The New Teacher Center published its Maryland teacher survey findings from last spring which is accessible online at www.tellmaryland.org. 54% of Baltimore City teachers responded compared to 62% statewide. Aside from the Baltimore Sun’s article about the survey’s findings, in reviewing the survey, I found some inconsistencies and critiques.

To begin, some schools that no longer exist somehow have survey results! For instance, Canton Middle which closed two years ago had survey results despite Friendship Academy for Science & Technology, a new charter, currently occupying the former space (100% participation rate, congrats!).

Second, the Sun article begins, “Maryland has a remarkably satisfied teaching corps, three-quarters of whom feel positive about their work.” Wait, so does this mean that 25% of teachers feel negative about their job’s impact? Certainly, that is not a majority, but is it still somewhat alarming that a quarter of teachers might feel this way- the adults presumably leading our students to success? Not so remarkable in my opinion.

And then on to one of the most criticized topics, especially in urban education: teacher retention. Looking at Baltimore City’s results, only 41% describe their long-term plans as to “continue teaching at my school.” Now plans to remain in education but to move into a administrative or non-administration role made up nearly the other 40%, so that percent can’t be taken straight-up; however, the sense of schools retaining highly-qualified and committed teachers for the long-run is still diminished. The two factors most affecting willingness to keep teaching?

DO NOW: Assemble your “mind map” or “spider-web” graphic organizer to create a list of factors you believe affect teaching willingness to remain teaching at your school. Done?

Despite the possible superfluity of responses (post your favorites as comments!), the survey narrowed options to the following eight factors: 1) time during the work day to plan and collaborate, 2)facilities and resources, 3) school leadership, 4) empowerment, 5) professional development, 6) community engagement, 7) student conduct, and 8) student learning. Which two do you think garnered 53% of responses?

Survey says….School leadership (30%) and Student learning (23%). Agree or disagree? In fact, variance in survey results for this category between City and State was minimal.

A Question of Quality

I think we can whole-heartedly agree that having qualified teachers is essential to bridging the achievement gap in our country. This week, I read an interesting dialogue in the NYTimes Education spot titled “Getting Rid of Bad Teachers.” The editors in the article pose the question, “What is the most effective way to identify incompetent teachers and take steps to get rid of them? What would a fair and effective system consist of?” To me, this is a challenging question with many answers; like teacher certification, rating teacher quality and removing “incompetent” teachers from the classroom is subjective.

In our district of Baltimore City, we get rated on specific a performance-based evaluation system that consists of “professional domains,” where the four domains are the following:

Domain One: Planning and Preparation

Domain Two: The Learning Environment

Domain Three: Instruction/Instructional Support

Domain Four: Professional Responsibilities

In these domains, a teacher can be rated Proficient, Satisfactory, or Unsatisfactory. It seems to me like these 3 ratings are arbitrarily assigned in our city schools. My principal, in fact, has not observed me once, and is thus required to rate me satisfactory on my evaluation. How many times over does this occur in other schools? Where overwhelmed administrators do not find the time to conduct formal observations, many of the “incompetent” teachers are continually rated as satisfactory (perhaps even proficient due to their years of experience in the system). Furthermore, I do not think that two “formal” observations over an entire school year can be indicative of a teacher’s quality. To be able to fire incompetent, or in our case “unsatisfactory,” we need to be able to create a uniform policy across the district as to what that entails. Additionally, many teachers who are rated unsatisfactory get Professional Improvement Plans (or PIP’s). Though these are designed to help teachers grow professionally, so that (for example) a teacher rated unsatisfactory in “Learning Environment” should be able to improve upon that before the next formal evaluation. However, at least in my school, PIPs are seen as a disciplinary measure used by principals to threaten teachers, rather than as something beneficial.

Along the same lines, how does one eliminate incompetent teachers from the school district when they have tenure? Does an entire district change the policy about tenure? Should there be a more lenient policy in getting rid of tenured teachers? For in a place like Baltimore City – and I’m sure other urban areas – luring teachers to remain in the positions is something of prime importance. Teachers here receive tenure after 3 short years in the classroom; and though it gives a sense of job security, what happens when that security is lost to many of these veteran teachers in the city? I completely agree that there needs to be some way of “eradicating” unqualified or incompetent teachers from the classrooms, where they can sometimes be doing more harm than good. However, to be able to do that, districts need to adopt a uniform policy on evaluating a teacher’s performance; while also establishing guidelines for eliminating those “incompetent” teachers.

Accountability

During my Independent Reading with my class, I often try to find articles on education and city schools. Recently I read “Trends and Issues Affecting Primary and Secondary Education” by Robert Sexton after it was mentioned during a staff meeting. The website to visit this article is http://www.kltprc.net/books/exploring/PDFs/SEXTON.PDF.
The article focuses very much on assessment and accountability in school systems. It discusses using tests to drive instruction and using instruction to increase test scores and the delicate nature in which this must be done. The article discusses rewards programs, holding high standards for children and utilizing the support of parents and community members.
When I think about this article against the way that Baltimore City Schools functions, I find many similarities with the intentions but am not sure how effective we are in carrying out our plans. We are so assessment driven in our city: people lose jobs because of their low performing outcomes, schools lose their charters and AYP is a word that haunts our city principals. I absolutely agree that assessments and accountability both are essential in a school’s success but I think the weight that we place on assessments and AYP is often too much. I also think that we do a great job presenting ideas and ways to improve our school system but often fall short in the implementation and execution of the proposed plan. I’m not sure what the answer is or if there is one, but I think as a city, we need to focus on consistency and accountability within ourselves as educators before we can place it on the children and families of our city schools.

Posted by Shawn D (REFORMBLOGGER) via Leah's email address because of login issues with REFORM BLOGGER

Too Many Excuses

The first thing I learned when training to be a teacher, was that the most important thing for my students was to set the bar high for their successes and do everything I could to make sure that they met those high standards. As a HSA tested educator, it was very important for me to push my students in my classroom and make sure that they knew that it was going to take hard work and dedication to do well on the test and in my class. In my limited time in the classroom I have made sure that my kids know that I do not accept excuses and that they earn their grades, I do not give them. At each marking period I had high amounts of students with low grades, but still my children were proud of the accomplishments they had made. My kids have drastically increased their passing rate on the HSA, in comparison to our school’s history, and for this I am very proud of them.

With this in mind and student achievement in the forefront I attended my monthly staff meeting. At the end of this meeting some teachers were pulled aside to discuss a specific group of twelfth graders. This group had limited credits and needed to take a number of courses on the computer in order to graduate on time. I found this to be no surprise, since many of kids earn credits through an online recovery program. To my shock, however, was the request of the administration; allow these students to skip class 2 times a week so that they could make up courses that they had failed, during my instructional time. As I stood there dumbfounded I made no comments, instead I shook my head in agreement as my heart said no. I left that meeting thinking of all of the ways our students seem to outdo the requirements of coursework, and tried to make connections to Obama’s goals of having students “career and college ready” when they graduate from high school. I realized that many times in our school system the needs of funding over rule the real lessons of life that our students must learn in order to be ready for the next step. There are online courses, bridge projects, and make-up packets for so many students who think that showing up to school on time and prepared is one of their lowest priorities, when in reality they are some of the most capable of being successful. But, because graduation rates are a huge part of how successful a school is, we must work extra hard to seek these kids out and send them on their way with a diploma.

As an educator I do what I can with parent contacts, letters home, and conduct logs, but until my focus can be on my students who want to learn there will never be enough time to make them ready for college. As for our students who are hunted down to finish graduation requirements, we are not preparing them for the real world. Bosses and managers will not call their mom when they do not show up to work, or give them extra hours because they decided to come in late. I do not have an answer for this problem, but I do know that if we continue to find loopholes for these students, they will be less motivated to earn what they deserve.

Converting Failing Schools into Public Charters-Like Lipstick on a Pig?

Since 2005, Baltimore City has opened up 27 charter schools, some brand-new charters while others were former low-performing public schools. Recently, a heated debate at a city school board meeting arose over the potential closing of Dr. Rayner Browne Academy for poor performance, a first for a charter in Baltimore City (See article). Complete with a student chorus to add a much more personal appeal, the 7 out of 9-person school board voted 4 to revoke the school’s charter and 3 against. Without a majority, the board is reconvening to vote on March 9^th with all 9 members present in what will certainly be a night of high emotion.

One of the article’s comments refers to the national struggle in how charters are created in order to ensure the best possible success. Often, many charters prefer to create a completely new school with a totally new identity complete with hand-picked staff and administrators, mostly new students, and when possible, a glitzy new location. However, due to budget limitations, community advocates, and concerns of current school parents, staff, students, and other stakeholders, most charters- especially in Baltimore City- are challenged with trying to transform a chaotic and low-performing school over a summer. Sometimes new paint, emphatically positive slogans, a new principal (occasionally shuffled in from another failing school), and promises of a better learning environment do little to improve the school. Like President Obama commented during his 2008 campaign, “you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.” One non-profit, Baltimore Curriculum Project, takes on the challenge of converting once failing public schools into (hopefully) high performing public charters- Dr. Rayner Browne Academy is one for their five charters. With Browne on the brink of possible closure, two other BCP charters, Collington Square and City Springs, were only recommended for two-year charter extensions with CEO Alonso citing insufficient student progress as a main reason. On a more positive note, Wolfe Street Academy was recommended a five-year extension, joining the ranks of three other city charters.

So the question remains, is Baltimore City doing what is necessary to help ensure that its 27 charters and counting have the support and infrastructure to succeed, especially now given the planned closing of several public schools at the end of this year? Are the charters too fragmented and does the City need to better incorporate larger charter networks like Achievement First and KIPP with more national notoriety? Does the City need to reconsider allowing failing schools to become charters as a last-minute lease? What about when charters- like incumbent congressmen and their constant re-election campaigns-have to focus on structuring their charter renewals applications every few years rather than focusing on the critical issues of their constituents-the school community?