Under education reform, school principals swamped by teacher evaluations
Sharon McNary believes in having tough teacher evaluations.
But these days, the Memphis principal finds herself rushing to cram in what amounts to 20 times the number of observations previously required for veteran teachers 鈥� including those she knows are excellent 鈥� sometimes to the detriment of her other duties.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a principal that would say they don鈥檛 agree we don鈥檛 need a more rigorous evaluation system,鈥� says Ms. McNary, who is president of the Tennessee Principals Association as well as principal at Richland Elementary. 鈥淏ut now it seems that we鈥檝e gone to [the opposite] extreme.鈥�
In New York, which is also beginning to implement a new teacher evaluation system this year, many principals are even less constrained in their opinion.
鈥淭here is no evidence that any of this works,鈥� says Carol Burris, a Long Island principal who co-authored an open letter of concern with more than 1,200 other principals in the state. 鈥淥ur worry is that over time these practices are going to hurt kids and destroy the positive culture of our schools.鈥�
The direction of education reform 鈥� and the requirements of the federal government鈥檚 Race to the Top competition in particular 鈥� means numerous states are now planning to use tough new evaluation systems based at least in part on student growth, tracked by value-added test scores.
But as the first states begin implementing these systems on a broad scale, some are encountering pushback not just from teachers 鈥� which is somewhat expected 鈥撀燽ut from principals and other administrators.
In some cases they question the practicality of the new system, and in others the entire premise on which it鈥檚 built. And even a few supporters of rigorous 鈥� and high-stakes 鈥� teacher evaluations wonder whether rushing them in might backfire.
鈥淚t鈥檚 something of a Hobson鈥檚 choice between rolling out something quickly that鈥檚 almost surely going to be flawed in major ways or going about it gradually, and maybe never getting a full implementation,鈥� says Grover 鈥淩uss鈥� Whitehurst, director of the Brown Center of Education Policy at the Brookings Institution. 鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a very strong tension between the timetable that works politically 鈥� and the practical realities of large-scale reform.鈥�
Tennessee and Florida, both of which are receiving federal funds through Race to the Top, are fully implementing their new evaluation systems this year, and Delaware and North Carolina have most of their models in place. Race to the Top, which awarded $4 billion to 11 states and the District of Columbia in 2010, required the reforms, though it allowed states to choose what sort of system it would use and to determine the timetable.
At the Department of Education, Brad Jupp, a senior adviser on teacher initiatives, says some sort of backlash to changes of this magnitude are inevitable 鈥� as are glitches along the way.
鈥淚t鈥檚 safe to say that when you change people鈥檚 work routines in serious ways, they stress,鈥� says Mr. Jupp.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e never going to plan something to perfection,鈥� Jupp says. 鈥淪pending time trying to plan things elaborately and building internal support is nowhere near as important as getting things running.鈥�
In Tennessee, the biggest complaint from many principals is simply the amount of time required from them for the new observation system. Veteran teachers, who in the past only needed to be evaluated every five years, now get four observations a year. Untenured teachers need six.
Each observation involves a complicated rubric and scoring system, discussions with the teacher before and afterward, and a written report 鈥撀燼 total of perhaps two to four hours for each one, Ms. McNary estimates.
And there are still problems with how the data will be used. For now, many will be judged on school-wide data for reading or math, even if they teach history, art, or physical education 鈥� a much-publicized phenomenon that has made the system seem ridiculous in some news stories.
鈥淣o one wants to read the headline about the 12th grade physics teacher being evaluated on 9th grade writing scores,鈥� says Sandi Jacobs, vice president at the National Center for Teacher Quality. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not helpful to the cause.鈥�
Still, Tennessee has the basic support of its teacher鈥檚 union 鈥� even though president Gera Summerford says she has a lot of issues with the implementation of the reforms.
New York, on the other hand, faces a far deeper crisis.
Earlier this month, it was cited by the Department of Education as one of three Race to the Top states lagging on the promises it made in its application (the other two were Florida and Hawaii), in particular due to its problems with the getting new evaluation system in place.
"New York has a chance to be a national leader or a laggard, and we are only interested in supporting real courage and bold leadership," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement, noting that failure to follow through on its commitments "could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars for improving New York schools."
A cadre of concerned principals, more than a quarter of all principals statewide, has signed an open letter questioning the wisdom of basing so much on test scores and rushing so quickly.
鈥淚 believe in testing. But to use the tests the way they鈥檙e being used by the state I don鈥檛 think will improve education,鈥� says Katie Zahedi, principal of the Linden Avenue Middle School in Red Hook, New York. She worries that the system will discourage teachers from taking on more challenging students and that it will crowd out any instruction not directly tied to the test.
Chris Brewer, a principal at the rural Morrisville-Eaton Middle High School in Morrisville, N.Y., agrees 鈥� and says that the one silver lining has been that opposition over the evaluations has brought together the administration and the teachers鈥� union in opposition.
At the training he attended on conducting observations in the new system, Mr. Brewer says he was shown a video of an airplane being built in the sky 鈥� an analogy for the figure-it-out-as-you-go process educators are now in.
鈥淎t the very end, it shows a little kid on this airplane looking out and smiling,鈥� he says.
鈥淏ut this system has not been tested, has not been tried. I鈥檓 not willing to put my kid on board this plane.鈥�
But supporters of the new evaluations say that kids are just who they do care about.
鈥淭he status quo in American public education for decades and decades has put all the risk on the students,鈥� says Bill Sanders, a retired University of Tennessee professor and senior research fellow at the SAS Institute. 聽鈥淲hat we鈥檙e talking about now from a policy point of view is how do we balance the risk.鈥�
At the Department of Education, Jupp, for many years a classroom teacher himself, is sympathetic to the fears of teachers and principals like those in New York, and believes their concerns should be taken seriously 鈥� but says they need to give the reforms more of a chance.
One thing he鈥檚 learned from years of pushing big changes, he says, is that 鈥測our worst fears don鈥檛 necessarily occur.鈥澛�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 going to be pain-free to move from one era to the next, but I do think it鈥檚 a great opportunity for us as a profession.鈥澛�
