Special task force convenes to study teacher evaluations

A task force charged with recommending improvements to educators' evaluations and instruction in the Los Angeles school district met for the first time Tuesday.

The school board narrowly approved the formation of the committee shortly before a Times series examining the difficulties of firing and evaluating teachers was published in May. The nearly 25-member group includes members from unions and the Los Angeles Unified School District, teachers and administrators and is chaired by state Board of Education President Ted Mitchell.

The group will study several topics, including evaluations, tenure, legislative changes and merit pay.

Mitchell said he wants the group to finish its work by the end of the year. If the group cannot come to conclusions, the district superintendent, Ramon C. Cortines, can make recommendations independently.

--Jason Song

Comments

[Teacher]

Of course a committee to evaluate teachers but none to look at teacher working conditions. Hmmm. Every administrator at my school has an office, but we don't have department offices. Teachers are traveling from room to room making it very difficult to teach. Improve our working conditions first, then let's talk evaluations.

The people who work closest to the students have the poorest working conditions while those who don't work closest have better conditions. What's wrong with this picture?

[Dan Basalone]

This commission is the key to reform in LAUSD. Evaluations should promote professionalism and accountability. I would strongly recommend that much can be learned from history in LAUSD.....the evaluation system of the 1960's was far superior to the current system because it encouraged progressive growth especially in the first three years of teaching or administration...a three year probationary period is a minimum need in any reform of the system. Good luck to the 25 commissioners in this endeavor.

[Involved Parent]

Members from Teachers Unions included? Oh, no, no, no. This is doomed to fail. And no PARENTS representing the children? No, no , no. Bad move! Wasted time. Wasted money. Will definitely continue to hurt the children. Bad move.

[Eric Womack, Teacher LAUSD]

Any reporting on administrator evaluations? District management evaluations?

[Juan]

Won't there be lawsuits? For example, take two teachers across the hall from each other who have the same class (by subject and grade level). One of the two teachers is of a different race (or age) and has smaller classes, or zero students with disabilities. Isn't that favoritism by the principal?

[Teacher]

There are a few things they also need to include in the evaluation of a teacher. First, they should also look at classroom management in evaluations.2nd Parental involvement and support in interventions. Lastly, how did these children come inequipped when they reached there current teachers (reading level,math level, comprehension, etc..)

[stupefied]

The main thing wrong with the current evaluation system, and likely any process to follow, is the lack of supervision of instruction - the crux of effective leadership/principals. Sadly, administrators find little time (it's hard to tell if they look for the time, and their own lack of supervision by their own bosses compounds this problem) to get into classrooms to observe teaching, much less make and follow up on a course of action that might lead to improvements. Suggestions that evaluations be put on hold are ridiculous, but certainly the evaluators need to be prepared, follow through, and otherwise perform their jobs to the fullest.

[DonV]

Any evaluation of teachers require time and more money. Each teacher must be evaluated individually. That means looking at not only students' test scores, but what students came in able to do, are they second lang. learners, disabilities, etc..
As a professional we want fair and accountable evaluation, but it still must be done with understanding the teaching system.

[Ed Lyell]

1. Video/audio record each classroom using the internet connection and have teacher/coaches review random or selected classroom days for teaching improvement purposes. Corporations do this on phone calls and on site visits. Great way to do professional development. Equipment and hard drives are cheap these days.

2. You could go the next step and put the classrooms up on the internet either in a secure intranet, password protected to parents and staff, or lets just all be able to observe class???
I am a former Colorado State Board of Education member.

[Dan Basalone]

Most interested adults can walk into any school or classroom and get a sense of whether teaching and learning is taking place. Evaluation can be done with administrative/supervisory reviews or peer reviews through the observation process. In my years of experience, lesson plans were the key to good teaching along with classroom management skills. Both are easily observable. When you couple those components with a pre/post test of critical standards, you then are taking into consideration the initial learning levels of all students. But, I would still submit that it takes at least three years of progressive evaluations for any teacher to become an outstanding educator. And, as for the administrative evaluations, they could be done in the same manner based on sight evaluations and evidence of school plans.