Ranking Schools

[Symbonite]

They should also Rank Teahers. They need a wake up call.

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-st ... htm#174084

[Dawggss]

They should also Rank Teahers. They need a wake up call.

Guess the request, as presented here, is indeed proof of the urgency.

[flamingfingers]

Teachers are assessed on a regular basis by either principals or designated observers who evaluate lesson plans, classroom conduct by direct observation and student evaluations, plus individual teacher interviews where evaluations are discussed and perhaps for suggestions for improvement are instituted.

The FRaser Institute does nothing more than compare scholastic achievement and does not consider any social influences that make a 'whole life experience' for students.

To think that the Fraser Institute is engaged in anything other than promoting right wing, private enterprise for profit is HUGE mistake.

[Veovis]

Teachers are assessed on a regular basis by either principals or designated observers who evaluate lesson plans, classroom conduct by direct observation and student evaluations, plus individual teacher interviews where evaluations are discussed and perhaps for suggestions for improvement are instituted.

The FRaser Institute does nothing more than compare scholastic achievement and does not consider any social influences that make a 'whole life experience' for students.

To think that the Fraser Institute is engaged in anything other than promoting right wing, private enterprise for profit is HUGE mistake.

And yet through conversations with principals there is little to be done about a poorly evaluated teacher without parents that will advocate for their children's rights. In other words, they can write up review after review that states the teacher is inadequate but without outside pressures nothing improves. Parents as well as outside evaluation such as the Fraser Institute help create this and move towards the improvement of the education system. It's a good thing.

[hobbyguy]

I have a feeling, and it is just a feeling, that as Principles start their careers as teachers, and the primary qualifications are education degrees, that many lack the necessaries to navigate the difficult but doable minefield of dismissing poorly performing employees. I also suspect that Principles do not get to make the choice, which is a mistake. Some bureaucrat in Victoria will likely have to provide a "rubber stamp" before they can proceed.

Those are suppositions, but would match the experience of many managers in the private sector with large companies - who are just as bureaucratic as most governments.

IF you want to be successful in navigating that minefield, then there has to be some latitude to make your own mistakes. If there isn't, then it just won't happen. Studying employment law is also a key, as that makes the potential missteps easier to avoid.

It is then, the system that doesn't dismiss poor teachers, just as many private firms don't dismiss poor union employees. The reasons are, I suspect, the same.

Yet you can dismiss underperforming and poor union employees, it just has to be done right, and done with patience. If in the middle of the process, the employee changes and begins to perform, perfect! That is a far better outcome. But first managers (principles included) need to understand that it is a process, not an action.

[Osoyoos_Familyof4]

The reality is that there should be better processes for dismissing or re-educating teachers who aren't so great.

The other reality (and I'm not condoning or dismissing it) is that there are a few things that happen when a teacher under-performs: 1) That teacher will get boxed into jobs at the school that isn't regular classroom teaching necessarily but may be better suited to their abilities (lesson planning/one-to-one instruction for children who struggle, substitution teaching etc). 2) those teachers who don't perform as well are sometimes "frozen" socially out of the system doing jobs that other teachers don't want or like until they quit or retire early or whatever. 3) Parents complain,and that teacher has their classroom audited by administration who in good outcomes will assist that teacher to be better at their job. Or, in not-so-ideal cases humiliate them by constant monitoring so that the teacher will quit in shame.

I am not suggesting that every teacher is great. I'm not suggesting that there isn't room for better performance evaluation and constructive re-education and even dismissal. But you'd be surprised at how the system kinda takes care of itself through rogue decisions to weed-out the not-so-great.

There is plenty of room to do better for sure. The only thing about "ranking" is that it's most often tied to test scores by students which puts teachers in a predicament in areas where there are less social advantages for their students, or threre is a high level of students who are new to Canada and are emerging learners of the language of instruction etc.