The Every Student
Succeeds Act presents states, districts, and educators with a chance for a
"fresh start" and "much needed do-over" on the very testy
issue of teacher evaluation through student outcomes, acting U.S. Secretary of
Education John King said at a town hall meeting for teachers ….
|
What
educators say of the old paradigm
|
|
“Administrators who already wear
several hats find themselves trying to carve out more time to observe
teachers in the classroom and score them against the CDE's rubric for teaching
practices. ‘Now we've got to be in the
classroom a lot more and actually help teachers, coach the teachers in how
they can provide the quality instruction we want,’ said Centennial
Superintendent Brian Crowther. ‘So right now, that's the overwhelming
piece.’" http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_24847810/districts-roll-out-new-colorado-teacher-evaluations-during
|
|
Nicole Veltze, the principal of North
High, said that the new role (of teacher leaders) was helping. “As a
principal, having to manage 70 teachers is unrealistic if I’m really trying
to improve their practice. It’s done a lot to create ownership for
professional learning and built relationships among teachers.”
|
"I'll start by
being frank, if maybe also obvious, and say this conversation hasn't always
gone well. A discussion that began with
shared interests and shared values—the importance of learning and growth for
all our children—ended up with a lot of teachers feeling attacked and blamed.
Teachers were not always adequately engaged by policymakers in the development
of new systems. And when they disagreed with evaluation systems, it appeared to
pit them against those who they cherished most—their students. That was no one's
desire." He said states should be
prepared to rethink their evaluation systems if they're not really helping
teachers get better. (http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2016/01/john_king_if_teacher_evaluatio.html?cmp=eml-enl-eu-news3) (Bold mine)
The rethinking done by DPS—focusing on feedback and
support for teachers, by the men and women who teach in their buildings, often in their subject—might be exactly
what King hopes to see.
Team
Leads in DPS
“Support
support support” for 6-7 colleagues
Superintendent Tom Boasberg has been a
persuasive advocate for this change—in part due to his understanding of
leadership. In January 2014 he told The Denver Post: “So long as schools are
structured where one principal is responsible for coaching, supporting and
evaluating 30 or 40 people, any system in the world is not going to work” (http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_24847810/districts-roll-out-new-colorado-teacher-evaluations-during). In September 2015 he told an A Plus Denver
audience that, in a “knowledge intensive” workplace, “this model is broken…. In
other sectors we see managers develop six to seven people.”
Which is exactly what Denver Public Schools asks its Team Leads to do,
thereby getting at my fundamental problem with SB 191 as I understood the bill:
expecting principals to spend a much greater percentage of their time observing
and evaluating their teachers, when – in my experience – school leaders often
have little expertise in good classroom instruction, while the school itself
has a host of teachers better suited to helping their colleagues grow.
Denver’s Teacher Leadership program began in 2013-14. Now in its third year, there
are nearly 250 Team Leads in more than 70 DPS schools. They stay classroom teachers half of the
time, “and the rest of the day (are) coaching,
engaging in planning sessions and providing feedback for a small team of
educators”—usually six to seven teachers (http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_25129131/denver-public-schools-expands-teacher-leadership-program). Laney Shaler, Associate Director for New
Educator Development at DPS, anticipates 2016-17 will see another huge growth: about
400 Team Leads in 110 schools.
Boasberg’s goal is to have Team Leads in every district school by the
fall of 2018.
|
“Both
teachers and principals say teacher-leaders, who teach some classes while
taking on additional responsibilities, offer support to and play a bridging
role between administrators and teachers. ‘It’s not always easy to go to the
principal or assistant principals, so I like that I’ve been able to take on
that role. I can really stand up for what teachers need so students can
achieve and be successful,’ said Mandy Israel, a high school history teacher
who is in her second year as a team lead—one of the new hybrid roles for
teachers—at Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy." http://co.chalkbeat.org/2015/02/09/dps-to-expand-teacher-leadership-program/#.VuHdAZwrLIU
|
In this new structure in DPS, principals are still ultimately
responsible for the evaluation of the teaching staff in a way that fulfills the
goals of the Education Effectiveness legislation. They still observe
classrooms. But, as Shaler puts it, the
Team Leads are the ones giving teachers “on a weekly basis … high quality
feedback and support.”
In the process, this change also advances two goals:
1) develops leadership skills in these teacher-leaders, perhaps encouraging
them to become school leaders themselves; while at the same time 2) allows
exceptional teachers who want to keep
teaching—but who are also eager to share what they have learned in their
teaching career and support colleagues, especially those in their first few
years in the classroom—another avenue to grow, without taking them out of the classroom
altogether.
It addresses another
key goal: higher retention. Shaler is deeply troubled to see over 25% of Denver teachers leave after 1-2 years. Today, less than half of DPS teachers, she
says, have been in the district over five years. She hopes more effective
support in these first few years DPS can significantly improve teacher
retention. Absolutely critical, I am
sure you will agree. Schools want to
hire and invest in terrific young teachers who will find the job do-able and
fulfilling—and stay a while. I love what
Jim Shelton, former Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of
Education, told a Hot Lunch crowd this past January regarding the time we spend
on teacher evaluation: “Support support
support needs to be the focus.”
Posting/Defining
an Impossible Job Description (and we wonder why they can’t succeed?)
This is
more than an academic matter; what we ask our principals to do, and not do,
reveals a lot about our understanding of how good schools work. I close with a
pointed comment on Aurora’s failed efforts to improve Aurora Central High. Spring 2013: APS hires a new principal for
ACHS. Spring 2015: APS hires a new principal. Spring 2016: any guess? Yes, APS plans to hire again, and posts a job
description* where we see, among the principal’s “duties and responsibilities,”
at a school with close to 90 teachers:
-“Hire,
supervise, and evaluate all staff.” (Estimated to involve 14% of his/her time.)
-“SUPERVISION/TECHNICAL
RESPONSIBILITY: Directly supervises all school
personnel; may delegate some supervisory responsibilities to Administrative
Team. … Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring and training employees; … planning, assigning and directing work; appraising performance….” (Bold mine)
*Job
Title: Principal - See more at: http://cojobs.chalkbeat.org/jobs/principal-aurora-central-high-school/#sthash.GyZMOP17.dpuf
Concerns
expressed in past newsletters—Principal as chief evaluator? Why not more peer
review?
|
From AV#62 – So “teacher evaluation” is broken – but is it worth
fixing? - Dec 12, 2009
|
|
Besides, how many principals have taught our grade, our
subject, and really know the dynamics of this
particular eighth grade group we are struggling with as well as our
colleagues do, those men and women teaching many or all of the same
kids? It is natural, then, that we
turn to our fellow teachers for advice and affirmation, not to the too-busy
principal who lives in another part of the campus or building, and in
reality, who inhabits a different world.
And I would never fault the principal for being in that
different place! It’s the world of major disciplinary issues and unhappy
parents, of budgets, hiring, fire drills—and countless personnel issues that
don’t even begin to touch on good instruction. Along with guiding the school towards its
larger goals, fulfilling its mission… no, I do not expect my principal to
have a good handle on what is and is not working well in my classes. But several of my colleagues do.
… In six years (teaching in two private schools) no school
head ever visited my classes. It
was tremendously helpful, though, to have the academic dean come in and
observe—Jack was still teaching, he had twenty years of teaching experience
on me, and we had co-taught an AP English class together. It was equally valuable to have Donna, the
chair of the English Department, visit and take notes. It felt less like a judgment by an outsider
and more like a much appreciated review by a friend. I looked forward to the conversations that
followed. I taught WITH these people every day, on one level we were peers,
and I knew they understood the challenge of engaging the group of students
they saw in the room that morning.
Yes, let’s explore the possibilities of peer review.
|
|
From
AV#68 – A skeptic on SB 191 takes a closer look - Sept. 26, 2010
|
|
Principals as chief
evaluator? I hope not. Allow flexibility on who does the evaluation.
Legislation that expects the current generation of
administrators—who often found their way to these positions in spite of their
lack of “instructional leadership”—to suddenly be trained well enough to
offer sound evaluations is unrealistic.
I suppose in a perfect world, where principals and school leaders have
a rare insight into good classroom management and teaching techniques across
a wide range of grades – K-5 in many schools, K-8 in some, 9-12 in most high
schools (and just consider the diversity of classroom subjects a principal
might be asked to “evaluate”—physics and Shakespeare, calculus and studio
art, economics and band, technology and dance)–well, if such folks exist, God
Bless them and more power to them. But
for mere mortals it’s probably not going to happen.
|
|
From
AV#113 – Uncomfortable Questions -
May 7, 2014
|
|
Many acknowledge that a large percentage of
principals were not hired to be, first and foremost, instructional leaders,
and that—prior to the passage of SB 191—many were not well trained in how
best to evaluate teachers. Do teachers
believe their principals are now well prepared to handle the evaluations?
What concerns do they express about the capacity of their school leaders to
handle this more substantial (and potentially high-stakes) role regarding
these evaluations?
|
|
In some professions employees are evaluated by a
senior colleague who has similar responsibilities. Do teachers compare how they are evaluated
by people in positions who do not
do their jobs—often principals who do not
teach—with how people in other professions are evaluated, and feel the
evaluation system in education is placed in the wrong hands?
|
|
If teachers could determine who would be the men and
women whose evaluations and recommendations for improvement would be most
meaningful to them, who would it be, and why?
(Colleagues, department chairs, peers from other schools teaching the
same age/subject?) Are those people
conducting the evaluations today? Does
SB 191 allow the flexibility so that those who can be most helpful to a
teacher in terms of improving instruction are conducting the evaluations?
|
