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New Ohio Plan Aims to Retest Teachers in Failing Schools
Some teachers in the bottom 10% of Ohio schools may have to prove their competence if they teach ‘core subjects.’
Ohio is pioneering a plan to force teachers in the bottom of 10% of schools, as ranked by the Performance Index (a measure of student test performance), to retake licensing exams if their subject is included in a list of ‘core subjects’
The unusual measure is a result of a provision in Ohio’s budget law. Governor John Kasich defends the plan despite pressure from teaching unions.
Re-testing teachers, Gov. John Kasich has said, will hold them more accountable and give districts and charter schools the ability to move ineffective teachers out.
“Struggling schools need to be sure teachers are competent and fully capable of teaching their assigned curriculum,”
Unions believe the measure is a waste of time as new teachers already take licensing tests before starting work in Ohio.
It’s like telling a longtime college student to retake the ACT or SAT, said Michele Prater, spokeswoman for the Ohio Education Association.
There are also significant financial concerns, as it is currently unclear whether Ohio will pay for the tests of make districts fund them from existing funds. With an estimated cost of $2.1m a year to test about 6,000 teachers and a cost of around $120 per day per teacher to provide substitute teachers in the affected schools, this is a plan that unions also consider to be a waste of money.
The Governor rejects these concerns:
“Limiting this provision to poor-performing schools will minimize costs and avoid unnecessary burdens on quality schools,” Kasich said.
There are also concerns that this measure is unhelpful in that it will end up specifically targeting the poorest schools and further exacerbating the budgetary pressures these schools are under. Although the final ranking list will not be available until September the preliminary rankings show that virtually all the schools on Ohio’s lowest 10% list are located in poor neighborhoods. The current iteration of the plan broadly targets all core-subject teachers at a ‘failing’ school for mandatory re-testing and there are concerns that this will discourage better teachers from staying at these schools or applying to them in the first place
“How is that going to make any (teacher) want to go to those schools?” asked Julie Sellers, president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers. “We have good teachers in those schools now. They’re all going to want to transfer out. That will destabilize their staff.”
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Comments
And… It will do nothing. I’ll wager that most of the teachers in these failing schools will pass the test. The issue isn’t the teachers it the conditions that the students come from.
It’s just trendier to blame teachers instead of actually fixing the REAL problems.
Can we factor in why we can’t can’t get better parental involvement?this is a big piece of the puzzle thatv we refuse to incorporate and until WR do students will continue in this plight. Government is truly scared to help people parent their children which in poorer neighborhoods is major.
Let’s retest all teachers and see if there is any
real significant difference in the scores.
Whether the teachers in the failing schools pass the test or don’t pass the test is not the issue. (Although I would prefer to have teachers that can routinely take pop quizzes and pass them.)
The real issue here is and always has been the education world blaming the ‘environment’ that kids come from as the culprit.
In the world of academia and science research, to name just two, when we discover a ‘condition’ that is creating anomalies in outcomes we call them ‘variables’ and we begin to modify the design of the research to account for the variable(s).
Now that MattW has enlightened us with the fact that it is the ‘conditions that the students come from’ that is the problem, we are all in a position to take that/those variables into account when we design the weekly instructional plan for each student.
Seriously, until we all start to think about any obstacle to a child’s education as simply a variable that we all need to solve for we are destined to struggle over the next decade while Southeast Asia and China take the intellectual lead on the global front.
We all have choices – my choice is to believe that EVERY CHILD CAN LEARN and we have to solve the riddle for each of them – one by one if necessary!
“We all have choices – my choice is to believe that EVERY CHILD CAN LEARN and we have to solve the riddle for each of them – one by one if necessary!
How much money and time and emotional energy have you invested in this copncept? Until you put in what a teacher puts in every day your opinion is nothing more than uniformed ignorant chatter.
‘How much money and time and emotional energy have you invested in this copncept (sic)? Until you put in what a teacher puts in every day your opinion is nothing more than uniformed ignorant chatter”
Guess I hit a nerve Matt. So, I have been working with educators at every level – classroom teachers, building administrators, district administrators and politicians for 37 years. I have spent every waking hour since 1976 thinking about nothing but this which is an emotional drain. I have helped companies raise hundreds of millions of dollars to try and solve the riddle.
I am not sure where you get that I am a part of the “every child can learn if we just punish teachers enough crowd.” In fact, it is exactly the opposite!
It is unfortunate that you immediately respond to “Every, all, no …” by immediately thinking that someone has to ‘punish teachers’ to believe that we can and must get to every child. Oops, there is that ‘every’ word again.
You also jumped to an incredibly naive assumption that I am advocating that every child be treated the same – whether from .. how did you say it – oh yeah, ‘Just as there is a difference between a kid with a stable home of educated parents in a good neighborhood and a child with learning disabilities in an abusive household with not even a place for them to do homework at night’ is simply not the case.
Again, I am advocating that every child has a chance if we understand the variables and implement policy and change in policy that allows teachers to do their job with the right resources for the right kiddo at the right time.
Simply saying that ‘studies report that the single greatist influence a child’s academic career is the educational level of their parents’ and I assume the follow-on to that is ‘Oh well … I guess they ‘re terminal … add your own ending’ is an excuse. I call it a trend that has to change. You call it destiny. I call it an opportunity to really change the trajectory of our country.
I am not judging you as a teacher .. I am judging you as a human being. Any human being that believes what you have stated doesn’t deserve to be a teacher.
Yes, I know a lot about education, schools and teaching. Anytime you want to debate those topics – let me know – I’m in.
But if all you want is to make assumptions about my motives or my background and call me names – I’m not interested. I have seen too many great educators trying to make a difference for every child they encounter to waste any energy on your biased views that there are some students based on ‘bad luck’ that must – well – just go straight to jail or the wonderful world of poverty – that, dear Matt, is moronic.
WOW you have been “working wioth educators at every level” I’m sorry I misjudged you. You obbiously done the hard work that educators do. How much actual teaching have you done? How much class room time have you put into helping actual children? How many fights have you broken up, how many children have you let cry on you because their life is falling apart? How many times have you fed hungry kids out of your own pocket? How many lessons have you taught, papers graded? Standing by drinking coffee and complaining that :well you should do this my way” is NOT the same as being a teacher. Hinding behind a fancy suit isn’t what I do. I TEACH kids, and that has a lot more value in this world than a fancy consulting job.
And if you want to judge me as a human being go ahead. So far all all you’ve prooven is you know how to type. I’ve been in front of classrooms since 15 years and every one of them I prooved my metal and did more for my kids than a blowhard with a political agenda.
Matt, Matt, Matt ….
proove is spelled prove
obbiously is spelled obviously
copncept is spelled concept
wioth is spelled with
I could go on but no need. And I accept your apology as you certainly misjudged me.
I don’t drink coffee nor hinnd (sic) behind a fancy suit. You are judging me based on my ability to write!?
Shame on you … do you judge children when they come to your classroom dirty and hungry?
You have also assumed I have a political agenda … not so. There should never be partisan politics when it comes to our kids and their future,
You stated, “I’ve been in front of classrooms since 15 years …’ which has me a bit baffled – from the age of 15 or for 15 years?
You see Matt, it does make a difference. Your students see the same lack of preciseness as everyone else does on this board and by inference and actions (I presume) you give your students permission to be lazy and opinionated without the facts.
Based on your spelling, grammar, attitude and self-esteem, I can see why you would shy from taking a teach to prove your competence.
Well, China has one advantage over us in that they feed their kids, and Southeast Asia does have a superior education system, though one that is accessible only to the middle-class and well-to-do. Neither of those countries seem to be providing an example that America can follow.
I agree Linda … China and Southeast Asia both are models that we can’t and shouldn’t implement (except maybe feeding every kid). How about Finland?
Many are jumping on the idea that the Finnish have the answer. And I believe they do. But I fear you and I may disagree on why.
Many years ago, I had the privilege of spending some time with one of the great leaders in education whose number one concern was literacy – or illiteracy depending on your outlook.
I asked this person, “In your opinion, is it possible to have a 100% literate population and if so how much would it cost the American people.”
The response was simply this, “Yes, it is possible and it would cost one hundred billion dollars and 10 years of dedicated effort from the time a child is 3 years old until they are reading independently.”
I responded, ” That just doesn’t seem feasible.”
This person looked at me and simply said this, “It would be cheaper and quicker to change the official language of the United States to Finnish.”
As it turns out, Finnish is the easiest language to learn in the world.
Now let me ask a question, If every child walked through your classroom door reading and comprehending at a ‘high level’ (you define high) would that help?
You see, it isn’t the environment in Finland, it is the language.
Marshall, this is a very charming story and I appreciate you telling it, but as you anticipated, I disagree with it pretty strenuously. First, I am not sure how an educator from Finland could give an accurate (or even a ball-park) estimate of how much it would cost to make 100% of American kids literate. Second, his explanation doesn’t account for high levels of literacy in countries like Japan and China, where only a lunatic would argue that their languages are simpler to master than English. Third, if your friend doesn’t ascribe a large chunk of the success of of Finnish education system to the the strong social safety net enjoyed by the country’s citizens and the income and ethnic homogenaity of its population, them I am afraid he’s downplaying the truth in favor of a potent soundbite.
Marshall, I understand why you’d see other educators raise issues like poverty as stumbling blocks to the improvement of education system instead of just absorbing them as “variance” and trying to find solutions, but there are no creative ways to work around a student whose parents don’t make enough to keep her sufficiently fed, are at work too early in the morning to wake her up so she’ll make it to school, don’t allow her enough time after school to study and do homework because she must babysit her siblings and make their dinner. These issues can’t be overcome by educators. And nothing educators can do will improve the outcome for this student in any measurable way. There is a reason why most problem schools and most problem states have high poverty rates. This isn’t “variance.” This is basically the entirety of the problem.
Linda – I had a feeling we might disagree on this one but isn’t that how we solve differences.
The person I talked about was not from Finland. He was 100% American with several degrees from universities in this country. In addition, she spent 30 years studying the issue of literacy.
The explanation does account for the high rates of illiteracy in China and Japan. Can you imagine any harder languages to learn than those?
I agree with your third point. The social safety net, homogeneous nature of the population and the income of parents certainly plays a role.
Marshall, so are you suggesting by solving those variables for each and everyone an individualized plan for each student? If so, what are the resources required? Can a school with one teacher per department teaching 6 different courses possibly plan 120 seperate lessons, grade the assignements, provide feedback, develop 120 seperate assessments, and spend any time at all with a family? Don’t read this with any contempt or hate, just questions, because I don’t honestly believe it is possible to do that and allow a teacher to have any life with a family (or otherwise actually). So, the alternative would be to hire more teachers i.e. spend a lot more money. Something we are not willing to do. It just seems to me that so much research shows that early childhood education if vital. Where do they get or not get this? At home. I think it is very evident we as a society are flat out unwilling to pay anymore for education, so the only place to turn it to the home. But, if rejected there what other doors do you suggest we open? Boarding schools seem to work better for kids in bad situations. Why? Because the school then has total control. Do we usurp parental powers? It goes on and on. If I teach a class that prepares Drs and lawyers and engineers did I not cover the materials? What if I differentiate my instruction give choices as to assignments, use multiple assessment methods and students still fail? Am I the problem?
Just another gimmick to harass teachers.
Insightful! Wish I had a brain. There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home ….
The “every child can learn if we just punish teachers enough crowd” doesn’t get it.
We don’t tell doctors that “every patient will survive or you loose your job.” There is a difference between a patient with tennis elbow and a patient with stage 3 lymphoma. Just as there is a difference between a kid with a stable home of educated parents in a good neighborhood and a child with learning disabilities in an abusive household with not even a place for them to do homework at night. Pretending that schools can treat them both the same and expect the same resualts is weapons-grade stupidity. And to hold a single teacher accountable for those differences is unjust, short-sighted and moronic to say the least.
If the conditions a student is is doesn’t matter why do studies report that the single greatist influence a child’s academic career is the educational level of their parents? How can a teacher be responsible for that?
You want to judge me as a teacher-fine. That’s a legitamate concern and necessary thing. But evaluate me for what I DO and the factors I can CONTROL, not things that are out of my hands. We’ve been playing THAT game for a decade now and it hasn’t worked.
But if you knew anything about schools, teaching or education you would know that.
We might not threaten doctors with firing if the patents die, but we certainly judge them on their success in keeping patents alive. It’s not like when we hire doctors we say “kill us, cure us, doesn’t matter, you have tenure.” Unless you’re suggesting MattW that we should allow parents to sue teachers for malpractice?
Unless you’re suggesting MattW that we should allow parents to sue teachers for malpractice?
Only if you can proove that teacher and ONLY that teacher was responsible for screwing up the kids education.
As long as schools can sue for bad parenting, I’m in.
Wow, this thread is on fire! I just spent time catching up on all the comments and the discussion has been really top notch. It has been education reading all your views on this topic. Thank you!
Finland is also a homogenous culture, with active parents that value education. That is a BIG problem in the US, and you can say it is nothing more than a variable, but all you have really done is diminish its actual importance. Nice work with language, but doesn’t fix anything. A student comes to school hungry, abused, hooked on drugs, not knowing if they will eat when they get home, if mom will be there, if dad will be there (if any of them are in the picture) if there will be a home, etc. etc etc. and they are worried about reading??? Its just a variable uh huh. Furthermore, is forcing a student to be college ready a good idea? Some don’t want to go to college, some wont’ need to go to college and lets say for a minute they all do go to college. Now what? Who pays for that? Where do the extra profs come from? I think there may be some larger issues here. And in our hayday (sorry probably spelled wrong dont want spelling cops after me), didn’t we actually recognize the fact (even though all kids can learn) not all kids can go to college and it was okay? Everyone can learn, but how much?
“Based on your spelling, grammar, attitude and self-esteem, I can see why you would shy from taking a teach to prove your competence.” Too funny to leave off here. Throwing stones, ha ha. Please don’t check my grammar and spelling on a blog I realize it most assuredly represents my soul. (read with sarcasm)
Marshell really did get me. I mean he really demoralized me with his cuting comments and insight. It’s amazing how clever he really is. I’m glad Joe brought him on to the board to support his case.
And Marshall, I’ll still put my teaching record against your yammering any day of the week. Aside from attacking my spelling and insulting me, you’ve done nothing to further any point that you have made. You sir are a walking strawman.
Testing teachers in poor performing schools is a complete waste of time and especially money. Most of Ohio’s poorest performing schools are already taking steps to remove under-performing teachers through provisions pushed through in order to qualify for Race to the Top. The whole concept is idiotic. Look at it a different way: what if we required ALL of Ohio’s teachers to be retested and then ASSIGNED the HIGHEST SCORING TEACHERS to the lowest performing schools? Would that change things? Seriously! And for the pittance most teachers make? I can’t believe anyone would ever consider teaching right now!
[...] Ohio governor wants teachers in the bottom 10% of schools to re-take the state licensing exam. According to the Governor, this will hold these teachers more accountable by giving schools the ability to fire teachers [...]
It is not “trendier,” it is easier. Since there usually more teachers than administrators, the teachers make a bigger target. It is harder to attack administrative procedures that adversely affect education. Political correctness avoids the mention of anything outside of school that could affect the results inside of school.