pdfcrowd.com open in browser customize Are you a developer?

Try out the HTML to PDF API

Search All NYTimes.com

Teacher Grades: Pass or Be Fired
Log In Register Now Help
HOME PAGE TODAY'S PAPER VIDEO MOST POPULAR TIMES TOPICS
Education
WORLD U. S. N. Y. / REGION BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY SCIENCE HEALTH SPORTS OPINION ARTS STYLE TRAVEL JOBS REAL ESTATE AUTOS
POLITICS EDUCATION BAY AREA CHICAGO TEXAS
pdfcrowd.com open in browser customize Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
Related
Times Topic: Teachers and
School Employ ees
Readers' Comments
Share y our thoughts.
Post a Comment
Read All Comments (33)
Teacher Grades: Pass or Be Fired
Philip Scott Andrews/The New York Times
Mary Gloster, lef t, evaluated Emily Strzelecki, a f irst-year science teacher at a low-perf orming
high school in Washington.
By SAM DILLON
Publ i shed: June 27, 2011
WASHINGTON Emily Strzelecki, a first-year
science teacher here, was about as eager for a
classroom visit by one of the citys roving teacher
evaluators as she would be to get a tooth drilled.
It really stressed me out because, oh my gosh, I
could lose my job, Ms. Strzelecki said.
Her fears were not
unfounded: 165
Washington
teachers were fired
last year based on a pioneering
evaluation system that places
significant emphasis on classroom
observations; next month, 200 to 600
COMMENTS (33)
SIGN IN TO E-
MAIL
PRINT
SINGLE PAGE
REPRINTS
SHARE
RECOMMEND
TWITTER
pdfcrowd.com open in browser customize Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
of the citys 4,200 educators are
expected to get similar bad news, in the
nations highest rate of dismissal for poor performance.
The evaluation system, known as Impact, is disliked by many
unionized teachers but has become a model for many educators.
Spurred by President Obama and his $5 billion Race to the Top grant
competition, some 20 states, including New York, and thousands of
school districts are overhauling the way they grade teachers, and
many have sent people to study Impact.
Its admirers say the system, a centerpiece of the tempestuous three-
year tenure of Washingtons former schools chancellor, Michelle Rhee,
has brought clear teaching standards to a district that lacked them and
is setting a new standard by establishing dismissal as a consequence of
ineffective teaching.
But some educators say it is better at sorting and firing teachers than
at helping struggling ones; they note that the system does not consider
socioeconomic factors in most cases and that last year 35 percent of
the teachers in the citys wealthiest area, Ward 3, were rated highly
effective, compared with 5 percent in Ward 8, the poorest.
Teachers have to be parents, priests, lawyers, clothes washers,
babysitters and a bunch of other things if they work with low-income
children, said Nathan Saunders, president of the Washington Teachers
Union. Impact takes none of those roles into account, so it can
penalize you just for teaching in a high-needs school.
Jason Kamras, the architect of the system, said its too early to
answer whether Impact makes it easier for teachers in well-off
neighborhoods to do well, but pointed out that Washingtons
Norma Ly on, the Butter-
Cow Lady , Dies at 81
Justices Reject Ban on
Violent Video Games for
Children
Log In With Facebook
MOST EMAILED MOST VIEWED
Log in to see what your f riends are sharing on
nytimes.com. Privacy Policy | Whats This?
Whats Popular Now
1. Across Europe, Irking Drivers Is Urban Policy
2. OPINION
Shyness: Evolutionary Tactic?
3. DRILLING DOWN
Behind Veneer, Doubt on Future of Natural Gas
4. Atop TV Sets, a Power Drain That Runs Nonstop
5. OP-ED COLUMNIST
Why Is He Bi? (Sigh)
6. The Hidden Route to Machu Picchu
7 . U.S. Plans Stealth Survey on Access to Doctors
8. OP-ED COLUMNIST
160 Million and Counting
pdfcrowd.com open in browser customize Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
compensation system offers bigger bonuses ($25,000 versus $12,500)
and salary enhancements in high-poverty schools.
We take very seriously the distribution of high-quality teachers across
the system, he said.
The evaluation system leans heavily on student test scores to judge
about 500 math and reading teachers in grades four to eight. Ratings
for the rest of the citys 3,600 teachers are determined mostly by five
classroom observations annually, three by their principal and two by
so-called master educators, most recruited from outside Washington.
For classroom observations, nine criteria explain content clearly,
maximize instructional time and check for student understanding,
for example are used to rate the lesson as highly effective, effective,
minimally effective or ineffective.
These five observations combine to form 75 percent of these teachers
overall ratings; the rest is based on achievement data and the teachers
commitment to their school communities. Ineffective teachers face
dismissal. Minimally effective ones get a year to improve.
Impact costs the city $7 million a year, including pay for 41 master
educators, who earn about $90,000 a year and conduct about 170
observations each. The program also asks more of principals. Carolyne
Albert-Garvey, the principal of Maury Elementary School on Capitol
Hill, has 22 teachers she must conduct 66 observations, about one
every three school days.
Ive really gotten to know my staff, and Im giving teachers more
specific feedback, Ms. Albert-Garvey said. Its empowered me to
have the difficult conversations, and that gives everyone the
opportunity to improve.
Go to Complete List Show My Recommendations
9. DRILLING DOWN
Insiders Sound an Alarm Amid a Natural Gas Rush
10. FINDINGS
A Release Valve for Cyclists Unrelenting Pressure
pdfcrowd.com open in browser customize Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
A version of this article appeared in print on June 28, 2011, on page A1
of the New York edition with the headline: Teacher Grades: Pass or Be
Fired.
Get Free Email Alerts on These Topics
Education (K-1 2)
Teachers and School Employ ees
Labor and Jobs
opportunity to improve.
Several teachers, however, said they considered their ratings unfair.
NEXT PAGE
Connect with The New York Times on Facebook.
SCIENCE N.Y. / REGION OPINION OPINION BUSINESS ARTS
1 2
COMMENTS (33)
SIGN IN TO E-
MAIL
PRINT
SINGLE PAGE
REPRINTS
INSIDENYTIMES.COM

pdfcrowd.com open in browser customize Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
A Release for Cy clists
Unrelenting Pressure
For Many Immigrants,
Marriage Vote Resonates
Op-Ed: No Trash, No
Crash
Bloggingheads:
Islamic
Terrorism
Faiza Patel of the
Brennan Center for
Justice and Arun
Kundnani of the Open
Society Institute on the
sources of terrorism.
Reaching for the Wheel Turning Design on Its
Side
Home World U.S. N.Y. / Region Business Technology Science Health Sports Opinion Arts Style Travel Jobs Real Estate Autos Site Map
2011 The New York Times Company Privacy Your Ad Choices Terms of Service Terms of Sale Corrections RSS Help Contact Us Work f or Us Advertise