For M6U4A3 the cohort was given the task of writing a blog post for teacher evaluations and to take two current systems and talk about them, then reference specifically what we’d desire to be evaluated on. I’ll cover The Ohio Public School System, and how it’s specifically executed in Toledo.
Ohio Public school systems requires each district to adhere to either a 50-50 Teacher Performance on Standards and Student Growth Measures or a 50-35-15 Teacher Performance on Standards, Student Growth Measures, and Alternate components. Each teacher is give a point value out of 600 and assigned a label of Accomplished, Skilled, Developing, or Ineffective.
The public school system in Toledo Ohio has implemented a system known as P.A.R. (Peer Assistance and Review) gives teachers the power to review other teachers, who then vote on keeping or dismissing them. The program mainly centers on first year teachers which are assigned a support consultant. This support consultant meets with these new teachers where they mentor, dispense advice, and assesses them both formally and informally on a wide number of things teachers should know and how they should act. After a year of this, the mentor goes before a panel of 5 teachers and 4 administrators and puts forth a case for or against the teacher they’ve been mentoring. After a vote the teacher is either retained or dismissed. This system also has an option for more experienced teachers to take on a mentor for professional development or in the case of learned bad habits.
I really prefer the Peer Assessment and Review model. Obviously new teachers need to be observed to make sure that they’re following proper protocol, teaching practices, proper interaction between the teacher and student, preparation, and content knowledge. What about older teachers? This may seem a bit of a stretch, older teachers? The question may be asked, “Haven’t older teachers already jumped through the hoops? “ Maybe, as a teacher outside the realm of “normal” (if a teacher could be attributed the word normal in any intent or purpose) I find myself guessing at a lot of what I should be doing and what I am currently doing. I’m currently working in a country where results don’t really play that big of a role. Initially when I got into this business in 2010(it’s 2017 as I’m writing this) I was given a phonics and course book and told to teach them. Seven years later there are days where I’m faced with issues that I’ve not yet learned to handle properly(I feel). Due to the aforementioned issue, one element I and new teachers should be judged on would be the formation of habits: specifically, 1.) Dealing with recalcitrant students 2.) Engaging students who “shut down” or who find 0 interest in the subject matter. There is also the matter of seeing a class slowly progress from normal classroom conversation to an out of hand classroom, where do teachers draw the line?
1.) (2011, October 14). Evaluating Teachers: Are Teacher Unions the Solution? Retrieved February 16, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk_5CxOKI3E
2.) Ohio Department of Education. (n.d.). Retrieved February 16, 2017, from http://education.ohio.gov/
strangeandwonderfulthings 