Teacher Effectiveness
http://widgeteffect.org/downloads/resources/WidgetEffect_Ohio_Aug09.pdf
Research for
The Widget Effect was conducted in collaboration with Akron Public Schools, Cincinnati Public Schools, and Toledo Public Schools. Statewide, The New Teacher Project surveyed 3,070 Ohio teachers, 186 administrators and examined over 7,000 evaluation records.
Key findings in surveyed districts include:
- Nearly 7 in 10 teachers believe that dismissing poorly performing non-probationary teachers is important for building a high-quality workforce.
- Nearly 6 in 10 administrators believe there are non-probationary teachers in their buildings who should be dismissed for poor performance.
- Virtually no non-probationary teachers in Akron and Toledo have received the lowest performance rating since 2005.
| Ohio teacher evaluation systems almost never assign the lowest ratings to non-probationary teachers. District | Superlative | Unacceptable | |||
| Akron
5 Rating System
|
60.1% Outstanding | 31.3%
Very Good
|
8.0%
Satisfactory
|
0.7%Improvement
Needed
|
0.0%
Unsatisfactory
|
| Cincinnati
4 Rating System
|
54.1% Distinguished | 33.0%Proficient/
Satisfactory
|
6.5%Not Proficient/
Basic
|
6.5% Unsatisfactory | |
| Toledo
2 Rating System
|
99.7%
Renew
|
0.3%
Non-Renew
|
|||
. Education majors are woefully lacking in academic skills.
. Textbooks used in schools of education advocate sheer nonsense. A passage in Enid Lee et al.s “Beyond Heroes and Holidays” reads: “We cannot afford to become so bogged down in grammar and spelling that we forget the whole story.
. Marilyn Burns’ text “About Teaching Mathematics” reads, “There is no place for requiring students to practice tedious calculations that are more efficiently and accurately done by using calculators.
. New Designs for Teaching and Learning,” by Dennis Adams and Mary Hamm, says: “content knowledge is not seen to be as important as possessing teaching skills and knowledge about the students being taught..
. Source: Schools of education teach sheer nonsense by Walter E. Williams. The Enquirer 1/29/12 F3
The 1/27/12 ENQUIRER EDITORIAL OPINION states “… the notion of a single grade covering all 113,000 Ohio public school teachers or 44,000 Kentucky teachers is almost meaningless.” They were referring to the just released National Council on Teacher Quality report. “Clearly, teachers are the hottest topic – in education reform right now. States including Ohio have had fierce debates about limiting their collective bargaining rights, holding them more accountable for student achievement, and revamping their compensation systems. The NCTQ report notes that states are putting more scrutiny on teacher evaluations, more are linking teacher raises and layoffs to performance rather than seniority, and some – like Idaho – are virtually ending tenure.
These are issues to watch, certain to be as controversial as the student testing debate that grew out of No Child Left Behind, or the evolution of information provided in the state school report cards.
But while that debates flares, there are a few less controversial, but equally important ways to boast teacher quality. (They include:)
. Spend more time recruiting high-quality candidates into the profession.
. Insist on consistent performance but also recruit for innovation, risk-taking and energy.
. Better prepare teachers for precisely where and whom they’ll teach.
. Identify effective teachers, reward them and empower them.”
Source: Grading teachers is no simple task Enquirer Editorial 1/27/12 A11
See Teacher Rating page on this weblog