A reader asked me to put the Gates grant out there for all of you. I understand there are concerns and I would like to address them.
Please post your questions and I will answer them. I want this to be an honest productive conversation. If we keep it on that level this should turn out to be a very interesting thread.
9 comments:
Is the School Board addressing the administrative ranks as they are addressing Teachers with the Gates Grant guidelines? It sounds like the GG is redefining Teacher compensation/evaluation. Administrators hire and evaluate and retain or fire Teachers, yet the guidelines for administrative positions say minimum 3 years experience in the classroom. I understand that some administrators are up to the task after 3 years in the classroom, but, many are not, and that some wait longer to become administrators.
Is the Board going to address administrative compensation in order to keep Teachers from jumping to administration to make more money?
Is there any way to get administrators back into classrooms to find out what it is like to carry out all the mandates issued from above?
John Thrasher's Performance Appraisal
How will the "playing field" be leveled to be fair for all ?
As a Kindergarten teacher, I can tell you this... my open classroom is much smaller than my co-teachers in a enclosed classroom pod setup. The pod classrooms each have 4 computers,a closet to hold more resources,a kitchen and an adult restroom. My classroom only has 2 computers and none of the other equipment mentioned.
It's a fact that all classrooms and schools are different in many,many, ways and it's a case of "the have it all and the have not" Tell me please, how the "field" will be "leveled" before the "game" starts.
I know you wont post this but you will read it.
Those of us in the know don't have any questions. We know that this grant is anti-teacher, just like RTT and SB6. What we have in play is a growing anti-teacher movement.
Kids aren't progressing and someone has to be blamed. Of all the stakeholders, teachers are the smallest and most vulnerable. We are the scapegoats.
Now is the time for you to demonstrate the leadership you promised.
I know that its a huge political gamble but you must stand up. Show leadership. The Gates plan assumes that teachers are the problem. Spending all this money will only put of the reckoning.
Show leadership. Be the first to slow down this train.
April can you please share with your readers your opinion on SB, 6 it would be very much appreciated..
Kill Bill 6 We're Teachers Not Testers
A few questions...
1) Will the reliability and validity of the "student data" be established?
2) What about long term learning, where a child finally "understands" a concept or series of concepts after having been in the Teacher's class?
3) How is the EET program going to establish the reliability and objectivity of the peer evaluations?
4) Are the administrators going to be able to discuss the evaluations with the subject Teachers and the peer evaluators, before, during and after the observations?
5) Are Teachers going to be held to evaluations made at different locations with differing student demographics and populations?
6) If a Teacher gets an "excellent evaluation," will that Teacher be unilaterally moved to an underperforming school/class level?
7) What happens to a Teacher who has "excellent evaluations" for 3 years and then gets moved to a different situation with a subsequent decrease in performance?
Please check out the March 28, 2010, 11:26 PM post in this thread. I don't think that is an appropriate post.
Anonymous July 27, 2010 10:29 AM,
Thank you for that heads-up. My blog has been invaded with spam and that one slipped by me. I have removed it.
At your service, April
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