Aren't they under enough stress already?
"Student scores to be key factor in teacher evaluations; New rules to take effect by 2013" by James Vaznis, Globe Staff / June 29, 2011
MALDEN — In a dramatic departure from past practice, students’ MCAS scores and other achievement data will become key barometers in evaluating the performance of their teachers and administrators, under new criteria the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved yesterday.
Related: Teachers Being Bullied
So bu$ine$$ is now calling the shots in Massachusetts?
The measure, adopted in a 9-2 vote, replaces 16-year-old regulations that merely suggested the use of MCAS scores in evaluations, a provision that most districts ignored. Now, student achievement must be a “significant’’ element of an evaluation, although no specific percentage is attached to that requirement.
State education officials hope that by zeroing in on student achievement, teachers and administrators will gain a stronger understanding of how they can be more effective in pushing ahead the academic fortunes of a classroom of students or an entire school....
In introducing the regulations, Mitchell Chester, the state’s commissioner of elementary and secondary education, stressed the goal is to foster professional growth and not to be punitive.
“This is a celebration of teaching and leadership in our schools,’’ Chester told board members and dozens of administrators, teachers, students, parents, and advocates who packed the board’s meeting room. “It’s not about gotcha, or the ranking and sorting of teachers.’’
See: No Apple For This Teacher
Unless there is a worm in it (although I oppose cannibalism).
***********************
Teachers are not the only skeptics. Ruth Kaplan, the board’s parent representative, predicted that the new rules would diminish the quality of instruction. “We are going to see more teaching to the test,’’ Kaplan, a critic of standardized testing, said before casting a dissenting vote.
Yup.
Massachusetts joins more than a dozen states that have adopted regulations or laws in the past two years mandating the use of standardized test scores and other student achievement data, such as research projects, in judging the effectiveness of those in charge of classrooms or schools.
The Obama administration has been pushing states to adopt such changes and has been rewarding those that do with millions of dollars from its Race to the Top grant program.
Oh, ANOTHER BULLY!
Where I come from we used to call that EXTORTION!
Also see: Back-to-School Series: Obama Turns on Teachers
And he is supposed to be your friend?
Massachusetts promised in its application for that program last year to make student achievement a substantial part of job reviews, helping the state to secure $250 million from the fund.
I gue$$ your campaign contributions don't mean $hit, teachers.
I guess you are the ones getting the lesson now.
“There has been a real growing sense that the teacher-evaluation system we have is broken,’’ said Sandi Jacobs, vice president of National Council on Teacher Quality, a nonpartisan research and advocacy group, that has uncovered problems with teacher evaluations in districts nationwide, including Boston....
Teachers unions initially expressed opposition last year when the state began to explore the idea of judging teachers with results from the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams....
But attitudes changed as a state task force appeared to embrace the idea of multiple measures of student achievement. In December, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers union, stunned many policy makers and angered some of its affiliates when it released a proposal to overhaul evaluations that endorsed the use of MCAS scores....
If you guys won't stand up for yourselves how am I supposed to help you?
Even the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, which represents Boston teachers and remains skeptical of using test scores, struck a conciliatory tone in comments to the board yesterday, pointing to provisions that it liked, such as giving teachers a role in evaluating other teachers....
Related: Teacher's Union Charts a New Course in Massachusetts
Several Boston high school students, who successfully pushed for the inclusion of student feedback in the evaluation process, turned out for the meeting. They wore black T-shirts that carried the following message in yellow letters: “We are the ones in the classroom. Ask Us!!!’’
Related:
Boston Globe Summer School: Teachers Do Not Understand the Language
Boston Globe School Daze: Kids in Charge of Boston Classrooms
Yeah, I'm sure the input is greatly appreciated.
Administrators largely supported the proposal, although many of them along with some teachers expressed concern about principals and other evaluators having enough time to do the evaluations and to monitor the progress of any educator on an improvement plan.
Just wondering why the educational geniuses never thought of that.
Boston schools Superintendent Carol R. Johnson will brief principals on the new regulations this week as the district revs up evaluation efforts.
I'll bet Johnson doesn't have to worry about being examined.
And how many schools are closing in Boston this year?
A National Council on Teacher Quality report last year found about half the teachers in Boston public schools had not been evaluated in two years and that a quarter of schools did not do any evaluations. The district is establishing a new office of teacher and principal effectiveness, and is negotiating the new regulations with the union....
Meaning they are going to dictate the rules to the teachers.
--more--"
Related:
Evaluating teachers may burden principals
As state education leaders prepare to vote tomorrow on a sweeping overhaul of the way administrators and teachers are evaluated, local school officials say one key area remains a concern: finding time for principals to actually do the evaluations.
Just pile more work on their desk.
Gotta go. Bus is here:
"School bus company, union make deal to avert Hub strike; Drivers’ contracts set to expire today" by Vivian Yee, Globe Correspondent / June 30, 2011
About 2,200 of the city’s most vulnerable students will be able to board buses to class this summer, thanks to a last-minute concession from the school bus drivers’ union.
Drivers’ contracts were set to expire today. But yesterday the union agreed to keep negotiating a new labor pact, allowing school buses to run throughout summer school. Without the agreement, drivers could have gone on strike today, potentially leaving special-education students without a way to attend classes....
Sometime you need to take a stand for the greater good.
Haven't you learned anything from the Arab Spring or European Revolutions, Amerikan?
Yesterday’s agreement allows the district to avoid relying on its backup plan, developed last week, which called for hiring bus drivers from other companies.
That would have come at extra cost to the schools, Boston public schools spokesman Matthew Wilder said, shifting resources away from classrooms already strapped for funds.
Stop it with the guilt trip!
See:
"Legislators also agreed last week to change legal language in the recently passed sales tax hike to assure credit agencies that $100 million earmarked for the Turnpike Authority would go toward paying off Big Dig debt"
Also see:
Memory Hole: Massachusetts' State Budget
Mass. State Budget: Screwing Cities and Towns
Uniting With Hollywood
Talk about shifting resources!
While the two sides continue to negotiate, drivers will continue to work under terms of the previous, 3-year-old contract....
The union is calling for increased job benefits and, more contentiously, raises of 3 percent per year for the next five years, an increase Wilder said was “above and beyond’’ what the district has negotiated with any other union that represents employees who work in the school district....
Union leaders have rejected one First Student contract offer, accusing the bus company of attacking drivers by proposing harsher alcohol and drug testing, the right to fire workers by mail, and punishing drivers who have more than three absences, among other restrictions.
And the attack on unions continue even here in Democrat Massachusetts.
--more--"
And what about the kids?
"Tears mark closing of Roxbury elementary school" by Jenna Duncan, Globe Correspondent / June 29, 2011
Staff and students shared tears yesterday on the last day at Roxbury’s Emerson Elementary, one of the Boston public schools that is closing before next school year.
“It’s heartbreaking to me, because I’m leaving our community,’’ said Betty Constantino, a teacher at the school for all 24 years of her career. “It’s frustrating, because it’s a great school and nobody has realized that.’’
The school caters to students from Cape Verde, and teachers have even traveled to the island to understand their students’ origins.
Leave it to the agenda-pushing Boston Globe to choose and focus on a school that caters to immigrants.
Because most students have similar ethnic backgrounds, the school provides a sense of community, Constantino said....
Which is OKAY unless you are WHITE!!!
--more--"
Related: School's Out Forever For Some Boston Teachers
Looks like a lot of crying going on out in Boston.
Also see: The Boston Globe Dumps All Over Boston's Teachers
And you thought they were pro-education and your friend?
And about that city budget:
"In quiet session, council OK’s $2.4b budget" by Andrew Ryan Globe Staff / June 30, 2011
With notably little rancor, the Boston City Council voted 12 to 1 yesterday to pass a budget that will close schools and trim jobs....
The $2.4 billion spending plan will merge or close 18 schools....
The gallery in the City Council chamber yesterday was little more than half full for the vote, a stark difference from the protests and last-minute wrangling of recent years....
It is amazing to me that the birthplace of American Revolution has turned into such a cheek-spreading population willing to accept whatever the bought-off political class shoves their way.
--more--"
Related: New Rules For Unions in Massachusetts
Massachusetts Investing in Poverty For Profit
Also see: DiMasi allowed pension, for now
Schools have to close so some state criminal can still draw a pension.
More: State House
