Proposed rating system worries teachers

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Though Ohio teachers might not necessarily like the way they are being evaluated now, a state report due out today shows that many are worried about a new proposal that increases the weight of student performance in appraisals.

The report summarizes input from more than 1,400 teachers solicited by Gov. John Kasich’s office through emails and 19 meetings across the state and was obtained by The Columbus Dispatch through a public- records request.

The report will detail how teachers feel about being paid based on their performance.

All of Ohio’s 614 school districts will have to adopt new teacher-evaluation systems by the 2013-14 school year. Those systems will count student performance as half of a teacher’s score.

The state recommends a rating system where teachers could be rated as highly as “proficient” or “accomplished” or as poorly as “developing” or “ineffective.” It is ultimately up to each individual district to set up its own system.

The emphasis on student performance in evaluations reportedly has some of the surveyed teachers worried. Many educators agreed student achievement is the “true measure of a teacher’s effectiveness,” but “they are skeptical about whether it can be fairly gauged,” the report said.

Some said if teachers were to be evaluated on how well students perform, then school administrators should be as well.

“Teachers believe a strong and credible evaluation system for principals and leaders in our schools and districts must be part of a comprehensive system designed to drive improvements to student learning across the board,” the report said.

Many of the teachers surveyed said the current system is biased, but new evaluations, if poorly designed and implemented, “could be disastrous.”

Some also worried about continued bias.

Teachers identified instances where principals “stacked” a class with low-performing students to make it difficult for a teacher to succeed. Some surveyed worried those practices could continue in cases where administrators wanted to target a teacher for removal.

“I feel teachers should be evaluated on performance, but the problem is that there is personal bias and teachers are not given equitable classrooms,” one teacher wrote.

Educators said they want classroom observations to be factored in to evaluations, but didn’t all agree on whether student and parent feedback should be a part of appraisals.