Policy 2.0: Teacher Fellows Blog : Tags : senator

As professionals, teachers want to be involved in conversations about education reform, whether at the federal, state, or local level. Unfortunately, the opportunities for engagement are often limited or even non-existent. As a Hope Street Group Teacher Fellow, I am presented opportunities to be part of policy conversations and even help facilitate them for other teachers. In an effort to connect teachers with policymakers, Hope Street Group hosted a webinar with Delaware’s U.S. Senator Chris Coons. This experience was exciting. I was able to research current education issues within my state, help promote the event to my colleagues, and pose thoughtful questions for the Senator to answer.

As a group, the other Delaware Teacher Fellows and I began with research into educational topics that are held dear to the Senator and we also researched topics of which we would like to inform the Senator. For instance, I researched Delaware’s Race to the Top grant to determine what had been promised with regards to teacher evaluation. This exercise was wonderful. I read more deeply into the grant because of this focus and I was therefore better able to formulate questions and to generate conversations – not just with the Senator, but also with my fellow educators.

According to the Race to the Top grant application, Delaware will have an evaluation system that takes into account student growth. Although we have always considered student growth, measuring that growth will now be critical to a teacher’s rating. Student growth will be measured in three components. The first will be determined according to success on the state test for Reading or Math. In the second component, teachers will select a cohort, or group of students and a portion of the teacher’s evaluation will be based upon the growth of this cohort as measured by the state assessment. In the third component, student growth will be measured through both external and internal assessments. The external measures, standards based evaluations, are currently being approved by the Department of Education. The internal measures are being developed by educators from various districts across the state. These internal measures will be used by teachers to measure other areas of growth that are not assessed on the state test.

Another interesting aspect of the webinar was posting questions to be asked of the Senator. At the same time, I could read other questions that had been posted and I could vote on them. Through voting, questions would rise in priority and teachers had a voice in the questions eventually asked of the Senator.

Overall the webinar was a success. Teachers were able to connect to a policymaker, Senator Coons, in a way that made him accessible across distances. As a Teacher Fellow, I was able to learn more about what was happening in my state through research and through reading questions that my fellow teachers were asking. This experience has helped me grow and to understand relationships that can be built between teachers and policymakers.

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As a Hope Street Group Teacher Fellow, I was able to help facilitate a webinar with my state’s U.S. Senator, Chris Coons, where we were able to discuss the issues that are most crucial in the minds of Delaware’s educators. Teachers initially registered questions, comments, and voted on their importance, then subsequently, chatted with the Senator through Hope Street Group’s website. The top issue brought forth was tied directly to the teacher evaluation system that the Dept. of Education and Delaware teachers are developing, to meet the requirements of Delaware’s Race to the Top grant.

The Senator was quick to note his understanding of the anxieties that come with this systemic metamorphosis and his desire to help allay those concerns as best he can. For the people working on the teacher evaluation system, one of the most difficult issues is the development of tying student growth assessments to teachers’ of non-tested subjects evaluations. The Senator seemed well-aware of this difficulty and stated that: 1. teachers need to be participants in the development process and 2. an effective amount time should be provided to develop, test, understand, and implement student growth assessments in a thorough and thoughtful way. He stated that this process could take years and that the consequences of student growth assessments should not label teachers as “failures”, nor have “negative career consequences” for them.

An interesting point Coons made while answering concerns about instruction and high-stakes testing, was that teachers should be given more flexibility in their instruction. While sharing the fact that his mother was also a teacher, Coons stated that the only way to inspire teachers and retain great teachers is to provide them with flexibility in their instruction. This also gives teachers the respect they deserve as professionals.

Being a co-sponsor of the Family Engagement in Education (FEE) Act, Senator Coons hailed teachers’ questions and concerns about the strong link between parent involvement and student growth. As a result of this Act, he is working to obtain funding for such needs as: developing Parent Information Resource Centers (PIRC) and providing guidance and incentives to schools, districts, and states on how to use research-based strategies to engage families. For more information, see his news release.

All-in-all the webinar was very informative to teachers and I hope it was to the Senator as well. I invite you, reader, to view a recording of the Senator’s webinar here and check back for further news at Hope Street Group and Senator Coons webpage.