By Stuart Singer, author of The Algebra Miracle A recent post discussed the controversial firing of a highly praised second year teacher in Washington DC who was the victim of that system’s value-added evaluation process. Sarah Wysocki, the teacher featured in the story, was terminated after her second year because her students did not reach [...]
The details of Wysocki’s truncated career at a D.C. elementary school presents a road map of the missteps possible when districts incorporate student standardized test scores in teacher evaluations.
…the termination procedures in many districts make the process of removing poor educators too slow and tedious.
by Stuart Singer, The Teacher Leader In an effort to close their minority achievement gap, Montgomery County (MD) Public Schools (MCPS) like many other school systems has turned to Disneyland for educational advice. According to an article in the Washington Post: ”In their ongoing quest to eliminate academic achievement gaps, Montgomery County educators are seeking [...]
by Stuart Singer, The Teacher Leader Teaching is a tough, time consuming job. I knew a high school English teacher who would periodically have to take a day of sick leave for the purpose of grading an overwhelming amount of student work. With a pair of grocery bags crammed full of essays in hand, he [...]
Budget shortfalls are forcing major reductions in the teaching staff in many schools and districts across the country. At the same time, some schools are fortunate enough to be filling vacancies. For those fortunate few, I have compiled a list of posts from this blog that relate to interviewing and hiring teachers. Hiring Teachers: Control [...]
by Stuart Singer, The Teacher Leader Evaluations that have value Academic success has been directly linked to the quality of a school’s teaching and administrative staffs. Ideas are constantly being presented for improving educational personnel. But singular approaches such as merit pay, improved evaluations, and easier termination policies will not individually accomplish that goal. What [...]
by Stuart Singer, The Teacher Leader Head Blogger’s Note: The Teacher Leader references the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) Testing Program that employs a rigorous high school assessment system of eleven end-of-course exams, which act as barriers to graduation and are used to calculate adequate yearly progress (AYP). Midway through the teacher evaluation portion of [...]
by Stuart Singer, The Teacher Leader Developing an Effective Interview Process Academic success has been directly linked to the quality of a school’s teaching and administrative staffs. Prescriptions are continually being proposed to improve educational personnel. These plans have included merit pay, improved evaluations, and easier termination policies among others. But this goal is too [...]
