DFER for Teachers
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DFER backs two crucial teacher effectiveness bills in MD
March 16, 2012
Democrats for Education Reform is backing two crucial teacher effectiveness bills in Maryland. Last week, Joe Williams, DFER's Executive Director, sent two letters to the Maryland Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee in support of SB 364, a bill introduced by former DFER Reformer of the Month Sen. Ferguson, and HB 613, the House version of the bill introduced by Rep. Rosenberg.
The legislation would offer student loan repayment to the highest performing teachers -- not just for those who attended college in-state, but also to those who attended out-of-state colleges. It would also establish a separate grant available primarily for new teachers who receive the highest performance ratings, as determined by Maryland's teacher evaluation system.
In addition to SB 364/HB 613, DFER is backing SB 876, also introduced by Sen. Ferguson, and the House version of the bill, HB 1210, introduced by Reps. Rosenberg and Hucker, that would end the harmful practice known as Last In, First Out (LIFO). As we've seen across the country, LIFO -- which requires teacher layoffs to be based strictly on seniority rather than performance -- can lead to a decrease in the number of excellent teachers in the classroom. DFER's own Jocelyn Huber, Director of Teacher Advocacy, submitted testimony in support of both SB 876 and HB 1210.
Sen. Ferguson is putting forward bold legislation that will help Maryland attract and retain top-notch teachers. That's good news for teachers and good news for Maryland's children.
Read Joe's letters here and here; Read Jocelyn's testimony here and here.
DFER for Teachers - The Kids Are Alright
February 17, 2012
For anyone who has not yet encountered Students for Education Reform (SFER) this dynamic group is a nonprofit devoted to injecting student voice into education policy. They currently have chapters on over 70 college campuses and continue to grow. By organizing college students, SFER has tapped into an invested and powerful force for change that has long been neglected in the education reform movement. College students, having recently completed the American K-12 education experience, may have the best on the ground information on how policies are shaping education. The rest of us debate the impact of No Child Left Behind on curriculum or the value of charter schools like KIPP, but these students have lived it. And now they're here to tell us what needs to change.
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to help organize a training weekend for some SFER members from campuses across the country. I must say I am impressed. Anyone who is fretting about the quality of modern college students needs to spend some time with these young adults. This group was incredibly intelligent and thoughtful about education policy. For the training we assembled a group of experienced policy and campaign experts to share their knowledge and insights. But these SFER members didn't come to simply absorb and accept what the experts had to say. They asked hard questions of themselves and the presenters, from challenging a study's data collection methods to requesting information on how to ensure their teacher preparation program is preparing them well. And over the course of an intense two-day training, they were more focused and attentive than most groups of professional adults I've encountered (though I'm seriously impressed by their ability to continually tweet without anyone noticing their phones were out).
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Strong teacher evaluations mean student success
January 15, 2012
Letter to the Editor by Jocelyn Huber, DFER Director of Teacher Advocacy
(From The Post-Standard, January 15th, 2012)
To the Editor:
Providing an excellent education for Syracuse's students is impossible without excellent teachers. Teacher quality is one of the most important determinants of whether a child succeeds not only in academic pursuits, but in life beyond school.
In fact, a new study by researchers at Harvard and Columbia examines the link between great teachers and successful students, singling out a teacher's impact on student test scores to assess teacher performance. The study found that students assigned to high-performing teachers -- those who increased their students' test scores -- "are more likely to attend college, earn higher salaries, live in better neighborhoods and save more for retirement. They are also less likely to have children as teenagers." The researchers found that a teacher's ability to raise test scores resulted in similar gains in long-term outcomes for students from both low- and high-income families.
While the state, city and teachers' union tussle and posture over implementing a fair and rigorous evaluation system, the students and teachers of Syracuse are paying the price. When we have no good way to evaluate, identify and reward our best teachers, more kids go without what they need most to succeed in school.
Standardized tests may be a work in progress, but as the Harvard and Columbia study proves, the scores matter. The scores are a crucial measure and predictor of students' academic success. We cannot effectively evaluate teachers without taking into consideration an objective measure of their impact on student learning.
The benefits for children of a rigorous teacher evaluation system are obvious. But a fair, objective system of evaluation also benefits teachers. As a former public elementary school teacher, I understand how frustrated teachers can be by the lack of constructive feedback and guidance available in current evaluation systems. And I can appreciate the hesitance to trust or take seriously yet another intervention from outside school walls. But I also know how discouraging it is to see a teacher fail his or her students and to watch the damage resonate throughout the school.
Every outstanding educator deserves to be treated like a professional and rewarded for his or her hard work and excellence. A strong evaluation system allows school districts to identify, reward and support strong teachers, aid those who are struggling and replace those who are consistently letting our children down. A strong evaluation system also provides a clear and reasonable appeal process for teachers who feel they may have been unfairly evaluated.
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DFER for Teachers: Good Teachers Are Worth the Money
November 30, 2011
By Jocelyn Huber, DFER's Director of Teacher Advocacy
Several heavyweights in the education advocacy world, including
Andrew Rotherham of TIME and
Frederick Hess, the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), have already weighed in on the joint report by AEI and the Heritage Foundation, "
Assessing the Compensation of Public School Teachers." Even DFER's own Charlie Barone chimed in with
his take on the issue. Now, as the buzz around the study has quieted, it's my turn to jump in to make sure no one missed the importance of the debate.
I had the unfortunate opportunity to attend the "Are Public School Teachers Overpaid?" presentation at AEI and hear the authors speak about their work. And as much as I've tried to be objective and resist the urge to react to what seems to be deliberate baiting, I can't hold back any longer. As a former teacher turned education reformer, the whole experience made me angry. I have rarely witnessed such pervasive, snide disrespect, disregard for, and ignorance about teachers, especially early elementary school teachers, as I saw spouted on that panel.
You can watch it for yourself here:
I desperately want to lock the authors, Andrew Biggs and Jason Richwine, in a first grade classroom in a low-income district for a month and then see if they still think that teaching is such a skill-less, worthless endeavor. I mean, they'd only have to teach the next generation of voters and citizens to read. Certainly, that isn't terribly important or challenging, right?
When I read the written report, I was somewhat heartened to see that the authors showed slightly more understanding and respect for the teaching profession on paper than they did in their presentation. But it is difficult to ignore the mistaken assumptions and disregard for teachers at the heart of their investigation. The authors seem to think that teaching is a profession for those who have no better options. This report is based in the assumption that people who teach lack marketable skills that would allow them to be more financially successful in other professions. The panelists seemed to believe that this is especially true for elementary school teachers. Despite the fact that early elementary years are the most crucial for a student's future learning, the panel felt high school teachers were more likely to have valuable skills (though still not terribly worthwhile or worth compensating) - fast forward to around 1 hour 7 minutes of the presentation to see what I mean.
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Teacher evaluations should not be watered down
November 10, 2011
By Jocelyn Huber
Excellent teachers and excellent education are inseparable. In fact, teacher quality is one of the most important determinants of whether a child succeeds in school and continues to college.
A handful of states have been working hard to recruit and nurture great teachers -- starting with strong, effective evaluation systems. Tennessee has led the charge.
When it comes to improving public schools, ideas can only take us so far. It's effective implementation of those ideas that yields results. Last year, the state passed bold, bipartisan legislation, the First to the Top Act, to create a rigorous teacher and principal evaluation system that has the potential to set an example for the rest of the country. The legislation was supported by the teachers' union, the business community and a wide range of education stakeholders.
Then, the state passed legislation earlier this year linking tenure to teacher performance evaluations, further strengthening First to the Top. But now, as Tennessee begins to put the new system into place, the strength of the evaluation model is in jeopardy. Weakening the strong framework by watering it down or delaying its implementation would be a tremendous disservice to Tennessee's children, teachers and principals.
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