Anthony Cody:Teacher Evaluation Survey

 

What Has Happened to Teacher Evaluations? We Need Your Help

 



  By Anthony Cody.

Under President Obama, the federal Department of Education offered several billion dollars in Race to the Top money and waivers from NCLB to states and school districts across the country in exchange for redesigning teacher evaluation processes. The feds required that a significant portion of teacher evaluations be based on student test scores, which was interpreted to mean anything from a low of 20% to a high of 50% of the weight of an evaluation. Some states used complex formulas to calculate “value added,” while others adopted frameworks from Charlotte Danielson or Robert Marzano.

These evaluations were designed to strengthen teaching – to provide teachers with feedback, to identify those in need of support, or those who should be dismissed. But it is unclear what the real impact has been. It is unclear what the impact of these policies (link) has been. Furthermore, there seems to be very little data being collected regarding the impact of these processes on working teachers – and the administrators who must evaluate them. We hear that more teachers are leaving the profession, and that morale has dropped. Are the new evaluations part of the reason?

The Network for Public Education has launched a research project to investigate. We want to hear from educators – teachers and administrators who have been involved directly in the evaluation process over the past decade. How have evaluations changed? What are the impacts that are being felt in your classrooms and schools? How are students being affected?

As part of our investigation we have developed a survey. It asks detailed questions that will help us understand and communicate to others how changes in evaluation processes are affecting our colleagues and students. We would like to collect as many responses from around the country as possible. Please take the survey. Your answers will help us create understanding and critical awareness.

Here is the link to the survey. Please feel free to share it with colleagues — teachers and/or administrators. The more responses we get, the better picture we will have of what is happening in our schools.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TeacherEvals2015

Anthony Cody

Anthony Cody worked in the high poverty schools of Oakland, California, for 24 years, 18 of them as a middle school science teacher. He was one of the organizers of the Save Our Schools March in Washington, DC in 2011 and he is a founding member of The Network for Public Education. A graduate of UC Berkeley and San Jose State University, he now lives in Mendocino County, California.

  Sandy    October 4, 2015 at 6:27 am  

 Awesome Survey!!! Where are you taking this survey?? What are you doing with it? Is Randy Weingarten from AFT seeing this survey? I hope some of these politicos seeand hear our voices!!! Great job.

2.       Timothy Garrity    October 4, 2015 at 6:56 pm  

I received an accomplished grade at my Ohio high school (best rating,)Through no fault of my own,a year later, the State informed me that I had been downgraded to skilled.I have taught for 38 -years in the inner city.These teacher ratings are arbitrary and based on invalid and unreliable test data.

3.      Anita Hoge    October 5, 2015 at 12:34 pm  

Anthony, Teacher evaluations according to VAM has been in the process for some time. I have prepared a 2 part article to show teachers that Lamar Alexander has had his fingerprints on this system a long time. Hope this helps teachers understand the real data collection issues.
Anita
URGENT: WHAT EVERY TEACHER NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT VAM
http://tinyurl.com/nrdkbbw
http://tinyurl.com/osy5ay4
@HogeAnita