Spokane7
50°
August 2, 2010 in Opinion
Leonard Pitts Jr.: Hard lesson on teaching
A year or two ago, I received this e-mail. The writer was upset with me for arguing that school principals should have the power to fire teachers who do not perform. As numerous educators have told me, union protections being what they are, dumping a teacher – even a bad one – is an almost impossible task.
My correspondent, a teacher, took issue with my desire to see that changed, noting that without those protections, she’d be at the mercy of some boss who decided one day to fire her.
In other words, she’d be just like the rest of us. The lady’s detachment from the reality most workers live with struck me as a telling clue as to why our education system frequently fails to educate. When you can’t get fired for doing bad work, what’s your impetus for doing good?
Many of us seem to be wondering the same thing.
Recently, for instance, Washington, D.C., schools chief Michelle Rhee, hired in 2007 to reform the system, fired 241 teachers, most of whom had performed poorly on a teacher evaluation system.
And in a speech Thursday before the National Urban League, President Barack Obama defended his Race to the Top education initiative, saying the goal isn’t simply to fire bad teachers, but to lower class sizes, reward excellence and demand accountability.
Earlier this year, officials in Rhode Island fired the entire faculty of a poorly performing school.
Finally, there’s 2002’s No Child Left Behind Act, which, while deeply flawed, at least represented an attempt to bring about critical change.
Americans seem to be rallying around a demand for education reform. Apparently, we’ve had enough of students failing schools and schools failing students. We know our kids are capable of better – and that in a competitive, hyper-connected world where China is rising and India aspiring, not delivering better is no longer an option.
Unfortunately, whenever anyone seeks to REQUIRE better, they seem to find themselves at odds with the last people you’d expect: teachers. Or, more accurately, teachers unions.
No, I don’t hate teachers. I’ve been one myself. Moreover, I know that whatever I’ve achieved in life is due in large part to what I learned from Mr. Jacobs, Ms. Sobo, Mrs. Harrison, Sr. Tapanez and many others.
No, I don’t hate unions. I support the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively if they choose.
And no, I don’t think teachers bear sole responsibility for the failure of our kids to excel. You also have to blame those parents who are uninvolved or who live under the misapprehension that their little darlings can do no wrong, even when said darlings are swinging from the light fixtures in class or running an extortion ring behind the gym.
All that said, it is troubling to see teachers unions reflexively reject anything that smacks of accountability.
Rhee offered a significant raise and big bonuses for effective teachers in exchange for weakening tenure protections. She had to fight the union.
The White House put up $4 billion in grant money to spur innovation in schools. It had to fight the unions.
Those Rhode Island officials fired (and later rehired) faculty at a school where one child in two doesn’t graduate and only 7 percent of 11th-graders are proficient in math. It had to fight the unions.
ENOUGH. It is time teachers embraced accountability. Time parents, students and government did, too.
Because, ultimately, what is at stake here is not grades, not jobs and not blame. No, this is an argument about the future – and whether this country will have one. The fact is, it cannot in a world where information is currency and American kids are broke.
People like my correspondent need to understand: There is a groundswell building here. Lead, follow or get out of the way.
Leonard Pitts Jr. is a columnist for the Miami Herald. His e-mail address is lpitts@miamiherald.com.
Editorial: Workers’ beer routine undermines public trust 
eagleproducer on August 02 at 7:06 a.m.
Once again we are treated to “solutions” addressing the ills of the education system from someone who has never worked in a classroom.
This discussion should revolve around reforming teacher evaluation instead of placing blame for the failure of unmotivated and irresponsible students on the already burdened shoulders of educational professionals. I personally am evaluated once a year by an administrator for a single class session. The administrator does not have expertise in my subject area and it’s been over a dozen years since he worked in a classroom. I do not believe teachers should be evaluated by the performance of their students on standardized tests. Most subject areas are not tested and the weight of preparation for standardized tests falls on Language Arts teachers because two of the three disciplines measured fall under their purview.
It’s more than interesting that people will blame my cohort because Johnny can’t read but don’t say anything about the P.E. teacher when 1/3 of the children are obese. Believe me, there are more fat kids than there are ones not reading at grade level.
EVERY ONE OF THE TEACHERS IN THAT RHODE ISLAND DISTRICT WERE REHIRED! Pitts ignored (shamefully, as a black man) that No Child Left Behind (of which Race to the Top is now part of) sought to improve educational outcomes of certain groups of traditionally underperforming students, a cohort from which Mr. Pitts emerged. For some reason Mr. Pitts succeeded in the public education system, the one so replete with poor teachers, yet many of his race fail to do so. Does Pitts praise the system for his success? No.
I’ve been teaching long enough to understand what works in a classroom and what doesn’t. Getting students to buy into the unmistakable fact that they are ultimately responsible for their learning is the only consistent manner I’ve implemented to raise student achievement.
gmorton on August 02 at 11:59 a.m.
Spoketucky wrote,
“I do not believe teachers should be evaluated by the performance of their students on standardized tests.”
Ok. How should they be evaluated?
eagleproducer on August 02 at 6:34 p.m.
Teachers should be evaluated by their peers, like they used to be. The teaching profession was once extremely efficient at weeding out poor performers from their own ranks and for some reason we’ve stopped doing that. As well, relationships with fellow teachers and administrators are held in much higher esteem than actual competence in the classroom, a transition I’ve witnessed occur in the last ten or so years. Principals want teachers who won’t cause problems of any sort and that includes challenging students believe it or not. I also believe the issue of so called poor performing teachers is mainly a scapegoat and serves to deter policy makers from addressing the actual problems prior to implementing solutions. Public education is serving a different student these days. Most of the children come from single parent homes and increasingly are from cultures that have ALWAYS underperformed academically as a group. This reality rarely is mentioned during school reform discussion, yet family involvement with a child’s education is the most solid determinant of student achievement. Accountability for learning begins at home.
The highest performing students in the U.S. are as smart or smarter than any generation the U.S. has produced. They regularly perform tasks that I only dreamed of while attending high school. To me, that indicates that those who understand personal responsibility for their learning are getting great educations from public schools. When kids were held back in grade school when I was a child they got the message that they are responsible for their learning loud and clear.
The constant beating of the tired drum flailing against public schools diminishes our status in the community and leads to further disengagement by families from the schools when that engagement is what is needed the most.
gmorton on August 02 at 7:30 p.m.
Spoketucky wrote,
“Teachers should be evaluated by their peers, like they used to be.”
Peer-review is inherently a poor method of evaluating anything. It is entirely subjective and ridden with biases which cannot be removed or controlled for. In some realms it is the only method available, but it is never good. Moreover, in a unionized profession it is subverted at the outset by the prior union premise of “solidarity.” Expecting teachers to objectively evaluate their “union brothers” is preposterous.
I do agree that teachers are (in large part) scapegoats, however. The problems are much broader and deeper than that.
eagleproducer on August 03 at 1:14 a.m.
Evaluating teachers on the performance a test that a student takes once a year is preposterous too. I only have a student for fifty minutes for 180 days of the year. I can’t make them study, ensure they get proper rest the night before testing and arrive at school fed and ready to perform. Why should they have such control over my future when I have such little influence on them?
I don’t agree that peer review can’t be objective, but what makes a good teacher is subjective, so the evaluation method should at least consider that reality. There are objective criteria that can be measured, such as student engagement, time spent on task, structuring lessons to move from lower to higher levels of understanding, use of summative assessment, incorporating various learning styles/learning technologies, etc. Student teachers must meet a long, state-mandated laundry list of objective criteria during visits from university field supervisors and I see no reason why tenured instructors can’t endure the same.
Thanks for your predictable lambasting of unions. A cursory amount of research will clearly reveal that right to work states without mandatory teacher union membership are all at or near the bottom in student achievement and graduation rates. Interestingly, these states still rely heavily upon peer review for teacher evaluation despite no union to bargain for such conditions. Why would these states/districts continue to rely on invalid methods to evaluate teachers when they aren’t forced to by a union? Again, when a contradiction arises, gmorton, check your premises.
As for your illusion of union solidarity, I don’t remember a peep from the locals when four hundred of their members were handed pink slips last spring.
Scoutster on August 03 at 7:51 a.m.
Spoketucky..
The evaluation system is indeed flawed, but as a parent and a graduate of public schools back in the day, I can tell you that there is TONS of dead weight out there whether teachers want to admit it or not. As ham-fisted as some of the approaches we are currently trying are, they are at least better than tenure for life and rewarding incompetence.
My solution: double the salaries and eliminate all tenure. Then, the thorny part is deciding who stays and who goes from a pool of committed, energized folks. Same problem of deciding who’s good and who’s not, but at least the potential pool is larger.
eagleproducer on August 03 at 10:39 a.m.
scoutster: I’ve not met one colleague who fits into the category you’ve described. Maybe I’m lucky to work with dedicated people, but I did substitute for a period of time before finding a continuing contract as well. Are some better than others? Sure, but you can say that about any profession. It’s not politically correct to place the blame for lack of achievement where it deserve to be: on the learner. Who gets blamed if a student drops out of college because they can’t cut it? The University? The Faculty?
YOU are ultimately responsible if you learn something or not. That reality needs to be stressed as much as the three R’s in schools, especially in early grades. When kids see their parents rail against their teachers/schools they get the message that they aren’t responsible for learning, that the process will somehow happen outside of them by tinkering with professionals who already have plenty on their plates.
gmorton on August 03 at 11:49 a.m.
Spoketucky wrote,
“There are objective criteria that can be measured, such as student engagement, time spent on task, structuring lessons to move from lower to higher levels of understanding, use of summative assessment, incorporating various learning styles/learning technologies, etc.”
Those may be objective, but they are not measuring the variable of interest, namely, student performance. They are measuring methods when we are interested in results.
You mentioned that “what makes a good teacher is subjective.” That is not true. What is true is that many of the factors which make a good teacher are subtle and difficult to quantify, and student performance on standardized tests will not necessarily reveal those factors. The evaluation method must assess results (student performance) *given the raw material the teacher has to work with*.
“Interestingly, these states still rely heavily upon peer review for teacher evaluation despite no union to bargain for such conditions. Why would these states/districts continue to rely on invalid methods to evaluate teachers when they aren’t forced to by a union?”
Peer-review can work (though not well) when there is no prior “understanding” among the peers to support each other. When there is such an understanding peer review is subverted at the outset.
Basically, Spoke, teachers need to be evaluated using the same methodologies used to evaluate engineers, programmers, doctors and dentists, auto mechanics, or any other skilled worker – i.e., by the demand for their services in the market. That assumes, of course, that parents can freely choose the schools to which they send their kids, and school administrators can freely choose who and when to hire and fire as teachers.
gmorton on August 03 at 12:05 p.m.
Spoketucky wrote,
“YOU are ultimately responsible if you learn something or not. That reality needs to be stressed as much as the three R’s in schools, especially in early grades.”
I agree that’s true, Spoke, but not in the early grades. Young children are irresponsible by definition. So teachers in the primary grades need to be somewhat tyrannical, and young kids will respond to that just fine. They are used to being told what is important and what they must do.
In the early grades kids are motivated to learn because they wish to please. Thereafter, they must be motivated by their own curiosity – the desire to know how (some aspect of) the world works. The teacher’s role changes then – they must be able to satisfy that curiosity and nourish it by providing guidance and directing the student to resources.
Some kids lack that curiosity. They should not be in school; they’re wasting their own time and their parents’ (or the public’s) money.
misjustice on August 03 at 1:41 p.m.
@ Mr.G; “Some kids lack that curiosity. They should not be in school; they’re wasting their own time and their parents’ (or the public’s) money.”
What is your proposal for what to “do” with such kids, those which lack “curiosity”, those that are a “waste” of time and money? If they are not enrolled in school where, pray tell, are they going to be? Out roaming our streets, committing crimes?
aeguy on August 03 at 9:33 p.m.
If Parents took an active role in their child’s education then we would not have the problems we have today. Parents continually go through the motions of sending their kids to school and asking “How was school, honey?” and leaving it at that. They look at Parent-Teacher conferences as a burden more than an evaluation of their kid and take constructive criticsm as personal attack. It’s like owning a car and just doing the basic maintenance to get by, you know: getting the oil changed routinely and the suggested tune-ups at milege intervals; but if you drive your car like a mad-man inbetween and neglect the basic needs of your car, said car will fail. Yet you will still blame the automaker for your neglect. Parents step up to the plate and be a parent, have expectations for your kids and set standards for them. If you wanted somebody else(teachers) to raise your kids maybe you should have thought twice before reproducing.
gmorton on August 04 at 7:51 p.m.
misjustice wrote,
“What is your proposal for what to “do” with such kids, those which lack “curiosity”, those that are a “waste” of time and money? If they are not enrolled in school where, pray tell, are they going to be? Out roaming our streets, committing crimes?”
What they will do is not my business or my problem – or yours. Unless they are indeed committing crimes, of course. In which case we throw them in jail.
goattrails on August 05 at 7:24 a.m.
It seems that you really have issues with teachers, that is sad.
I agree that EDUCATION needs an overhaul, but not starting with teachers.
Education needs more resources, an unpopular thought in this financial climate, however when our schools were the best after WWll the funding for education was high and it has slowly but steadily slipped in priority for our nation.
Right now classrooms are a minimum of 30 in elementary schools, there are no nurses, counselors, aids, or assistance of any kind to reach all students. The state where I work is second lowest in per student funding and teacher pay, yet we max ourselves out to reach and teach our children. Speaking of children have you visited an elementary school lately? The damaged children our society is producing is a raging problem, yet we have zero resources to address their needs.
Please consider all factors when making your bold sweeping statements. All teachers could write a book about the horrors we endure through changing school boards, superintendents, principals, policies, and laws. BUT, we cannot speak because we must protect the privacy of our students, we are muzzled and just have to take the assaults by the likes of people like you who are sadly only too happy to use your platform to spread your uninformed negativity.
misjustice on August 05 at 8:41 a.m.
@ Mr. G; what a sad commentary…that we can ignore children that you deem not worthy and then offer no alternative to what we as a society should do to address the problem. Typical “libertarian” tripe, all talk and NO action…
@ Goat; when corporations actually paid taxes our schools were fully funded. Now, the largest Trans National Corporations have better things to do with their money than to help support our society; things like move the money off shore into tax shelters, and pay their CEOs over 300% to the 1% earned by worker bees (because CEO pay is tax deductible).
@ Aeguy; I agree that too many parents are not engaged in their children’s learning process (and many should not have become parents in the first place). When I was a young child the first thing that I did when I got home from class was do my homework, with the help of my parents. They checked my work and helped when I had questions. Sadly, I don’t believe that most kids have this type of parental involvement. And when I was taking college prep classes and the math homework was above my parents’ abilities to help, they hired me a tutor. My parents’ investment in my education made the difference; it mattered more than the teachers, the administrators, or the class size. Parents, get involved and stay engaged, your child’s educational future depends on it!