Teacher evaluations

I have called the school district and been passed around to several different departments. No one is responding to my question.

I have kids in Middletown schools. My child was getting A's in Math and Reading but not pass the state tests. Which makes me think, what are they teaching?

If kids aren't passing the state tests, teachers are not doing their jobs. What happens to teachers if kids don't pass tests? I read in the Journal that the pass rate went from 45% to 47% and the superintendent is happy about it. Instead, he should be thinking about what he's going to do with teachers who are not doing their jobs? They should have to take remedial "teacher classes", to learn how to do their jobs, or be fired.

I read in the Journal that a Middletown High school teacher said that student test scores should not be considered in teacher evaluations because kids are different everywhere. So is she blaming the kids for not learning.?  Kids are different, but the teacher's job is to figure out how to get the kids to learn the information they are supposed to learn.

I would like to know if I can see a teacher's evaluation before my child has to spend an entire year in a classroom with a teacher who's students are not learning what they are supposed to learn, and can I ask for a particular teacher for my student. If they don't have evaluations (why not), then I would like to see how many kids in  the teacher's class passed the state tests because I would like to choose another teacher, or go to another school.  I don't want to see names of students, just teachers and numbers of kids who passed the tests.

If I can't see the teacher's full evaluation, I would like to know how many kids in a teachers class passed the state tests. If the teacher my child is assigned to does not have the majority of their students passing the tests, I don't want my kid in that classroom.

Also, am I allowed to ask for a different teacher who's students pass the tests. So I need to see who my kid will have this year,soon, so that I can decide if I want to get a voucher or go to a charter school.

One big obstacle here on accountability....the Teacher's Union. Based on past history pertaining to teacher performance, when you start pointing fingers at teachers, there is a certain amount of backlash one can encounter from the union and the teachers themselves. The defense mechanism really kicks in with them and the excuses start flowing.

The class size is too large.

The school text books aren't current.

The parents don't care anymore.

Kids come to school unprepared with no homework done, tired, dirty, hungry, etc.

I didn't have time to prepare my students for the tests.

The parents won't cooperate.

I never see the parents at parent/teacher conferences.

The parents won't return my calls.


NOW WAIT A MINUTE TEACHERS....BEFORE YOU JUMP ALL OVER THIS......

Couple that with the administrations refusal to provide support for the teachers in the classroom and the fact that the schools/legislators have decided to remove any and all deterrents from the classroom, prompting the kids to "run wild" and have no respect for authority. Schools are intimidated by the "sue-happy" parents if they touch their "little angels" who, in reality, need to have a board taken to their behind to square their attitude away in proper fashion at times.

The legal system doesn't help either. They (the courts) cater to the disruptors/troublemakers (parents and students alike) and treat them like sugar coated candy, cottling them to the point of creating irresponsible people/ little brats instead of coming down hard on them.

The teachers, the administrators, the police and the courts are all intimidated by the parents and we have gone totally soft in maintaining any semblence of authority. Authority has gone soft and we are way too "kinder/gentler" in our approach. The hard line approach use to work. It is gone and so is the control in the schools.

If you are dissatisfied with the teachers, the school system, the test results and the perceived lack of a decent education in the Middletown schools, do as many before you have done. Transfer to a better performing district (take your pick- almost any perform better than Middletown does now), go parochial if you can afford the tuition, or go charter school. No doubt you can do better with any one of these options. JMO

My question to Sassy is this, other than the grades, how did your children do on the required Reading and Math benchmark tests done three times this past year, as well as the monthly common assessments given by the district? Did they do well or show growth? I don't know their ages but how are their SRI scores in reading? Are they at grade level? What about Dibels (if they are in the younger grades)? Their teachers should have given you those scores as an indicator of growth (or non-growth). I ask about these other tests simply to see if perhaps they did well throughout the year on other assessments and then maybe froze on the big state test, it has happened before. If there wasn't acceptable growth during the entire school year, did anyone address the issue to you?
As for requesting other teachers, it has been done for some pretty silly reasons (this not being one of them mind you) so all you can do is ask.
As for seeing how many children passed for each teacher, I for one wouldn't have a problem anyone knowing my numbers from year to year, including the progress my students make THROUGHOUT the year. However, since people know who is in what class, I believe there might be a privacy issue for students, but not sure. Again, you would have to ask, or, in this case, keep asking.

chmoore, the whole union-inspired game of getting one's Master's degree is just another way of saying a down payment for a future annuity. A teacher invests $$ into getting their Master's and then are entitled to raises until the end of time.
No proof that getting a Master's makes one a better teacher!

To sick of the bull...It's none of your business, (how my kids did on the benchmark tests. My point is that the

Definition of TEACH is

1a : to cause to know something <taught them a trade> b : to cause to know how <is teaching me to drive> c : to accustom to some action or attitude <teach students to think for themselves> d : to cause to know the disagreeable consequences of some action <I'll teach you to come home late>2: to guide the studies of3: to impart the knowledge of <teach algebra> 4a : to instruct by precept, example, or experience b : to make known and accepted 5: to conduct instruction regularly in <teach school>

Something is missing in Middletown classrooms. Teachers are teaching what they want to teach, not what they should be teaching for kids to pass the tests. I help my kids with their homework. I also have looked at the old tests on the state website, I don't see where the homework they get connects with the state tests. If kids are not learning what the state wants them to know, teachers are not doing their jobs.

sassygirl, I have a hard time believing the MCSD does not have a curriculum based on the Ohio tests. You sound like one of the many parents who tend to blame everything on the schools and teachers rather than helping your child study and holding them to a high standard. Back away from the video games, kids!

My son is now a proud member of Monroe Local Schools, thanks to open enrollment.

Stanky: thanks for your reply. First of all, I am not---nor have ever been---a teacher. So, it's not MY union. In fact, I usually don't even side with unions. I looked up NCLB: at the middle and high school levels, one of the qualifications for a highly-qualified teacher is a "graduate"--(i.e., "Master's")--degree. So, who "pushed for that...the state?" No, the federal government. COLA increases: as I stated, until the "bust" in 2008, nearly all unions negotiated an annual cost-of-living increase in their contracts. Once again, I am NOT a union member...just pointing it out. The "salaried" workers usually received the same increases, to keep pace with other rising wages. Another point: you "don't have evidence to back (your) point but I recall reading major articles...." If you don't remember the facts, don't make such general statements. I'll try to research the topic myself and report back. Last point: " Why don't we implement a system where the extra pay is given to the best teachers rather than handed out based on the Master's degree?" How do you determine the "best teachers"? What suggestions do you have to identify them and what scale do you use to compensate them? Thanks, again, for your input. CH Moore.

Ohiostorm: You have made my point! It's not because we have less-qualified teachers than other districts. MCS recruits from the same pool that other districts do. It must reflect other factors, i.e., "demographics." I need to repeat that I AM NOT---NOR EVER HAVE BEEN---a teacher. I don't "have a dog in this fight." I feel that it is unfair to place the blame on the teachers---I understand that some teachers are marginal for various reasons---when the great majority devote their lives to teaching (and enjoying teaching) their students. Thanks for your response. CH Moore.

In my post I did not blame the teachers. There are bad teachers in every district. Some districts just do a better job at holding them accountable or have a better contract with the union that allows them to hold them more accountable. I place very little blame on the teachers. I place blame on the administration. I do not buy the demographic argument. Other districts with similar demographics are succeeding better then Middletown so there must be other issues. I would accept that demograpics carries with it some challenges but others are rising to the challenge while Middletown continues to accept failure because they are not failing as bad as they were before.

I am not a teacher basher.

The state's mandatory curriculum is a bogey man for teachers to use as an excuse. The reality is as a teacher you should be able to teach kids subject X rather than subject Y. Is it that hard?

sickofthebull wrote: Sassy, in no way was I requesting your child's scores.  I was asking those quesions to see if you had an understanding of the data collection and progress monitoring that goes on in the district.  The fact that you became so defensive tells me you have no clue and therefore cannot speak to what is or is not being taught in the classroom or what your child is capable of througout the year.  As a teacher in the State of Ohio, I am given four books printed out by the state (your elected officials) that specifically mandates what is to be learned by the end of each and every grade.  Districts, with these MANDATED books in hand, then go on to find what they hope is the best curriculum available to teach to those standards which are then tested at the end of the year.  The benchmarks and common assessments I spoke of earlier, the ones you don't know about, are given throughout the year to monitor growth, or lack thereof.  If there isn't growth, we all adjust our instruction accordingly to accommodate those who don't get it still.  The ones who do get it suffer.  That is just a SMALL part of the process and to be honest, if you don't the process completely, how on earth can you speak on it, let alone piss and moan about it?  Just wondering....