Thursday, June 30, 2011

teacher evals

I'm quite convinced I've posted this before but can't find it.
For evaluating teacher it seems we only subscribe to two methods
1. View the teacher in action in one lesson for about 15 minutes, a snapshot of the entire year instead of a true picture. The lesson is methodically planned out, often with the observer, so it is contrived.
2. Base it all on biased memorize-or-else standardized tests that are again just a snapshot.

Throw in LIFO, last in first out (which I recount in my post titled something along the lines of pink slips) to the first method and, well, it doesn't matter too much if at all when you're tenured. But you're thrown to the wolves before that. The second method would not allow LIFO to prosper but could encourage corporate run factory schools where teachers and students are merely robotic cogs in a machine.

So how can we evaluate teachers? Here's some ideas and I'd like to see them all used.
1. Performance based metrics
2. Goals and objectives, measurable, that can change if situations arise
3. A partnership between teacher, other staff, parents, students where everyone knows the goals and objectives
4. A rubric created by all stakeholders with heavy teacher input, to evaluate the meeting of teacher professional standards. This rubric will be filled out by the teacher (self eval), administrator, fellow staff, and chosen by lottery, parents and students. Give it a few times a year so that a "bad day" doesn't spoil the batch.
5. Test scores, yeah the elephant in the room. I don't like standardized tests AT ALL but until they up and disappear, use them. (I'm for rubrics, projects, end of chapter tests, benchmarks by the way.) But don't say all students must be this good at this test by this date, that is ludicrous. Instead, pre and post-assess students to chart growth. Don't penalize the struggling 10th grader who is at a 5th grade level, praise him for starting the year out at a 2nd grade level and showing that much growth in such a short time. Praise the teacher and parents too.
6. Student performance, not standardized test based....as explained in # 5

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