Teacher Evaluation: An Impossible Fantasy?

Nationwide, there is a push for teacher evaluations to be based on student test data. There are any number of analogies that can be drawn to illustrate why this doesn't make sense. For example, are dentists held accountable for patients who don't brush their teeth at home? Or who can't afford a toothbrush? Or who don't even go to the dentist regularly? I generally don't like analogies, but if they get people to think about the issue, then fine.

So even though I don't really agree with the analogy, I do agree that teacher evaluations should not be based largely on student test data. Unless it is a REALLY good test. Maybe the tests that come out to evaluate the Common Core will be really good. But I doubt it. Have we had a really good standardized test ever in the history of education? I don't think so.

The other part of the teacher evaluation is typically an observation by a principal. This also does not fairly evaluate teachers.

My husband works in the "business world" and his supervisor is in charge of four people who do basically the same work but slightly different aspects or accounts or whatever. In schools, you might have one principal per 500 students and 30 teachers, spanning multiple content areas and grade-level curricula. Or more! How is that one person going to effectively evaluate all of those teachers in addition to the myriad other responsibilities they have? Obviously, they can't.

Luckily, teachers are trained to reflect on their practice often. Luckily, most teachers want to evaluate themselves. Luckily, most teachers want to improve each year and be as effective as possible. I mean, we got into this job to help students learn and grow. There are so many negatives and obstacles in this profession that a teacher's sense of fulfillment comes almost exclusively from connecting with students and helping them learn and grow. So that's what we're going to do, no matter what the government mandates.

Of course there are the few teachers who have lost that passion and hate their jobs. Those are the people who should be forced out of the classroom.

The teachers who want to do well but just aren't very good at teaching yet should be given effective feedback and training in order to become better teachers. But if the only feedback a teacher gets is from a once a year or once every three years, 45-minute "observation," then those teachers can't actually get any help from that. And a single composite score or even a few disaggregated scores from a standardized test does not help that teacher improve. In my next post, I will address effective professional development.

First of all, there should be a rubric of some kind that defines a teacher's job. (Wow! I can't imagine that one. Has anyone ever properly defined what a teacher is responsible for? Will this rubric include basically all aspects of parenting in addition to academics?) Teachers needs to know everything that is expected of them. How can we require teachers to assess students this way and then not assess teachers the same way?

So, assuming this job description and rubric exists,
How do we effectively evaluate teachers? With multiple sources of data:

1. Classroom observations with pre- and post- conferences: Not just a single isolated observation but a sustained relationship throughout the year so that the evaluator knows what really goes on both during class and during planning and assessment. 
2. Standardized assessments for students: The tests must have proven validity and reliability. They must be narrow enough in scope to measure what is really supposed to be taught in that specific class, not just content but also skills demonstrations. And they should be aligned throughout the grade levels. 
3. Student surveys: The students know what goes on in the classroom. Ask them.
4. Parent surveys: The parents are our customers. They should be satisfied.
5. Self-evaluation: This should not just be piled on top of all the other responsibilities teachers have. This should be something that the teacher is given additional compensation for and should happen at the end of the school year when their other responsibilities are over. Teachers should be able to evaluate themselves according to that hypothetical perfect rubric and set legitimate goals.
6. Past student surveys: We all know that a teacher's influence goes well beyond one year with their students. If you really want to know how good a teacher is, ask the students who had him/her in the past about how the teacher influenced them.

And how do we afford that? I don't know. But until someone figures it out, teachers won't be adequately evaluated.

A Peek Inside My Classroom

I'm very fortunate to have small classes. And in my experience, it makes all the difference.

Not to get too political here, but in the last presidential election, Mitt Romney was harshly criticized for claiming class size doesn't matter. And while that assertion is supported by some research, it's not exactly what he said. He said class size doesn't matter as much as teacher quality. And that's an important distinction.

If you give a bad teacher a small class, it won't make a difference. But if you give a good teacher a small class, it can have amazing results.

My district has committed to Scholastic's READ 180 program and they support it well. My freshman class is limited to 15-ish students. (This year it was 17, but 12-14 is really ideal.) And I have them for two class periods. During that time, they basically have four 20-minute activities. There is a whole group lesson, a small group lesson, an individualized computer lesson, and independent silent reading.

(I don't follow the READ 180 program perfectly. My students are more advanced than what the program was designed for. My district uses READ 180 in the middle school, also, so by the time they get to me, they are only a couple of years behind. I created a hybrid of our district's English 9 curriculum and the READ 180 program.)

Absolutely the most successful part of class is the small group time. I can go so much more in-depth with students and really figure out their strengths and struggles when I'm only working with 4-6 of them at a time. I get a full 20 minutes every single day with each small group of students! Until you get the opportunity, you can't fathom how valuable that is!

Instead of teaching a few lessons and then having a test over something, here's what teaching looks like in my class. I teach a lesson during whole-group time. Then, I get to help students practice the skill or concept in a small group setting. I can get real-time information about how well they understand it, rather than having to wait until a quiz or test. And I can give immediate feedback to students so they can revise their thinking and try again right away. And by the time we get to the test, I know they are all ready for it. I could never do that with 30 students in a class!

And it's certainly not for nothing. My students average at least two years worth of growth on standardized reading tests each year. And they are able to truly master things, instead of just retaining them for one unit and cramming for the exam.

So for a good teacher who knows how to maximize the opportunity to have small class sizes, it can make all the difference!