The "Irreplaceables"; another flawed report from TNTP

A new report from The New Teacher Project (TNTP), focused on the need to keep good teachers, who they call "irreplaceable",  is posted here.   

In a press release, Bloomberg used its release as an occasion to push his proposal for a $20K bonus for high-performers that he first mentioned in his State of the City address last winter, and blamed the UFT for blocking it:

The study released today by TNTP – and which New York City participated in – confirms that school districts across the country must do more to keep great teachers in our classrooms. That’s exactly why we have offered to add a $20,000 annual stipend to the salaries of teachers who are rated highly effective for two consecutive years.

This press release omits several prominent facts: 

• Teacher merit pay was tried already in NYC and failed to show results;

• He didn’t propose a penny for it in the executive budget and provided no funding for it.

Yet again, the corporate reformers are trying to recycle the same old wasteful ideas though they have already been tried and failed, over again. 

The TNTP report has many flaws, including identifying “irreplaceable” teachers through growth in student test scores, which is highly unreliable. (See for example, in my piece in today's NYT Room for Debate on this very issue.) In three out of the four districts, they use only one year’s change in scores, even more volatile; and essentially unable to identify which “irreplaceable” teachers will be high-performers the following year.

As the Shanker Blog points out, if you were going by NYC’s Teacher Data Reports, as many as 40% of the “irreplaceables” in NYC would be considered “replaceable” the next year.

The TNTP also report pushes merit pay though there is absolutely no research or support among teachers for its.  See for example, this Gates-funded national survey:

• 73% of teachers disagreed that state tests provide an “accurate reflection of student achievement”;   
• 64% said that student scores on standardized tests should be used only “a slight amount” or “not at all” in evaluating teachers.
• Only  16% of teachers thought pay tied to teachers’ performance was “essential” or “very important”, with 49% saying it was not all important, and 36% saying it was somewhat important. 

Compare this with the 90% of teachers who responded that having fewer students in a class would have a “very strong” or “strong” impact on improving student achievement.

The TNTP report says their own survey showed that working conditions are crucial in retaining good teachers, which is indeed true, but then doesn’t identify which working conditions teachers pointed to as critical (and of course, does not mention class size anywhere.)

The report also pushes weakening seniority protections and tenure, saying this would help schools retain the “irreplaceables,” but does not mention if the teachers surveyed said this would help (which I doubt.)

For example, in the Gates-funded survey, 84% of teachers agreed with this statement: “Teacher tenure protects teachers from unfairly losing their jobs.”

Interestingly, the TNTP report itself implies that it would be relatively easy for principals to get low-performing teachers to leave: 

“Our research indicates that principals are capable of ushering low- performers out by simply being candid with them about their performance and fit in the school.  In one district, teachers whose principals encouraged them to leave…were nearly three times more likely to leave.”  (p. 17)

 So why weaken seniority protections and/or tenure?  The report also says,

Although the primary responsibility for building and nurturing school culture rests with individual principals, district leaders play an important role too.  For example, they can survey teachers and students regularly to ensure that principals have regular actionable information about the gaps in their schools’ culture and working conditions. (p. 18).

Accordingly, the mayor should address the poor working conditions that drive teachers away from our schools, many of them who leave to work in the suburbs or in private schools where class sizes are smaller. 

Of course, 86% of NYC principals already say that the class sizes in their schools are too large for them to provide a quality education.  Clearly, it is the primary responsibility of the Bloomberg administration for imposing system-wide policies that deny principals the ability to reduce them.

In conclusion, quoting the TNTP report, “Retaining as many Irreplaceables as possible requires a shared commitment from school and district leaders to address working conditions that can drive great teachers away.”

Amen.

Video: my testimony before the Cuomo Commission

UPDATE:  please sign our petition, urging the Commission to hold another NYC hearing in the evening in the fall, so more parents and other concerned citizens will be able to attend and/or testify.

Video of my testimony yesterday before the Cuomo Education Reform Commission, in a tiny crowded cafeteria room at Hostos College.

My written testimony, complete with charts and citations, is posted here, as well as a description of a disappointing day, in which many parents, educators and advocates -- especially those unaligned with the current administration's  insistence on high-stakes testing and charter school expansion -- were shut out of the tiny room and/or excluded from speaking.

Also check out what Lauren Cohen, NYC teacher, of Change the Stakes would have said, if she had been allowed to speak, the negative experience of student Nikhil Goyal, and GothamSchools' account of the morning's events.   Teacher Chris Cerrone recounts an earlier hearing in Buffalo with similarly stacked panels full of charter school reps, and little chance for the public to weigh in.

NYC has more than one third the students in the state and yet has been given only one tenth of the time by this Commission; simply unacceptable!  Write NYEducationReformCommission@exec.ny.gov to protest and demand they schedule another NYC hearing, in the fall and at a time in the evening so they can hear from parents with regular jobs as well.

Poor planning shown by the Cuomo Commission at their only NYC hearings this morning

Me at the Cuomo Commission hearings with other panelists today

UPDATE:  Please sign our petition now, asking that the Commission hold another hearing in NYC in the fall.

The Cuomo Education Commission had its first and only public hearing in NYC for three scant hours this morning and they packed us all in a small cafeteria room at Hostos College in the Bronx.

There were still people waiting outside the building at 10:15 AM when I was finally let in; not everyone could fit in the tiny space and many who had signed up in advance were denied speaking slots.  One of those who had signed up and sent in testimony days ago was Carol Burris, the Long Island principal who co-authored the letter opposing the new teacher evaluation system, signed onto by one third of the principals in the state, and yet she and other principals were denied speaking time. 

And yet the organization that is pushing for the implementation of this very same test-based evaluation system, Educators for Excellence, got two speaking slots; and its reps suggested that the system be imposed by the state unilaterally in NYC even if administration doesn't get agreement to do so from the UFT.

The first panel on teacher quality was a corporate reformer's dream: speakers from Teach for America (Jemima Bernard, formerly of DOE); The New Teacher Project (Lesley Guggenheim, I believe); Educators for Excellence (Evan Stone) and  Campbell Brown, formerly of CNN, who spoke about how teachers accused of sex abuse were being left in the classroom. Later Anna Hall, the new head of Students1st NY and former Bronx principal added her two cents that teacher tenure should be completely eliminated. All of them agreed that we need new evaluation system that differentiates performance, gives incentives for top performers, ends seniority protections, etc. etc. etc. as though lousy teaching was the only problem plaguing our schools.

Subsequent speakers included James Merriman of the NYC Charter Center ( longer school days and stronger school leaders ); Leo Casey of the UFT (vs. closing schools and need for more wrap-around services and IPads for students); Rev. Calvin Butts (for replicating something called the Strive network); Jennifer Jones Olsen of United Way (for quality early ed and more academic and emotional  supports) and Maria Fernandez of Urban Youth Collaborative (for Student Success Centers and more voice for students and parents in policy making).

Amy Schwartz of NYU advocated widening grade spans in schools, having more data and doing  research on effective programs for special ed, and this: "If you want parent participation you need to show they that you are listening to them, and parents care about class size." (Bravo to that.)  Betsy Lynam of Citizens Budget Commission said we spend enough money on education in the state, it just needs to be better distributed with fewer mandates in areas like special ed. Allan Chang, principal of the City as School alternative HS, gave an amazing presentation about the achievements of his school, which makes a five year commitment to every student with housing and health care referrals, legal aid,  internships and job placements, etc, but his staff needs more help from community partners.

I finally got a turn on a panel with two students, Julius Martinez from Students for Education Reform (better teacher evals, yet again, and also more access to AP and College Now); and Zak Melamed, who advocated for more student participation on the Commission, putting it this way: "If you don't put students at the table, it's like holding a criminal investigation without interviewing the victims."

Zakiyah Ansari of AQE spoke about the need to "peel back the layers of fluff" put forward by the Bloomberg administration, and fully fund the Campaign for Fiscal Equity settlement, reduce class size, support struggling schools rather than close them, and collaborate with parents and community members.  She was also very eloquent about how the Commission should hold another hearing in NYC during the evening when  normal people with jobs could attend.

I spoke about -- guess what -- class size, and that the top priority of parents on the DOE's own surveys remains smaller classes, how the research is crystal clear that it helps students succeed, and that while the DOE promised to reduce class size with CFE funds, yet class sizes are now the largest in the early grades in 13 years.  I also cautioned them not to recommend more privatization through charter expansion, high stakes testing, and online learning, because they have all been tried in NYC over the last decade and have miserably failed to substantially improve results when our progress on the NAEPs is compared to the ten other large school districts in the nation.  (See my testimony and slides below.)

Later, Chair of the NYC Council Education Committee Robert Jackson berated them, saying they had an obligation to hold another hearing in NYC, fight for more money to comply with CFE, and that he hoped they would act independently and not be a "rubber stamp" for the mayor or the Governor.

Truly, when you consider that NYC is the largest school district in the nation, and has more than one third of the students in the state, and yet the Commission is spending only one tenth the time hearing from NYC residents, this is unacceptable.  The fact that they held the hearings in such a tiny room also shows poor planning, or worse, that they're not that interested in hearing from us at all.

Testimony Cuomo Commission 7 26 12 Final


Slides for Cuomo Commission 7.26.12

Glaring omission from DOE's presentation of latest survey results

1.    The DOE just released the results of the 2011-2012 Learning Environment Survey.  For the fifth year in a row – since the survey was first given -- parents said that smaller classes were the change they would most like to see in their children’s schools, substantially topping the field of ten choices at 23 percent. (See the responses to question nine here or below.)

And yet for the first time since the survey has been given, the DOE omitted the answers to this question from their summary slide presentation. 

See, for example, last year’s power point, showing the results of this question since 2009:

During his press conference in 2007, the first year of the survey, Bloomberg appeared to minimize the overwhelming preference of parents for smaller classes in his power point by lumping the answers of four different options as “program enhancements.”

This obvious evasion prompted some comments in the press as well as spirited questioning of Jim Liebman, the author of the presentation, by Patrick Sullivan at a PEP meeting. (See this video.)

But this year for the first time, the DOE left out the results of this question from their analysis altogether, either because they don’t want to bother to pretend anymore that they care what we think or they are trying to prevent the media from noting that despite our clear priorities, class sizes have risen for the last four years in a row, and are now the largest in the early grades in 13 years. 

Clearly, Bloomberg does not care about our choices, no matter what he may claim.

Best way to end a stressful school year? Flash mob and budget cuts restored

Brooklyn moms (and dads) perform a flash mob in the schoolyard at PS 10 on June 19th. Wow!  More at the NYPost,   Windsor Terrace Patch,   and  Gothamist .  Meanwhile, GothamSchools reports good news about the budget:

Instead of losing 6,500 child-care spots and 30,000 after-school spots, the city will actually have more spots next year than this year. And although Bloomberg had slashing about 400 school aides from the city payroll — more than half as many as were laid off last year — no layoffs will take place.

 Lets hope it's all true (though I'm still hearing of lots of teachers being excessed from schools next year.  Please email me if you hear something about your school. )  But tonight, let's sit back and watch these terrifically cool Brooklyn parents strut their stuff.


Choreography - Kristi Spessard. Videography - Joshua Berger, Benton Collins, John Hennegan, Daniel Koehler, Mark Rattelle. Still Photography - Matt Carr. Video Editor - Benton Collins


P.S.10 Flash Mob 6-19-2012 (Official) from Benton Collins on Vimeo.

My letter to Bloomberg re parents' right to know performance evaluations of top Tweed officials

The Legislature passed the Governor’s bill on disclosure of teacher evaluations yesterday.  No matter that the evaluations, based primarily on test scores, are unfair, unreliable, erratic and have up to a 85 point error rate.   

No matter that the legislation will allow parents to call or email to find out the rating of their child’s teacher.  No matter that the ratings of all teachers at public schools will be published, by school, grade and subject, making it all-too-easy for parents to gossip and trade information about which teacher got which (totally unreliable) score.   

 No matter that for some reason, in our electeds’ continuing , and unaccountable deference to charter schools, they will remain free of any damaging and morale-busting disclosures.  

Still Bloomberg went ballistic because not every teacher’s name will be published in the newspaper, and says he will have every school call every single parent with children in grades 4-8 and offer them this information, because parents have a “right to know.”  UPDATE and correction:  According to this piece in GothamSchools, Bloomberg said that all parents will be called -- up to a million -- to offer them this information. The ratings will also posted on each child's ARIS page-- which may be in violation of the intent of the law, since parents are encouraged to log into ARIS for lots of other reasons.

Hah!  Bloomberg has no respect for parent rights.  When we protest school co-locations or closings, he says we“don’t understand the value of a good education.”  When wepush for more schools to be built to alleviate overcrowding, he says we have no right to be involved in this issue either.  

And the parent’s right to know?  I have submitted FOILs (Freedom of Information Law requests) for information that I have been waiting three years for, without a substantive response.  And this is far from unusual.  The DOE and other city agencies constantly flout the law and stonewall when it comes to the public’s right to know.

In February, I asked for the performance evaluations of the Chancellor’s Leadership team, and I am still waiting.  So today I thought I would email Bloomberg and Walcott.  I have also put a clock on my website in order to mark the time I have waited for these performance evaluations, which by law, are the right of every citizen to obtain.

From: Leonie Haimson [mailto:leonieh@parentsacrossamerica.org]
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2012 7:49 PM
To: mbloomberg@cityhall.nyc.gov
Cc: dmwalcott@schools.nyc.gov, leonie@att.net
Subject: FOIL request ignored for performance evaluations of top DOE officials

Dear Mayor Bloomberg:

I have heard that you invoke a parent’s right to know when it comes to the teacher evaluation reports, so much so that you are willing to have school employees spend hours and hours of their precious time, calling up parents personally to ask them if they want the information.  Yet more than four months ago, on February 28, I submitted a FOIL request to the Department of Education for the performance evaluations of the top officials at Tweed.  So far, I have gotten nothing but letters of delay in response.  Here the latest response from DOE:

 If parents have a right to see the ratings of their children’s teachers, which according to most experts are statistically unreliable, don’t they also have the right to see the evaluations of top employees at Tweed who are making six-figure salaries?  Or are teachers the only ones who, in your view, should be subject to potentially demoralizing disclosures?

 Yours, 

Leonie Haimson

Class Size Matters

Leonie@att.net

Filer of FOIL #F8144

See below.

From: Leonie Haimson <leonie@att.net>
To: FOIL <FOIL@schools.nyc.gov>
Cc: leonie <leonie@att.net>
Sent: Tue, Feb 28, 2012 9:34 pm
Subject: FOIL request

February 28, 2012

Records Access Officer
NYC Department of Education
52 Chambers Street, Room 308
New York, NY 10007

By email: FOIL@schools.nyc.gov

Dear Records Access Officer:

Under the provisions of the New York Freedom of Information Law, Article 6 of the Public Officers Law, I hereby request a copy of the following records or portions thereof:

The final performance evaluations of all of the members of the Chancellor’s leadership team for 2009, 2010 and 2011, in the NYC Department of Education, including but not limited to every Deputy Chancellor, as well as the performance evaluation of t he Chancellor himself.

According to Robert Freeman of the NYS Open Govt. Committee, the performance evaluations of all public employees in NY State are available to the public through FOILs, except for police and correction officers and firefighters.

These requested records are not exempt from disclosure under FOIL. To the extent that information contained in the requested records is protected please redact such information and provide us with the remaining information. In the event that all or part of this request is denied, please cite each specific applicable FOIL exemption and notify us of appeal procedures available under the law. 

To the extent that these records are readily available in an electronic format, we request that they be provided in that format. Please provide responsive records as they are ident ified, rather than waiting to gather all records.

I request to be notified of any fees associated with this request of over $100.00.

The Freedom of Information Law requires agencies to respond within five (5) business days of a records request.   Please contact me by phone at the below number or by email at leonie@att.net  with any questions. Thank you in advance for your timely consideration of this request.

Sincerely, 
Leonie Haimson

Executive Director

Class Size Matters