Bill Gates Says, "Grade Teachers and Give Them More Feedback"

 

Bill Gates released the annual letter from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation today. Based on the Gates' travels and work with the foundation, the letter reports on how best to accomplish the foundation's priorities. This year his letter focused on "how important it is to set clear goals and measure progress in order to accomplish priorities" here in America and around the world.

This year, he reports that one of the clearest examples of the power of measurement is the work of foundation partners to support great teachers.

The foundation did extensive research on how to improve education in America. More specifically, they wanted to define the rather abstract quality of "great teaching" and better the method of grading teachers while providing them the "opportunity" to receive feedback on skills and techniques that "can help them excel in their careers." It sounds pretty good, but more measurement scares me.

Let's let Bill Gates explain :

"But what do we mean when we talk about great teaching? In my experience, the vast majority of teachers get zero feedback on how to improve.

 

"That's because for decades, our schools have lacked the kinds of measurement tools that can drive meaningful change. Teachers have worked in isolation and been asked to improve with little or no feedback, while schools have struggled to create systems to provide feedback that's consistent, fair and reliable.

 

"That's why the Gates Foundation supported the Measures of Effective Teaching, or MET, project. The project was an extraordinary, three-year collaboration between dozens of researchers and nearly 3,000 teacher volunteers from seven U.S. public school districts who opened their classrooms so we could study how to improve the way we measure and give feedback about great teaching.

 

"Earlier this month, the MET project released its final findings. The report confirmed that it is possible to develop reliable measures that identify great teaching."

 

(Bill Gates, "Grade Our Teachers, Help Our Students," CNN, January 30 2013)

This Means Putting Additional Measurements

of Teachers Into Schools

Based on my experience as a teacher and feedback from teachers still active in the profession, I must disagree with the premise of need for grading teachers. Gates says, "Teachers have worked in isolation and been asked to improve with little or no feedback." Evaluation of teachers plus feedback on their performance and means for improvement have been in place for many decades. Lately, states have increased the time spent on evaluating the performance of teachers to the point of near absurdity. America is losing good teachers because of this silly notion that teachers are going to achieve instant success and someone can design a means of evaluating long-term teacher development.

Granted, Gates does make a valid point that "schools have struggled to create systems to provide feedback that's consistent, fair and reliable." Why is this?


1. Schools have dealt with severe budget crunches and do not receive adequate funding to implement improved methods of teacher evaluation pertinent to their unique compositions of student body and environment.
 
2. Schools now spend so much time on both student testing (competency, academic, and relevant social determinants) and teacher improvement (group seminars, individual evaluation, goal setting) that less and less time is left for classroom teachers to meet the demands of ever-stricter curriculum standards.
 
3. Counselors, teachers, and students who might be involved in grading teachers not only lack the time to do the extra work but also lack the expertise to produce positive, effective results. As time consuming and difficult as the task may be, the administration is responsible for carrying out teacher evaluation procedures made clear in state law and local policy, then reported to the board of education.
 
4. A beginning teacher who lacks the type of experience that can only be developed alone, over time, and during actual classroom interaction does not need more pressure. Year after year, my experience "made" me a much better teacher.

I spent the first two years of my teaching experience as a "frightened newbie" gaining insight and a "classroom education" with each week of instruction. The classes I taught provided me with my most meaningful feedback and meaningful measurement.
 
5. Almost all teachers are capable of creating wonderful performances for evaluation purposes. But, the real measure of a great teacher is found in "the grind." I'm sure that is true for all professionals who have been extensively educated, repeatedly tested, and thoroughly evaluated before being hired.
 
I have seen "less-than-effective" teachers wilt in less than one year under the constant pressures of the classroom. They soon realize the product of their craft comes in a "thousand and one" different shapes, styles, and compositions. And each one of these students brings any additional "baggage" into the classroom. Some aim to disrupt every wonderful lesson plan while others are perfectly happy to occupy a seat and expend very little energy.

Tell me what teacher who learns how to "grind out" the stressful routine after the initial "shine" of the job wears off does not scream (And, I'm using the actual diction here.): "What the fuck have I got myself into after five (or six) years of paying college tuition?" And, believe me, the paycheck that teacher takes home is little consolation for choosing to fight each year's campaign in and out of the classroom.
 
It takes initiative, pride in self improvement, and industry to improve. Good teachers learn to maximize their best educational skills while learning how best to survive the "grinder" of day-after-day instruction. I believe the administration and the school board should assume the responsibility of firing poor teachers. They already have the means to do this.
 
6. Evaluating the strengths of a good teacher can never be reduced to some grading formula produced by a statistical-minded college, company, or research foundation convinced they can measure performance and induce steady, meaningful growth by doing so. 
 
If that were true, these fine institutions should design a Better Parent Evaluation that uses surveys, observation, and tests to measure parenting skill gains. They could administer the instrument to all parents, grade it, and provide feedback to insure good results and positive gains. Then, of course, they would have to design a method for firing incompetent parents.
 
I'm a parent of four. Let me add unanticipated reality, cruel fate, and individual human makeup to any such objective measurements of my parental performance. I'm sure I would have been fired in the first two years of my "Dadship," drummed out of the "Father Fraternity," and had my licence permanently revoked. Do I have any company?

Actually, even defining the differentiating features of "greatness" in a good teacher these days would produce vastly different descriptions than those defining a great teacher of fifty years ago.

A person judged to fit the definition

of a "great teacher" today must be...

* A thorough planner of long, detailed lessons including application of media and computer support,
 
* A fine-tuned organizer and purveyor of soundbites in small periods of time prone to continuous interruption,
 
* A dedicated, objective-minded provider of proficiency material with just a "tad" of scholastic content,
 
* A skilled manipulator of quantitative scores that reflect a conceived measure of continuous classroom improvement, 
 
* An efficient record keeper of every possible report of accountability required by the school, the administration, the state, and the special interests,
 
* A loyal supporter of more programs that require increased time of instruction with no raise in pay. 

That teacher is not the good teacher I remember. I believe teaching is an art that requires years of experience and the ability to adjust personal methods of instruction that best lend to students' comprehension, acquisition, and attainment of classroom material and appropriate thinking skills.

I believe a good teacher must inspire his/her classes to be inquisitive, learn independently, and think. Each teacher must realize the importance of designing lessons to stimulate thought, not just assign material that requires completion for a check mark or a grade.

I believe in order to advance the class, a teacher has to learn the role of instructor, not the role of substitute parent. This does not mean the teacher should ignore individual student concerns and become an automaton. It does mean that a teacher should remain an educator of a student, not a student's "best friend." The social development of an individual student is best left to parents and appropriate professionals in cases of great need. The teachers have their hands full just teaching appropriate group behavior and manners.
I believe a good teacher is "made" through meaningful interaction with others, mainly the classes he/she teaches every day. In fact, I would never call one of my old teachers a "great teacher" (And, I've had many good ones.). The teachers I hold most dear would likely immediately blush and correct me. The good ones knew they were working in a field where no one towered above the rest.

I can't imagine teachers years from now comparing the "great" grades they achieved while performing their duties as a teacher. I'm now just thinking about sharing coffee with one in a local restaurant and asking, "Hey, you were really a super teacher. What grade did you get in 2018?" I don't want to live in that kind of accountable world.

Let me close by saying this. Measurements are fine. They do possess meaning to teachers, schools, colleges, and employers. I've had so many good students who went on to accomplish wonderful things in their lives who were top-notch, straight-A's in my 12th grade high school classes. They were a joy to teach and I admire them so much. Many of them are my good friends today.

However, I've also had B, C, even low D students who found themselves motivated sometime later in life. Every now and then one of them will see me in public, approach me, and tell me about how he/she appreciated my class and my teaching. Some of them even remember what I used to tell classes to attempt to stimulate achievement. This is what I said:

"You know, in life, if you are graced with a silver spoon in your mouth and an outstanding brain, you are lucky, and most people expect you to excel in everything you do. I hope you do.

"But, if fate doesn't provide you with the best, and you struggle to overcome hardships and deficiencies, others will see that you deserve double the respect of those born gifted. And, they will reward you for your efforts.

"If you work your best and achieve a C or a D, you can rest assured that I think you are a success. But, the secret to gaining respect is perseverance and living up to your potential. Some of you, as of yet, have no idea what your potential is. You have felt defeated for so long, you have never tried to reach your limits.

"I cannot achieve a grade for you. Only you can do it. I may encourage you to work harder and get a better grade, but I won't say anything that suggests you're a loser if your grade is low. I have seen many a C or D student living up to his/her potential that I would consider the most promising student in my class."

And, guess what, many lower scoring students I taught have led wonderful, successful lives and have already achieved their wildest dreams. If I don't believe that excellent grades necessarily show "greatness" in a student, how can I believe they will show who is a "great teacher"? I couldn't begin to grade the wonderful teachers in my past. Besides, doing so would just demean their good performance.

So, you decide what you think about grading teachers. Here is what Bill Gates reported:

"It is possible to develop reliable measures that identify great teaching.

"In the first year of the study, teaching practice was measured using a combination of student surveys, classroom observations, and student achievement gains. Then, in the second year, teachers were randomly assigned to different classrooms of students. The students’ outcomes were later measured using state tests and supplemental assessments designed to measure students’ conceptual understanding in math and ability to write short answer responses following reading passages. The teachers whose students did better during the first year of the project also had students who performed better following random assignment. Moreover, the magnitude of the achievement gains they generated aligned with the predictions. This is the first large-scale study to demonstrate, using random assignment, that it is possible to identify great teaching."

(Bill Gates, "Grade Our Teachers, Help Our Students," CNN, January 30 2013)

 

 

Let's Grade Teachers and Other Accountability Nonsense

For more than thirty years the government has used the same strategy to fix academics in America's troubled schools. And, what would that be? Legislators believe in the power of competition to internalize academic achievement. They have passed measures that rely on standardized tests scores and strict accountability to insure better performance and better instruction. Then, despite the vast differences in schools, schools are graded and ranked according to their scores on various state assessments. Be it through No Child Left Behind, the government's flagship aid program for disadvantaged students that had bipartisan support led by President George W. Bush and Senator Edward Kennedy or through Race to the Top, President Obama's United States Department of Education sweepstakes created to spur innovation and reforms in state and local district K-12 education, schools have been forced to modify academics and conform to ever-changing standards. U.S. schools have become dizzy and disoriented in the process of just trying to understand what exactly the government demands Overwhelmed with the tasks of "teaching to the test" and providing scads of documentation on every measurable trait of every student all the time, classroom teachers are paying an enormous price for "staying competitive" through state assessments. The added stress and work to "be the best" school according to state standards is not necessarily conducive to keeping the best teachers or to improving overall instruction. This work required for the “competition fix,” you must understand, is added to teachers' regular duties and requirements without a raise in pay, and, usually without any grace of extra time for completion. The increase in lesson planning, remedial work, one-on-one tutoring, record keeping, and student tracking are stressful enough. Add the demanding schedule for reporting state standards, which is managed by administrators who evaluate each teacher every step of the way, and you can see why many are now considering changing careers. The best teachers concentrate their precious time on actual teaching and improving their own methods of instruction, not on keeping endless records that trace student performance based on minimum standards and observable deficiencies. They teach class with the understanding that learning requires the students to use a wide range of thinking strategies to understand material. They also instill the need for initiative and a quest for knowledge, not satisfaction for achieving mediocrity. Children who are reduced to being little more than statistics on paper instead of being encouraged to become unique, self-driven human beings learn many detrimental lessons. The all-important state evaluation becomes their holy grail of achievement as they begin to understand creativity and scholarship are secondary to passing proficiencies. I agree with Chuck Grassley, senior United States senator from Iowa, who once said, “What makes a child gifted and talented may not always be good grades in school, but a different way of looking at the world and learning.” The students who merely want to pass assessments learn many ways to satisfy a false system. And, education, to them, becomes formulaic and rote. They expect their instructors to "give us the answers that we need" not to "give us strategies we canuse to think and reason on our own." Many become too dependent upon objective evaluation in a very subjective world when, in truth, they should possess the skills to reason through uncertainty and pride themselves on their accomplishments. It is nearly impossible to rate the real educational achievement of a student. Any evaluation is based on certain standards pertinent at the time of the testing. And, tests of achievement do not measure emotional development and attitudinal characteristics. Besides, students' levels of maturity when taking any single state exam vary greatly. So much goes into the impressionable student mind that any lasting, beneficial results from a class, a teacher, a curriculum, or an eduction often take years (decades) to emerge. Believe me, the business of education is often light years behind the latest research and technology due to restricted budgets; old, antiquated beliefs and standards; and slow, slow state interventions and programs that are often ineffective when finally legislated and mandated by the system. Michael Brick of The New York Times writes the following assessment of the competition mindset in schools: “So far, such competition has achieved little more than re-segregation, long charter school waiting lists and the same anemic international rankings in science, math and literacy we’ve had for years. “And yet now, policy makers in both parties propose ratcheting it up further — this time, by “grading” teachers as well. “It’s a mistake. In the year I spent reporting on John H. Reagan High School in Austin, I came to understand the dangers of judging teachers primarily on standardized test scores. Raw numbers don’t begin to capture what happens in the classroom. And when we reward and punish teachers based on such artificial measures, there is too often an unintended consequence for our kids.” (Michael Brick, “When 'Grading' Is Degrading,” The New York Times Opinion, November 22 2012)   Brick tells about the year (2009) he spent reporting on Reagan High School in Austin, Texas. He watched teachers raise test scores to stave off a closure order, working against a one-year deadline. Brick saw many teachers “teaching to the test” and trying many other strategies to raise scores, but here is what impressed him the most: “Most of all, though, their efforts focused on something more difficult to quantify. I watched Coach Davis revive the basketball team, dipping deep into his own paycheck and family time to inspire the school with an unlikely playoff run. I watched the principal, Anabel Garza, drive around the neighborhood rousting truants out of bed, taking parents to court and telling kids their teachers loved them. I watched a chemistry teacher, Candice Kaiser, drive carloads of kids to cheer on the basketball team, attend after-school Bible study and make doctors’ appointments. I watched the music director, Ormide Armstrong, reinvent the marching band as a prizewinning funk outfit that backed Kanye West. “Together, they gave families a reason to embrace a place long dominated by tension, violence and the endless tedium of standardized test drilling. They improved the numbers. Mostly, they did it through passion, intelligence, grit and love.” (Michael Brick, “When 'Grading' Is Degrading,” The New York Times Opinion, November 22 2012)   Reagan High is no longer “Academically Unacceptable” and is continuing to rebuild its reputation as being the pride of the city, as it was when it was opened in the 1960s. Brick commends some fine teachers who have been there from the start and continue to build “a sustainable public school for the neighborhood.” To close his editorial, Michael Brick says the following about grading schools:   “Still, the most significant obstacle they face is the very same myopic policy suggested by Mr. Obama’s erstwhile opponent, Mitt Romney, in the weeks before the election: we grade our schools, he said, so parents 'can take their child to a school that’s being more successful.' As for the parents, teachers and children who can’t make that choice, they’re left to salvage what remains.” (Michael Brick, “When 'Grading' Is Degrading,” The New York Times Opinion, November 22 2012)   I wonder if parents would mind being graded on their participation and their interest in a child's education? We all know they play an important part in the academic success of their children. Yet, I know this idea sounds ludicrous. Did you know this is a proposal that has been made in a house bill from a Florida legislator? Imagine the consequences of publicly revealing these scores. Let's just evaluate everyone and everything about students -- this will surely improve things. Give me a break.    Toledo schools have used a system called peer review for many years. In Toledo public schools, new teachers have "intern" status. They are mentored by experienced educators, who help them refine their skills - while evaluating their work. Then, a special Intern Board of Review, including both administrators and classroom teachers, receives the mentors' recommendations for whether interns should be retained. The board must agree to them unless at least six of its members vote against the mentors' recommendations on whether to retain interns. Imagine the weight of the mentor's evaluation. And also imagine the stress placed upon them to assure only good teachers are retained. What happens when a clash of personalities occurs or an honest disagreement about an intern surfaces? How much power does the administration hold in the Board of Review? What if the decision rides on office politics? And, why is the administration shifting so much evaluative control onto classroom teachers? I don't know the answers to these questions, but from my experience, I do know that I hate all of the pressure school politics, school relationships, and useless busy work can put on a dedicated teacher. We are running many good teachers out of the profession because they simply don't have the time to satisfy state requirements that support this unfair competition and teach their classes, too. I have absolutely no problem with firing or not renewing bad teachers. They do exist, and unless they improve significantly, they should be sent packing. My problem rests with the enormous burden placed on excellent teachers who just love to teach. It is evident that government educational reform is causing those who have proven their worth to be subject to more and more duties of accounting and justifying their place in the faculty. I think successful teaching is an art and in order to master this artistry, a teacher must be given time and room to bring it to fruition. I know of no other endeavor that works so hard to uphold a ridiculous principle. That is the idea that “failure is not an option.” Failure can be a great teacher and a great motivator. I certainly have learned from my failures. I know some students do deserve to fail despite the best efforts of teachers. Author and motivational speaker Leo F. Buscaglia said, “ We seem to gain wisdom more readily through our failures than through our successes. We always think of failure as the antithesis of success, but it isn't. Success often lies just the other side of failure.” When the future of many potentially life-changing, dedicated educators rests with a poor grade – one that signifies the performance of the school in which they teach or one that signifies the grades of some of the students they instruct or one that signifies a so-called “objective evaluation” of their teaching skills – something is sorely missing. I believe what is missing is the human element of understanding. We must understand that good teachers are made, not born. With initiative, help, and guidance, most will grow into their potential and discover how to use the best of their talents to contribute to the academic and social growth of their students. If teachers refuse to accept the challenge of bettering themselves, I expect them and their school to agree upon their dismissal. God knows I was scared shitless my first couple years of teaching. I had everything I could possibly handle just managing my class and keeping a page ahead of my students. I could not have completed extra duties and busy work at that time. I continually saw things within the classroom I needed to improve, and I was determined to get my classes not only to learn but also to think. And, thanks to my students, my peers, and a lot of invention, I hung in there. Every year I taught I believe I strengthened my abilities and added to my repertoire because I wanted to improve myself, not because of a grade someone had assigned me.