2013年07月26日
teaching is complex
EASTON, Pa.—School may be out for summer, but across Pennsylvania districts are gearing up for a new teacher evaluation system that takes student performance into account.
This fall begins a three-year roll out of the system, which was passed into law in 2012. Principals and specialists will be subject to the evaluations in 2014-15.
The new evaluation system replaces one that only labeled teachers as satisfactory or unsatisfactory based on classroom observation. Former state Education Secretary Ron Tomalis blasted that system, noting that in 2009-10 almost 100 percent of teachers and principals ranked satisfactory.
As a former teacher and schools superintendent, Pennsylvania Department of Education Deputy Secretary Carolyn Dumaresq said she knows educators, in most cases, weren't giving each other constructive evaluations.
"We want to make sure we are giving feedback to teachers to help them grow," she said. "We know the most important thing to increase student achievement in the classroom is the teacher."
The department has spent the past three years piloting the new system with 300 of the state's 500 school districts, Dumaresq said.
"It is complex because the artistry of teaching is complex," she said. "And it shouldn't just be one thing that we say, 'We are going to measure this and this and it counts for all things teachers do.'"
Starting this fall, districts will be expected to evaluate teachers using what is known as the Danielson method, which includes typical principal classroom observations as well as a detailed written rubric outlining skills.
"It is a lot more descriptive and takes some of the subjectivity out of it," Dumaresq said.
Bethlehem Area School District Assistant Superintendent for Education Jack Silva said his district is lucky because it already uses the Danielson method to evaluate teachers. Other districts that do not will have a lot of learning to do, he said.
"If the Danielson method is applied well, it is a powerful tool for teacher improvement," Silva said.
The state has been training administrators on the method through local intermediate units and it has provided free professional development materials that include videos of teachers exhibiting desired skills, Dumaresq said.
Preparing for the system has required a huge investment of time that is expected to increase, Silva said. Bethlehem hired recently retired district Principals Jacqueline Santanasto and Michele Fragnito to help implement the evaluations. They will be paid $400 a day on an as-needed basis for up to 60 days collectively.
"We are doing far more work on this unfunded mandate then we have ever done before," Silva said. "We are hopeful."
This fall begins a three-year roll out of the system, which was passed into law in 2012. Principals and specialists will be subject to the evaluations in 2014-15.
The new evaluation system replaces one that only labeled teachers as satisfactory or unsatisfactory based on classroom observation. Former state Education Secretary Ron Tomalis blasted that system, noting that in 2009-10 almost 100 percent of teachers and principals ranked satisfactory.
As a former teacher and schools superintendent, Pennsylvania Department of Education Deputy Secretary Carolyn Dumaresq said she knows educators, in most cases, weren't giving each other constructive evaluations.
"We want to make sure we are giving feedback to teachers to help them grow," she said. "We know the most important thing to increase student achievement in the classroom is the teacher."
The department has spent the past three years piloting the new system with 300 of the state's 500 school districts, Dumaresq said.
"It is complex because the artistry of teaching is complex," she said. "And it shouldn't just be one thing that we say, 'We are going to measure this and this and it counts for all things teachers do.'"
Starting this fall, districts will be expected to evaluate teachers using what is known as the Danielson method, which includes typical principal classroom observations as well as a detailed written rubric outlining skills.
"It is a lot more descriptive and takes some of the subjectivity out of it," Dumaresq said.
Bethlehem Area School District Assistant Superintendent for Education Jack Silva said his district is lucky because it already uses the Danielson method to evaluate teachers. Other districts that do not will have a lot of learning to do, he said.
"If the Danielson method is applied well, it is a powerful tool for teacher improvement," Silva said.
The state has been training administrators on the method through local intermediate units and it has provided free professional development materials that include videos of teachers exhibiting desired skills, Dumaresq said.
Preparing for the system has required a huge investment of time that is expected to increase, Silva said. Bethlehem hired recently retired district Principals Jacqueline Santanasto and Michele Fragnito to help implement the evaluations. They will be paid $400 a day on an as-needed basis for up to 60 days collectively.
"We are doing far more work on this unfunded mandate then we have ever done before," Silva said. "We are hopeful."
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