Fired DC Teachers: Which Schools?

[Anonymous]

I am a highly effective teacher in DCPS. I wholeheartedly believe in IMPACT. It gets a bad wrap because most teachers see it as a "gotcha." But effective teachers see it as an opportunity of growth.

Anyone is welcomed in my classroom any time, any day, all year long. If an evaluator walks into my classroom, they should see engaged students, critically thinking, and collaboratively working together. If they don't, then I need to take responsibility for the reason that instructional time is being lost...not make excuses! IMPACT is a dipstick in a teacher's evaluation, which they get 5 chances for their classroom to shine. If I am a teacher and can't be effective after 5 CHANCES, let me repeat...5 CHANCES, than I do not deserve to be teaching in DCPS, because it IS an OPPORTUNITY to teach the AMAZING kids in DCPS!

DCPS is a district that needs MAJOR renvovation, and we need serious people to do it...not teachers who make excuses for why an educator walks into their room at 2:30 and the teacher states, "it's the afternoon, my kids can't learn now." Students should be engaged in instruction 100% of instructional time. Especially since they have 45 mins of "specials" each day. If I give my students 15 mins of a break each day, that's 1hr and 15 mins a week...which equates to 5 HOURS of instruction lost monthly. This is why IMPACT pertains to test scores...loss of time on task.

Please take a look at the IMPACT evaluation components, and see that it's all about community building, students making connections with new learning, critical thinking, collaborative work, and differentiation. If this is not going on in a teacher's classroom then they should be evaluated on that, and not have people fighting to protect them teaching in OUR schools.

[Anonymous]

Jason, is that you?

[Anonymous]

So PP what if it is right- do you want 5 hours of your kids learning time sacrificed each month?

[Anonymous]

Why shouldn't students get a 15 minute break each day for quiet time, a run in the playground or to make their own explorations? What is your definition of a "break?"

Contrary to what you say most teachers are not against observation. For me and many others it is the subjectiveness of the master educator. Last year I had an excellent one. This year's was a nightmare. And it's not because one rated me higher; I got a lower score with the better one last year.

If you really are a teacher you know as well as I do that some lessons turn out looking highly effective and some do not. Especially if you are a creative teacher constantly trying new things with your students. And a classroom of students from the NW will be different from a classroom of students in the SE.

[Anonymous]

"Please take a look at the IMPACT evaluation components, and see that it's all about community building, students making connections with new learning, critical thinking, collaborative work, and differentiation. If this is not going on in a teacher's classroom then they should be evaluated on that, and not have people fighting to protect them teaching in OUR schools."

Interesting that some chose privates or charters over DCPS because they feel DCPS doesn't teach critical thinking skills, yet there are complaints about evaluating DCPS teachers for their ability to teach these skills.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:
Interesting that some chose privates or charters over DCPS because they feel DCPS doesn't teach critical thinking skills, yet there are complaints about evaluating DCPS teachers for their ability to teach these skills.

The complaint that I tend to hear is that the focus on test scores -- it's 50% of IMPACT, far more than any other component -- results in an emphasis on test prep. Any teaching of critical thinking skills becomes an afterthought.

[Anonymous]

This is the one and only ringing endorsement of IMPACT I've hear from someone claiming to be a teacher.

If you are a teacher and willing to go public, you could probably get this published somewhere.

[Anonymous]

"Please take a look at the IMPACT evaluation components, and see that it's all about community building, students making connections with new learning, critical thinking, collaborative work, and differentiation. If this is not going on in a teacher's classroom then they should be evaluated on that, and not have people fighting to protect them teaching in OUR schools."

Plain English please. You're spouting jargon.

Sounds like a copy and paste.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Please take a look at the IMPACT evaluation components

I actually believe that the IMPACT evaluation components are its most damning feature. All of my criticisms of IMPACT can be easily explained by this single graphic from the IMPACT guidebook:



IVA, individual value add, is determined by DC CAS scores. TLF is the teaching and learning framework. To the extent that teaching critical thinking skills is even evaluated, it is a single item included in that 35%. CSC is commitment to school community and SVA is the school's value add. SVA is also based on the DC CAS, so testing actually makes up 55% of an IMPACT score. I consider the priorities reflected by this to be sorely misplaced.

Edit: I forgot to add. I don't believe the pro-IMPACT poster is a teacher. At least not a DCPS teacher.

[Anonymous]

The pro-IMPACT poster must be very desperate and out-of-touch to think people here would be hoodwinked into thinking they are a teacher.

[Anonymous]

I agree with Jeff. I don't worry about the 5 classroom observations (although people have raised some questions about that as well). I am concerned about basing 50% of someone's evaluation on standardized tests, the fact that this was implemented without a trial period, and that the testing was obviously not monitored closely enough in order to stop egregious levels of cheating.

That was always my problem with Rhee - that she lacked experience in running a large bureaucracy like DCPS. I'm all in favor of evaluating teachers but it needs to be a better system that is proven to be accurate.

But my kid is starting college this year so I now only worry about DCPS as a taxpayer so I will defer to all you parents and teachers who have to live with this system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why shouldn't students get a 15 minute break each day for quiet time, a run in the playground or to make their own explorations? What is your definition of a "break?"

Contrary to what you say most teachers are not against observation. For me and many others it is the subjectiveness of the master educator. Last year I had an excellent one. This year's was a nightmare. And it's not because one rated me higher; I got a lower score with the better one last year.

If you really are a teacher you know as well as I do that some lessons turn out looking highly effective and some do not. Especially if you are a creative teacher constantly trying new things with your students. And a classroom of students from the NW will be different from a classroom of students in the SE.

I know this as a teacher. The best observations come with the assumption of 'real world' not canned, and a subsequent discussion of what went right or wrong --knowing that in teaching you are always paying it forward to the next lesson. IMPACT would make me sacrifice any risk-taking that yes, might cause a lesson to fall flat. On the other hand, risks also result in those memorable lessons that add up over time. Students forget the mediocre lessons and remember the ones that soar.

[Anonymous]

At the school I work at the few staff members who received "highly effective" are friends with the principal and assistant principal. One of these individuals is so awful that in my professional opinion, she should be fired. It really is sad.

The other part of it is that if you are vocal or constructively disagree with leadership (which should be welcome) than you're toast!

I realize that it is not like this in all schools but for a variety of reasons that previous posters and I have explained, IMPACT has SERIOUS flaws.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At the school I work at the few staff members who received "highly effective" are friends with the principal and assistant principal. One of these individuals is so awful that in my professional opinion, she should be fired. It really is sad

Too bad the WTU had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the era of accountability. If your representation had spent the last 30 years trying to come up with a fair and equitable way of identifying and removing such teachers, rather than fighting with every breath to keep them in front of students, we might have a better system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At the school I work at the few staff members who received "highly effective" are friends with the principal and assistant principal. One of these individuals is so awful that in my professional opinion, she should be fired. It really is sad

Too bad the WTU had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the era of accountability. If your representation had spent the last 30 years trying to come up with a fair and equitable way of identifying and removing such teachers, rather than fighting with every breath to keep them in front of students, we might have a better system.

edu-speak:

era of accountability

fair and equitable

in front of students