Reform SchoolWEA Summer University

Kathleen HeimanAlan SutliffMike McNettAugust 1-2, 2011

• Name

• Local

• Role in the Association

• What do you hope to get from this session?

Introductions

• Materials on WEAReformSchool.wikispaces.com

– Need home email address if not on registration

• Schedule

• Breaks

Preliminaries

The ATTACK

• Seattle

• Tacoma

• Bellevue

Recent Experiences

• How would you define the word?

• What concepts are part of the public debate?

• In what light are unions, including our Association, cast?

• What is the impact of “Ed Reform”?

• How is this affecting you?

Overview: What is Reform?

• Which groups and individuals are most visible?

• What goals are they seeking?

• How do they describe these goals?

The Players

• Why is this happening?

• What are the underlying motives?– In regard to education?

– Politics?

– Money?

– Power?

• Articles:

– The Grand Coalition Against Teachers

– Schools as Scapegoats

Philosophy

• WEA Policies– Evaluation– Alternative Compensation– Priority Schools

• Summary of testing and evaluation policies• NEA Evaluation Position (2011)• NEA Resolution F-10 (2011)• Compilation of NBI, resolutions, NERM, BSWT• WEA Comprehensive Strategic Direction

This We Believe…

Test Scores

• Attempt at objectivity• Based on standardized tests• Calculates change from year to year• Compares actual scores to expected scores• Calculations adjust for some variables• Difference between actual growth and

expected growth place teacher on the distribution

Value Added Modeling

• Evaluation• Salary and bonuses• Layoff• Public disclosure• Termination• School grants, resources, funding

Uses of VAM

• Tests in few subjects• Quality and nature of tests• Tests address lower-order, measurables• Can not fully or accurate factor out variables• Teacher does not control most variables– 2/3rds are outside of school

• Student distribution– Not all classroom cohorts are created equal

Problems with VAM

• Students do not develop on a steady upward curve– Claims that 3 superior teachers in a row will close

the achievement gap are based on statistical extrapolations by Hanushek, Sanders, Rivers

Problems with VAM

• The best teachers are those with students who make higher gains

• Higher student gains indicate that the teachers of those students are the best

Circular Logic

• Narrowing curriculum• Teaching to the test• Cheating• Firing good teachers, keeping mediocre teachers• Demoralization• Limiting those willing to make a career of

education• Failure to address poverty, mobility, parenting,

etc.

Other Consequences

Simple Teacher Effect Calculation

18

(6) Stability

20

Value Added Modeling (VAM)• Dr. Sean Corcoran: Can Teachers be Evaluated by their Students’ Test

Scores? Should They Be?

• Scott Poirier– Policy Statement on Teacher Evaluation and

Accountability– The Flaws in Connecting Student Assessment to Teacher

Evaluation

• Others– Student Test Scores: An Inaccurate Way to Judge

Teachers– Problems with the use of student test scores to

evaluate teachers-- EPI

VAM Resources

• New evaluation criteria for teachers

• Created a new, four-tier rating system

• Required OSPI to create a pilot with school districts in 2010-11 (development phase) and 2011-12 (pilot implementation phase)

• All districts to adopt new systems in 2013-14

“6696” – An Overview

• Increased length of provisional status for new teachers

• Requires districts to send OSPI information on their current evaluation system for all employee groups beginning in 2010-11

• Created evaluation criteria for principals

“6696” – An Overview

The Old and The NewCurrent Teacher Evaluation Criteria New Teacher Evaluation Criteria

1. Instructional Skill 1. Centering instruction on high expectations for student achievement

2. Classroom Management 2. Demonstrating effective teaching practices

3. Professional Preparation and Scholarship 3. Recognizing individual student learning needs and developing strategies to address those needs

4. Effort toward Improvement when Needed 4. Providing clear and intentional focus on subject matter content and curriculum

5. Handling of Student Discipline and Attendance

5. Fostering and managing a safe, positive learning environment

6. Interest in Teaching Pupils 6. Using multiple student data elements to modify instruction and improve student learning

7. Knowledge of Subject Matter 7. Communicating with parents and school community

8. Exhibiting collaborative and collegial practices focused on improving instructional practice and student learning

Bargaining 6696

• Districts must report to OSPI– Evaluation process

– Ratings of employees

• Districts must report the process to public

• Evaluation process is subject to bargaining– (Surprise!)

– OSPI: Show them no one statewide model is needed

• District can post contract online (public reporting)

Reporting

• Data is a factor in determining staff assignments

• Doesn’t say which data or how to be used

• Transfer and assignment are subject to bargaining– Define through bargaining

– Need not be student test scores

– Don’t have to allow punitive transfers

– Can bargain for “combat” pay or incentives

Assignment

• Criteria are subject to bargaining

• Need not form the outline of the process

• Must be somehow contained

• Avoid an imposed OSPI model

The Eight Criteria

• No requirement that student data be used– “When student growth data, if available and relevant to

the teacher and subject matter, is referenced…”

• Say “no”• Value-added data is flawed and is not relevant

• Test data usually applies to only 40% of unit members, so can not be the basis of a fair even-handed system for all teachers

• Say “yes”– To inform instruction and to guide planning

Use of Data

• 2013

• “…whose work is not judged Satisfactory…”

• Law doesn’t say which level is Satisfactory, nor how to define that

• Define the terms– Average teacher is average (and satisfactory)

– Upper 3 ratings should all be satisfactory to protect mid-level teachers

Four Ratings

• Four years of satisfactory or one of top two ratings

• If “satisfactory” is next to bottom level, it will be easier to get onto the short form

• If “satisfactory” is only the top two ratings…– Then this sentence in the law doesn’t make sense

– But it may cause lazy principals to give the top two ratings to get more staff on to short-form

Short-Form

• Some of 6696 is vague and ambiguous• It can be defined locally through bargaining• Decide what you want it to mean• Bargain assertively for a rational and fair

system.

Summary

• Continuing contracts• Probation– How long does it really take to dismiss a teacher

for performance concerns?• Disciplinary process– Everyone deserves due process

Tenure? Or just Due Process?

• Seniority– A topic that polls well for ed reform groups?– A topic that is no-win for members

– Evaluation• A misunderstood topic• See probation

Layoffs

Seniority-Based Layoffs

• Control– District– Parents and teachers– University– Community group– Corporate

Charter Schools

• Funding– Public– Blend– Private

• Accountability– Testing– Standards

Charter Schools

• Admissions– Skim– ADA, IDEA?– Segregation

• Union– Lite– NLRA– State law– None

Charter Schools

• High Expectations

• Choice and Commitment

• More Time

• Power to Lead

• Focus on Results

KIPP: Five Pillars

• Neighborhood-based, At-Scale Approach

• The HCZ Pipeline – (K-college program, with foundation of

community-building programs, and family, social service and health programs)

• Building Community

• Evaluation

• Culture of Success

Harlem Children’s Zone

• Small, Safe, Personalized Schools

• High Expectations for All Students

• Local Control with Extensive Professional Development and Accountability

• Parent Participation

• Maximize Funding to the Classroom

• Keep Schools Open Later

Green Dot Tenets

• http://credo.stanford.edu/reports/MULTIPLE_CHOICE_CREDO.pdf

• 17% Better

• 37% Worse

Do charter schools work?

• What factors cause people to like charters?

• Which of those factors can be incorporated into public schools?

• Examples?

Alternatives to Charters

Union Rights

• Wisconsin• Idaho• Ohio• Indiana• New Jersey• Florida

• UniServ Director• Southern Lakes United Educators– Burlington, Wisconsin

• Wisconsin Education Association Council

Rick Moore

WI Gov. Scott Walker

Idaho