William Johnson teaches special education at a public school in Brooklyn. With a few checkmarks, his principal has labeled him an "unsatisfactory" teacher. In an NYT essay, he explains the mixed signals his administrators have given him to complicate his teaching. He also explains why the high-stakes evaluations Governor Daugaard wants to impose statewide on K-12 teachers are unnecessary:
The truth is, teachers don't need elected officials to motivate us. If our students are not learning, they let us know. They put their heads down or they pass notes. They raise their hands and ask for clarification. Sometimes, they just stare at us like zombies. Few things are more excruciating for a teacher than leading a class that's not learning. Good administrators use the evaluation processes to support teachers and help them avoid those painful classroom moments — not to weed out the teachers who don't produce good test scores or adhere to their pedagogical beliefs [William Johnson, "Confessions of a 'Bad' Teacher," New York Times, 2012.03.03].
Johnson says that, in the hands of the wrong administrators, the Daugaard evaluation scheme may actually harm teacher performance and student achievement:
Worst of all, the more intense the pressure gets, the worse we teach. When I had administrators breathing down my neck, the students became a secondary concern. I simply did whatever my assistant principal asked me to do, even when I thought his ideas were crazy. In all honesty, my teaching probably became close to incoherent. One week, my assistant principal wanted me to focus on arranging the students' desks to fit with class activities, so I moved the desks around every day, just to show that I was a good soldier. I was scared of losing my job, and my students suffered for it [Johnson, 2012.03.03].
Johnson would likely take serious issue with South Dakota's planned scheme to base teacher evaluations on student test scores. He knows that test scores say less about teacher quality than they do about student give-a-darn:
That said, given all the support in the world, even the best teacher can't force his students to learn. Students aren't simply passive vessels, waiting to absorb information from their teachers and regurgitate it through high-stakes assessments. They make choices about what they will and won't learn. I know I did. When I was a teenager, I often stayed up way too late, talking with friends, listening to music or playing video games. Did this affect my performance on tests? Undoubtedly. Were my teachers responsible for these choices? No [Johnson, 2012.03.03].
Johnson says that good teaching comes from educators who innovate and take intellectual risks and encourage their students to do the same. Teachers like that help students become their own persons. By stifling innovation and risk-taking, Governor Daugaard's plan appears inclined to restrain students and teachers from becoming their own persons.
Related: Another good educator talks about another vital message that Governor Daugaard doesn't get: that the community-building glue of the humanities is as vital to education as the productivity-enhancing nuts and bolts of math and science.
Cory,
This guy sounds like a person who thinks his dung doesn't stink, he should just be trusted to do a good job because he says he will, and he don't need no stinkin' manager looking over his shoulder.
You would be better served if you didn't keep throwing at us teaching is so unique and teachers are so special that nothing applies to teachers.
I knew that was coming, the dismissal of one more teacher's expert opinion. Neither Johnson nor I say that nothing applies to teachers. He makes a reasonable argument as to why the management he's receiving doesn't improve his performance. His complaint doesn't seem to be unique to teaching; I can imagine professionals in any field bemoaning the fact that their expertise and daily experience are trumped by arbitrary and conflicting dictates from above.
Troy,
I enjoy engaging in our dialogues when you don't merely mouth Governor Daugaard's talking points, but to quote one of your heroes, there you go again with the talking points.
No one who voted for the Governor's plan offered any proof that it would work or had worked elsewhere. Instead, we were offered an almost cultish mantra to support the plan because the man offering it had good intentions. In fact, it seemed as if the man offering it was so above us mere mortals that he probably had no body waste to excrete. After all, his apporval ratings hover near 80%. As for his good intentions, the road to hell is paved with those intentions.
From what I have heard of the arm twisting and threats that went on , the man with good intentions who offered the plan learned a lot from Nixon playbook.
If this plan is so great, why do staunch Republicans who teach oppose it?
As we go off topic a bit, The Governor is sure to continue his war on teachers. Do you want to wager when Daugaard will go after the state retirment system? Since he's a lock to get re-elected, I'm betting the first year of his second term.
Typed without coffee. I apologize for errors
Cory/LK,
I guess we are all too predictable. LOL
But seriously, bad managers aren't the reason to do something. Get rid of the bad ones (which this debate has made me believe there is more than I thought). And there is Alot of whine in that guy.
Why is it that when anyone makes a qualified criticism or attempts to redress a grievance, they are whining, according to the conservative stereotype. Does it never occur to them how inane this kind of mindless prattle is?
Indeed, Anne! It seems to me that the only distinction Troy makes between whining and legitimate complaints are whether or not the person raising a stink agrees with a certain policy agenda or not. What's the difference, Troy?
Troy... okay, I'll say it. Teaching is, and has always been, a socialist enterprise. It has to be that way. It's an ancient collective craft based on survival of an entire species, not just one individual at the expense of others.
Well-said Bill!
Ah ha! Teaching as socialist enterprise... so that's why Daugaard and the Republicans hate us so! We teachers, like Wikipedia, stand as a constant counterexample to the GOP's free-market fundamentalism. We prove that competition does not solve all things, and that socialism, sometimes, really does work. Good grief, we teachers are so annoying.
I love my job.
Give a man a fish vs teach a man to fish. We all know the drill, right Cory? It's not about how many fish you have. It's about how many fish there will be to share.
fish? Oh, you mean poisson. ;-)
...umm... no...but ummm yeah!