Evaluation

Los Angeles to Develop Value-Added Teacher Evaluations

Connie Llannos

 http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2010/11/11/mct_cateachereval.html

                Los Angeles is launching a method to evaluate teachers based on the performance of their students.  The district has hired two consultants who were paid 4.5 million dollars to study and develop ways to evaluate teachers. The other consultant was hired to design guidelines and best practices for the teachers.  The union of Los Angeles is very critical of this plan and states that it is unfair and there are flaws in this plan.  However President Obama supports their effort to design an evaluation system for teachers.  Judith Peres states that the district needs to identify effective teaching practices and share with administrators and teachers throughout the district.  The district has two contracts that are paid by federal funds for professional development.  This money is not to be for programs and to hire back teacher.  The first contract is for New England based Teaching and Learning Solution for 3 million dollars to create teaching best practices and clear expectations and meet guideline to follow.  The other is to create value-added scores for its teachers termed in academic growth overtime.

                All these programs are well and good.  We are spending money for professional development for the wrong people.  What about the people who have an impact on the students on a daily basis?  Why can’t we facilitate that money into developing programs that will meet the needs of the students so that they can grow academically?  Why can’t we have programs where the teachers are trained to facilitate in the classroom?  That’s what I call professional development.  It seems to me that so much money is being spent on outside help to make a change for the teachers and how they are value.  True I think there should be some accountability?  However, if what we are teaching is not working?  How we are teaching is not working?  Then train the teachers who work in the classroom.  As a principal I would want to look at training the teachers to meet the needs of the students.  I think all stakeholders, principals, superintendents, and teachers need to be train on the same information so that they can know what the common goal is and thus produce the final outcome which is to educate our students.

New Technology

November 2010 | Volume 68 | Number 3
Closing Opportunity Gaps    Pages 84-86

E-Readers: Get Ready for the Revolution

William M. Ferriter

http://ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/nov10/vol68/num03/E-Readers@_Get_Ready_for_the_Revolution.aspx

                This article focuses on the era of new technology, the e-reader.  A teacher purchased a Kindle for personal use and in turn found it to be useful in his classroom. He states that it can hold more than 3000 books .  He has been able to influence children to read more through technology.  The e- reader    (The Kindle) cost approximately $139.00. This device enables teachers to down load chapters of a book and it can hold numerous books.  This specific e-reader cost less than the I-pad and it does not hold the other high tech components such as videos and games.

                 Some questions that were asked to determine factors  in which to purchase this technology for schools.  They are:  What academic purposes do you have in mind?  Is school  infra-share ready to handle new Internet traffic demands? Can you partner with local libraries? Will devices help you comply with American with Disabilities Act? 

                This is a wonderful addition to technology in regards to technology.  However it seems to be costly and with the issues that educators are faced with there seems to be no money for the great technology.  I think it is a shame that we are asked to broaden our knowledge in the 21^st century with technology however it is very difficult when the schools do not have the resources that they need to become 21^st compatible. As a Principal, I would be encourage to have this technology?  However I wonder how costly it would be because it takes money to implement a new program?

Principal Interview 2

Decisions with Exceptional Children and/or 504

Exceptional Children

Decision 1:

 In Ms.S. first year as a principal she made a decision to change the makeup of classrooms. They were made up of students with disabilities who needed services and support of an EC teacher as well.  She observed classrooms and found that the students were in a regular standard classroom.  Students were having some difficulties in the classroom with no support from an EC teacher.  The EC teachers were in other classrooms. As a result she decided to make some changes to the master schedule.  Based on the data from the previous year’s EOG scores, she decided to make inclusion classrooms which included a general education teacher and an EC teacher.   She obtained research on this practice from Dr. Friend who is a strong advocate for co-teaching in the school environment.  Also Ms. S was a teacher in California over a course of 15 years.  Through her experience she found this type of classroom to be most effective.

When asked about the impact of this decision on students, parents, and teachers?

Students:   She stated that the students had some difficulties in the beginning adjusting to the change but later found it to be most helpful.  As a result, there was significant growth in their academics and on the EOG standardized test for language arts and math. She also stated that those students who were in resource classes did not show mark improvements.

 Parents:   Initially, they were upset and concerned with the changes.  They felt that their child would not adapt to the change very well because of their previous placement and the change in teachers.  But as the school year progressed and students were moved to their appropriate places, parents viewed this as a positive change for some students.

Teachers:  Initially were upset with this decision because they were placed in a position to adapt to having another teacher in the classroom and sharing teaching responsibilities.  Some invited the help and others were territorial.

Decision 2

This decision was based on the guidelines to have students with a disability to receive instruction from highly qualified teacher in their core subjects of reading, math, social studies, and science.  This current school year the EC teachers serve as co-teachers in classes that have students who have are eligible for EC services.  However they are amongst students who are not receiving services who may be at grade level or slightly below as well.  These students receive the benefit of a co-taught environment as well.  The weakness with this is that there is such a spectrum of students who may not get their needs met because they need more an additional instruction.  To help counteract this, a learning lab was put into place to address some academic needs for those students who need additional help other than the classroom. Along with this, the learning community of our school system  sent some additional support to define useful strategies for the general education and EC teacher,

I

504

In regards to students with a 504 plan, Ms. Stated a student was hit by a car and a decision was made to place the child on a temporary 504 until she was able to perform her duties as a student.  She was on medical leave for a period of time.  Therefore she needed additional accommodations and modifications to help her due to the number of absences due to illness.

Who Ruled?

Supreme Court Case Rules on Special Education

Morning Edition June 23, 2009

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=105797012&m=105796997

                Larry Avis reported that a high school student (TA) began having attention problems.  The student was evaluated to determine eligibility.   It was found that he did not qualify for special education services. One comment was made that if accommodations were made then it was unlikely that the student would have been in a residential facility.  Parent decided when TA was a junior;  it was best to pull the student out of the public school.  They placed him in a private setting (boarding school). The school system stated parents acted on there on that they did not feel that they should have to pay for their decision to place the child in a private setting. TA’s parents decided to sue and have the public school to pay for the tuition of their child in private setting.  They took the case to Supreme Court.  The parent won the right to sue for payment of the student’s education in Portland, Oregon for the cost of sending the student to a private school. They must go back to court to determine reimbursement.  There are concerns that schools need to keep working with parents to come up with the needs of students even if the student does not qualify. There is concern that cases like these may influence parents to want to pull their child out of the public school setting and seek the private setting at the expense of the school district.

                Should the parents have sued for educational services outside of the school system? My concerns with this lawsuit are the criteria by which the school system of Oregon based their decision to determine eligibility.  I feel that if there were no accommodations and modifications made based on the special education services then there should have been some, based on 504.  I feel that the school system should have addressed the areas of concern and come up with strategies that the parents were comfortable with and documented those things.  I can’t determine based on the report whether or not anecdotal records were gathered but there are a series of assessments a student would encounter to make the decision to not be eligible.  However the parent’s have a right to go due process if they are in disagreement with the decision and it sounds as if that may have occurred.  However, lots of time has gone by, TA continues to have issues with attention problems.  I’m not sure he did not have any other problems that may have caused him to enter in a boarding school. There are still some missing elements to the story.  To answer my question of a law suit, I feel that the parents should sue if not all of the interventions were tried for their child and to make sure that the child received the most optimal education within the public setting only if all else has failed.

Additional Reference:

1.    High court: Who pays for special education?

By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press Writer

www.katu.com/news/national/43920887.html

2.    US high court to hear Oregon special ed case by Mary Hudetzwww.katu.com/news/local/37751839.htm

21st Century- CHRIS Video

                                                                  There are many teachers who are adamant about lecturing and nothing else. I think we as educators have to remember the era.  Students are multi- task learners.  However it has to be relevant to their life and important enough to them in order for students to tap into their interest.  In the video,” 21st Century pedagogy”, it was stated that educators need to, “change the DNA”.   I agree that the DNA needs to be examined however there are certain skills necessary to have mastered before a high level of learning can take place.

           As a principal, I would like to see my school focus on the 21st century concepts through the learning experiences and maybe incorporate some type of technology relevant to their personal experiences. One of the other videos, “Education , Today and Tomorrow”, states that students obtain information from so many facets such as teacher and student instruction by which they communicate with each other.  Students can obtain information by entertainment such as through music- use of ipods. Other multimedia technology are  face book, blogs, web page , you tubes and others.  So why not take some of those devices and use it in education environment.  These videos greatly impacted my thought and ideas by which I would like to lead my school.

          When I viewed the videos, I thought about my vision and philosophy for teaching.   I believe students want to learn. However they want to know how relevant it is to their life. One of the videos, Students in the 21st Century, focus on how different the era was from the time of Shakespeare and to present time.  This is one of the things that impacted the direction by which I would want my school to be led.

            I feel that it can’t be a program that is thrown to the teachers.  I would have teachers thoroughly involved in the implementation of the program as well as the parents invested .  Teachers need to observe the program already in use and examine the data that reflects the learning of students.  We would adapt changes or delete changes that would not benefit our school.

           As they have learned the program it is my hope to observe learning with multi-media technology and students engaged. Teachers would have students engaged in the learning environment. They may be using computers in the classroom on a daily basis.  They may be chatting with each other on line about a lesson and posting their response on line. They may be breaking down basic information in math class so that students might understand the relevance of volume.  Teacher may venture to show a recording from you tube on specific concepts.    

           I would venture to have a school in which technology is not a issue of lack of funding to purchase but part of the education of becoming a 21^st Century school. However, this is an ideal school in which every child has a computer to use in each classroom.    

                                         

Additional Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdwEIi22Dv8

Responsibillity

Should We Be Responsible:  Where Does the Responsibility Lie?

Our school climate has truly changed over the years.  It was at one time very common for students particularly males to have a confrontation and have a fist fight with another male student.   Though rare as it may seem, the girls would fight each other as well. Now girls  are even becoming more violent than in years past.  There are also instances in which the girls will confront the boys and vice versa.  What is the world coming to?  It makes me think – is it truly what you see, is what you get in some households?  Undoubtedly there are parents who teach their child to be respectful of each other. If there is a problem they often tell their child to tell somebody so that they may help them. If a child sees violence in the household or in the community as a means to solve problems, then it is to that student, what you see is what you get.  Could this possibly be a learned behavior that is fed by the media, home situations or other outside stimuli as the solution to the problem?  My guess again, is that students are learning from the time they are born so it must be what you see is what you get?   

So where does our responsibility lie?  Should we take on this issue? I believe that there are individuals who are a product of their environment but with the tools and resources I think change can occur.  But let me say this, it has to be an investment on all individuals.  Anyone who is forced into a situation is likely to be rebellious until they figure that the goals are attainable and measureable.  The key word is beneficial to the student.

So as educators and principals is it our job to foster this learning?   Well, if our goal is to foster students to be productive citizens in such a diverse society, then why not?  If there are no tools at home then sometimes we must provide the tools in order to promote a safe learning environment conducive to learning in an educational setting.  Once we teach students what we want the school climate to be? How we want it to be?  We offer students the guidelines to make them feel comfortable about a situation; they become active participants in the process. Students, parent, principals as well as other stakeholders have to invest in promoting unity too?

As a result, I think students will begin to understand that it is okay to have differences of opinions and culture differences.  However respecting those differences is a learning experience that could be useful in their educational experience. So to be proactive a program with guideline to address issues that may be causes of bullying or violent situations as well as other conflicts that may arise should be established with input from all stakeholders.

Interview with Principal

Decision-Making Process:


I had the opportunity to speak with Ms. Ferrill, a retired principal, serving as an Interim Principal. She conversed with me about having to make a decision to refocus staff at a High School. She explained that she felt she needed to make some changes. She stated that some things done at that time would have caused a loss of employment. She stated that through observation, data, and listening to the conversations of staff; she made the decision to restructure and refocus the staff. Through her observation she discovered the faculty was so conditioned to saying whatever they wanted to say and weren’t modest in their conversation. When she looked at the data there was no achievement growth of students. She set a meeting with the staff at a different location away from the school. This happened to be at a church conference room. When she began her meeting she presented to the staff “What do you teach?” The staff replied, “I teach my subject area.” She presented to them to refocus their teaching and to teach the students. The proposal was made to the teachers. They complained about the changes she wanted to make. She said that she could still vividly picture staff so angry. If they had not been in a church environment, ”Oh the words that may have come out of their mouth.” All of the staff left the school for number of reasons except for an AP.



The Facilitative Leader Levels Model was used to explain this decision. Ms. Ferrill observed the staff’s mannerisms and conversations about the school and the clientele. Then by gathering information from her observation she analyzed the data of the school to determine the problems. It was at that point she made a decision to refocus the staff at the school. She felt that the individual staff input was so negative that the school culture and environment needed a change. However, she gathered the staff to discuss her plan and obtain their input. She posed a question to them which the consensus was that they teach a subject and not students. It was at this time she delegated to the staff what their duties and responsibilities were going to be to teach at that particular high school. Thus she made the final decision. However in making this decision she had the opportunity to obtain staff not biased to the issues of her former staff. Her new staff was able to “climb on board.” Her new staff was able to see her vision. She advises when making decisions, you may have to stand alone. A decision will need to be firm. She states, “Don’t be afraid to take risk.” I agree that she should have made changes because the staff’s focus was not geared toward educating students.

Decision-Making Process

Ms. Ferrill also made a decision to change the focus of the high school and design a curriculum that is geared toward the interest of students. She stated that a colleague was researching this type of program and receiving a grant for it. She began her investigation. She researched the model and observed schools that were doing this model. She collected the data that supported the model. Through collaborating with others and discussing the model for months she decided to try the model. She had to consider everyone involve. The stakeholders were important for this to work. The teacher, the parents and the students had to “buy into the program” in order to make it work. Again she emphasized that you decisions can be risky. She stated that though the scores did not improve greatly. Students showed some improvement.

Facilitative Leader Levels Model was used in this decision. Ms Ferrill decided on this plan of incorporating schools of interest. She announced her intentions to the stakeholders. She began to research and travel to places all over the states that had this program and looked at the data to support it. Parents, students and teachers were involved in the process because they were affected. So a consensus was determined. The results of the reports were made. After many collaborative events and discussions, a decision was made. I agree with the process. I think when you are making decisions that effect stakeholders it is best to come to some kind of consensus,