A difficult issue . . .

After reading this article in the Seattle Times about teacher evaluation, I am struggling with why we make our work so difficult. The article is about an issue emerging through bargaining on the use of student assessment data in teacher evaluation. The problem is that it is now being played out in the press and has become a bargaining tool. Please understand that I am not taking sides or blaming anyone it is just unfortunate that it is playing out this way. Goodness knows; I take as many missteps if not more then most people.

The issue comes on the heels of the big firing in Washington D.C. where 302 people were let go including 246 teachers, 226 for performance issues and 20 for not having the proper license. In addition, 729 more were put on notice meaning they could be in the next group to be let go. These firings are a result of the district's new negotiated IMPACT evaluation model that is being touted by education reformers as a model for the rest of us to emulate.

I know nothing about this large school district other than what I read and have no idea of the number of teachers that should not be in classrooms with kids. I do know that in ALL classrooms, every day, every child must have the opportunity for quality learning. This will mean that some teachers will need support to implement changed practices and in some cases will need to consider other professional opportunities.

I don't believe that we can argue that student achievement is not an essential measure of a district's success. The questions around this issue are many and will be difficult to overcome as we and many others seek that balance the individual teacher and the system's responsibility for the achievement of each student. I believe that this trend as witnessed by this article in the Times, will not and should not disappear; using student achievement data in determining our success is something that we must embrace. As we move in this direction, it will be important to keep this statement from the D.C. union's president in front of us.

Washington Teachers" Union President George Parker called it "reform through firing."

"The focus," he said, "is on firing rather than supporting and building."

This comes after the union and district agreed on the new evaluation model. It suggests to me that they have further to go in aligning the mental models that resulted in this new model.