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Teacher Effectiveness Bill, A Common-Sense Solution

Monday, May 10 2010

The Boulder Daily Camera
By: Bridget Newman
May 6th, 2010

We all remember and admire our favorite teachers. And for good reason: If an elementary student has an ineffective teacher for even one year, a learning deficit can be measured up to four years later -- even if the student has several effective teachers later.

Now, the Colorado House of Representatives is taking up legislation that would help to ensure that all students have an effective teacher, but it's being met with skepticism from Boulder-area Reps. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, D-Boulder, and Claire Levy, D-Boulder. For all the fulmination in the debate, the question boils down to this: Should teachers be at least partially responsible for the student learning in their classrooms?

Colorado's largest teachers union has answered no, but a survey of the existing educational landscape is instructive. Under current law, a teacher who receives three consecutive years of "Satisfactory" evaluations is moved to non-probationary status (often mistakenly dubbed "tenured status"), after which state law makes it exceedingly difficult to dismiss the teacher.

The problems with this system are apparent. Most evaluations are binary -- a teacher can only be rated "Satisfactory" or "Unsatisfactory" -- and it is not uncommon for more than 95 percent of teachers in a school district to receive a "Satisfactory" rating, regardless of whether or not their students are showing academic gains. The result is a glut of non-probationary teachers, all of whom are virtually assured a job.

Into this mix came Sen. Mike Johnston, D-Denver, a former public school teacher and principal. Two weeks ago, Sen. Johnston introduced Senate Bill 10-191, which would strengthen teacher and principal evaluations and tie 50 percent of those evaluations to student growth.

The Colorado Education Association (CEA) has predictably pledged to kill the bill, but it's important to note what the bill is and what the bill is not. The legislation does require that 50 percent of teacher and principal evaluations include some measurement of student growth. It also requires that a teacher receive three consecutive years of good evaluations in order to earn the protections of non-probationary status.

Significantly, though, the bill does not require the measurement be tethered to CSAP. Instead, it empowers an independent council of educators and stakeholders to find multiple metrics to measure student growth.

Contrary to CEA's assertions, the bill has little to do with disrupting due process for teachers. While the bill does allow a teacher to lose non-probationary status if he has two consecutive years of poor evaluations, any ultimate dismissal is still governed by existing due process laws.

Sen. Johnston has worked to address CEA's concerns by extending the implementation date to 2014, but CEA has nonetheless taken to reciting that the bill is "too much, too fast."

As a former middle school teacher, I am mindful that there is no "silver bullet" for public education. I know how difficult it can be to teach at-risk students. It would be arbitrary to hold a teacher accountable for all the external factors that inhibit student learning.

But by the same token, it would be equally unfair to students if their learning were wholly irrelevant to their teacher's evaluation. Evaluations are supposed to measure effectiveness: Is it really unreasonable to say that part of a teacher's effectiveness is her ability to produce academic growth?

I know what struggling students are capable of when they are given the chance to succeed. Admittedly, when teaching is done right, it is exhausting work. But people become teachers because they relish this challenge. And more good teachers will remain in the classroom when they are recognized for their hard work and when receiving non-probationary status is an accomplishment rather than a given.

For his part, Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, saw SB 10-191 as a win-win for Colorado students and educators, and he courageously voted for the bill in committee and on the Senate floor. But now that the bill has moved to the House, Reps. Hullinghorst and Levy have said they oppose the bill.

Both sides of the debate have drawn lines in the sand, but their battle lines have really only obscured the issue. All students deserve an effective teacher, and it's time that student achievement be part of that metric. Please contact your legislator and urge them to vote "yes" on SB 10-191.