Colorado Education Reform
[Guest post by DRJ]
The Colorado legislature is considering education reforms that would tie teacher evaluations and job status to how well their students do on state exams:
“The legislation would revolutionize teacher and principal evaluations in Colorado, basing 50 percent of their performance on supervisors’ reviews and the other half on student growth on standardized tests and other measures. It also would change the way teachers achieve tenure and make it easier for them to lose that job protection — a controversial move that attacks a core tenet held by the teachers union.
Opponents call the legislation an unfunded mandate that places too much financial burden on cash-strapped school districts. They fear it would create a school system where educators “teach to the test” to save their jobs and one where longtime teachers are picked off without due process.
Proponents, meanwhile, say the bill is a solution to some of Colorado’s worst education problems, that focusing on effective teaching is the best way to cut the achievement gap between the races, reduce the dropout rate and boost the number of students ready for college. They also believe it will help the state win $175 million in the federal Race to the Top education grant competition.
Education reformers are hailing the bill as one of the country’s most robust reforms, and federal officials are closely watching the legislation as a barometer in the national debate over education.
Only three states — Delaware, Illinois and Tennessee — have legislated similar reforms.”
I can understand the concerns on both sides. We need well-educated students but we don’t want to unfairly jeopardize jobs. But something needs to change, and if Delaware, Illinois, Tennessee, and Colorado want to try this, why not?
— DRJ
Why is every proposed reform denigrated by the accusation that it will cause “teaching to the test” (outside of the fact that it might require actual teaching)?
More and more, the teacher’s unions take on the appearance of the old Imperial Mandarins – courtiers with life-time sinecures whose only job is to show up, fill-in the background, and laugh at the Emperor’s jokes.
AD - RtR/OS! (fb87e7) — 4/25/2010 @ 3:57 pmYes, something must be done.
Unfortunately many of the standard tests are garbage with jingo-listic and impractical questions. My sister-in-law is a third grade teacher and the math tests are embarrassing arcane. They have to spend time trying to teach their students advanced reasoning just to have a chance on the “word problems”, never mind the basics.
She has students who have no idea what monetary change is so anything with coins is a problem.
I don’t know how the teachers who really care keep their sanity.
jeff (d629fd) — 4/25/2010 @ 4:16 pmUntil you give the students a reason to do well on the exams, judging teachers based on the results is extremely unfair.
gahrie (9d1bb3) — 4/25/2010 @ 5:26 pmI think the problem some teachers have with evaluations or hiring/firing decisions being based on test scores is that they feel that too much of the equation is out of their control.
If Johnny builds 100 birdhouses in a day, and Charlie only builds 90 birdhouses, we might say Johnny is the better birdhouse maker. Of course, this assumes that Johnny and Charlie have access to equivalent tools and materials. This luxury does not exist in education.
Teachers who have been around for a while can attest to the fact that student assignment is not random. In fact, it is often the case that students find themselves with largely the same group of peers in the same class, after the same class, after the same class.
If it happens to be the case that this is largely an above average group of kids, both academically and socially, you have the makings of a dream class. If the group is largely below average, you could be facing a long, long year. The class that has students who are equally spread across the spectrum of ability is so rare as to be virtually nonexistent.
Agreeing that students are not randomly assigned, and that almost all classes of students could be described as high quality or low quality, we might next turn to the method by which classes are assigned to teachers. Which teachers are fortunate enough to get the high quality groups of kids?
Most teachers would tell you that class assignments are not random either. If somebody in power to assign classes likes you, you are more likely to get “good” classes. This can be based on subject matter, such as senior vs freshman courses, and on behavior/performance.
Seniors are generally more well-behaved and focused. Unlike freshmen, they rarely feel the need to jump out of seats and run around the room. In addition, by senior year, some “problem” students have selected out of the education system. They are in an alternative setting, or have simply dropped out. Many seniors who messed around in earlier grades are highly motivated to get all of the credits they need to graduate. There are seniors who only need one class to graduate who sit through their other five classes not caring whether they pass or fail, but there are probably ten times as many who need to pass every single class with no margin for error.If one of your classes is a senior course, your job is much easier.
Having said that, the high and low groupings noted above mean that some senior classes will be better than others. The same holds true for freshman, sophomore, and junior level classes. It seems clear that some teachers are going to have much better chances for good test results than other teachers, due to things that are completely out of their control.
One of our administrators recently announced that department meetings should focus on what each teacher is doing in the classroom. If Johnny’s sophomore class scores 85 on the tests, and Charlie’s class scores 65, we should look at what Johnny is doing so that Charlie can get his scores up. The assumption is that one teacher is better than the other, that test scores reveal this disparity in teaching ability, and that Charlie should be fired before Johnny.
I suppose this is all well and good. However, how does this reconcile with Johnny’s other class of sophomores, who scored 45? Johnny is still Johnny. How could one of his classes possibly do so much worse than the other? Is Johnny a good teacher or a bad teacher? Maybe we should fire Johnny from second period but keep him around for fourth period? It seems more likely that test scores are more dependent on the particular group of students than it is on Johnny’s teaching skill.
Jay Dean (71cc5f) — 4/25/2010 @ 5:41 pmThe preview showed paragraph breaks. Sorry about that ungainly chunk.
Jay Dean (71cc5f) — 4/25/2010 @ 5:42 pmJay Dean,
It shows up with the spacing and paragraphs after you reload your browser, so everyone else sees it the way you formatted it. This is a quirk that is supposed to be fixed, but the repairs are taking much longer than we thought.
DRJ (09fa6c) — 4/25/2010 @ 5:58 pmProven time and time again the single biggest factor in secondary academic success is….drum roll please… the parents.
The kids at the top of the class invariably come from home where education is highly valued. Those parents will force the schools/teachers to change/improve the way their kids are taught when needed.
Frankly speaking I am not in favor of rating teachers on test scores. In fact I’ve seen little cause/effect data that connects test results with individual teachers.
I see the bigger reason for poor scores is the tenure system…why are teachers tenured anyway?
Certainly I am not tenured at my private company, I can be terminated at any time for poor results…I have no right to keep my job just because I’ve been at the company for “x” number of years so why do teachers?
I am not knocking what Colorado is doing but I don’t think it is going to achieve the results they are seeking but it may get them partway there.
I still think private school voucher is the best solution.
GoDad (6ed79d) — 4/25/2010 @ 9:08 pmAs a HS math teacher, I’m really OK with evaluating my performance on a number of criterion, including test scores. Jay is correct in that it’s very difficult to level the playing field in terms of the students you teach. I teach both Honors and non-Honors courses, and it’s freaking night and day.
The kids understand that there are next to no ramifications for them on these exams, and often refuse to take preparation for them seriously. We often have parents opt their AP students out of the exams so they can prepare for the AP tests instead, to the school’s detriment.
But what very few people want to address is the fact that students/parents aren’t held accountable for poor performance, or lack of preparedness. GoDad is right on in terms of where a major part of the success lies, the parents. Try dealing with a student that is a major classroom issue, and contact with the parent gets you, “I can’t get the to do anything either..”.
Too many parents too interested in being their kids BFF, and not their role model. They won’t discipline their kids, but God help me it I attempt to.
And to put this in perspective, I teach at a HS that is ranked in the top 5% of HS in the country. I wonder how teachers at low performing schools keep themselves sane.
I don’t need, and am not a big fan of tenure. But I do think there are a lot of teachers that need to do something else.
the bhead (a31060) — 4/25/2010 @ 10:04 pmWhat happened to my paragraph spacing?
the bhead (a31060) — 4/25/2010 @ 10:07 pmbhead,
It shows up with the spacing and paragraphs after you reload your browser, so everyone else sees it the way you formatted it.
DRJ (09fa6c) — 4/25/2010 @ 10:09 pmExperience shows that there is a model out there of success for schools for low-income, minority students. It involves much hard work, dedicated teachers, and high standards for the students’ academic achievement.
It’s easy to blame the students. There is even some truth to it. But the disadvantages can be overcome. It just takes work, from the teachers and the administrators. And you have to be prepared to dump the educrats theories into the circular file.
Well-established Unions are about protecting mediocrity among their memberships.
LarryD (feb78b) — 4/26/2010 @ 7:57 am