Greetings All,
My apologies for being MIA this past week. I'm on holiday with the extended family on Lake Superior, and the usual internet connection from atop the lighthouse is down due to maintenance (not that I'm really complaining, as it takes me back to the days when we had not internet, tv, or radio up here, and had to be truly creative in our endeavors).
As a former teacher with Chicago Public Schools, who also spent some time with an elite suburban school outside of Boston as a student teacher, and several urban and suburban schools in Denver as a long-term sub, I think it's crucial to add to the definition of "policy" the importance of implementation. Too often, especially in large urban systems where very few citizens of means are around to act as checks and balances for their child's education, policies are simply announced, parachuted in, and then largely ignored - if not in their intirety, then simply as a hollow shell wrapped in meaningless paperwork that says something is being done when it likely isn't. Because so few parents with the ability to analyze and speak up about such situations are around within large impoverished systems, they carry on.
Within Chicago, I was analyzed once or twice a year during my first two years in a large neighborhood high school, then maybe once a year during the next three. There was never a pre-observation conference, and maybe three times there was a post-observation conference. I was observed for maybe twenty minutes each time by a principal or vice-principal. There were four columns for grades - I think they were "unsatisfactory, satisfactory, good, and excellent." (it's been a three years so I may not be exact on that). I'll never forget when a VP gave me all "good" in every category halfway through my second year - even in the "personal dress" category. I'd worn an oxford shirt and tie every day for a year and a half (even on Fridays!) and shared this fact with her. Her response - "Oh, we never give out excellents to anyone who hasn't put in three years." The next year, the new principal gave me almost all excellents across the board during his observation.
This inconsistency makes me also think about the two teachers in the building who were detriments to children yet almost impossible to fire due to the union. One was an alcoholic and one, I'm almost convinced, a child molestor in the making (three children came to me asking for assistance following incidents with him). I have no doubt that each of these teachers had terrible evaluations. I also know for a fact that the union backed them to the hilt every time a move was made to terminate them. Folllowing one inquiry, a principal asked me, "Ross, we've got 60 grand to spare this year - do you want me to spend it on lawyers fees to get rid of this guy, or on the new (and only) computer lab?"
So partly due to the union, partly due to a lack of funds, and partly due to an evaluation system that lacked a consistent message, teacher evaluation within the Chicago school I worked was a bit of a joke. The policy was never really implemented in a manner true to its intention.
I found out a year after I left that the alcoholic was finally terminated - but only after a student's parent who was a nurse appeared for a special education meeting and announced her diagnosis that he was under the influence when all sat down at the table. The sad fact is the timely appearance of mothers like this are often rare in general neighborhood schools in large urban districts. Government may be required to play the role of absent parent. This will require resources and thoughtful implementation that suburban, rural, and private schools simply don't require.
That said, how might teachers unions be brought in line with the development and implementation of strong policy within urban settings? I'm intrigued by Toledo, where each year a board that is composed of both administrators and teachers convenes to review recommendations for teacher termination. The head of the board alternates each year between the assistant superintendent and the union president, and the boards decision is binding. Each year, about five teachers are terminated, and about five more resign rather than face the board. This gives the idea of teacher evaluation teeth, supplies a check and balance, while also professionalizing the teaching profession by having teachers involved in the upkeep of their own ranks, much like lawyers and doctors upkeep theirs.
Finally, on the content and implementation side, I think it's important to suplly students with a voice in teacher evaluation. When placed next to other voices, I think that students possess the ability to reveal much about teacher performance, if done so through a well constructed survey.This would add a critical perspective, and also perhaps free the government from dispatching its own agents to fill gaps in urban schools.
