Saturday, October 10, 2015

Ineffective Rating


From the Webster Dictionary:


Full Definition of INEFFECTIVE

1
:  not producing an intended effect :  ineffectual <ineffective lighting>
2
:  not capable of performing efficiently or as expected :  incapable <an ineffective executive>

The teacher is in school every day.  Even when the weather is horrendous, he gets in his car and makes the dangerous commute.  He spends hours preparing lessons and exams.  His free time is spent tutoring his students.  The kids like him, some love him and for the most part, do well. Of course he is not reaching them all.  No one can unless, of course, the classes are stacked.  He is kind and caring and gives 100% of himself every day.  His AP doesn't like him  After 30+ years she has decided he is an ineffective teacher.  Two ineffectives are pushing him into retirement, something he is not ready for.

His students don't care if his questions are not phrased perfectly.  They understand what he is teaching and respond well in class.  He will be replaced by a newbie, someone hand picked by the AP, straight out of college.  Someone who might be an excellent teacher one day but lacks the experience of this teacher and the skill that comes from years of being in front of the classroom.  This teacher is far from ineffective according to the definition of ineffective.

The teacher was recently observed by an independent evaluator and the lesson went well.  The kids answered appropriately and worked well in groups.  The lesson went exactly as planned.  Will the evaluator be objective when the lesson is written up or is this independent person really not so independent at all?  The teacher felt good at the end but the person observing never bothered to say one word to him, good or bad, so he does not know what will happen.  Was this just another gotcha?  What is the purpose of torturing the teacher?

(Zebra from Bronx Zoo--no relevance to post)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The post revolves around the two sentences in the middle:
After 30+ years she has decided he is an ineffective teacher. Two ineffectives are pushing him into retirement, something he is not ready for.
The leverage provided by Danielson, abetted by "independent" (though, perhaps, not unbiased) evaluation, facilitates the unimpeded application of economies of scale. Sadly, the "replacements" are cheaper and more pliant, but are unlikely to be an improvement over this beleaguered senior teacher. When they say "Kids First" yet send in an evaluator who's never met the kids before (and won't say a word to them,) you know enough about their (hypocritical) agenda.