CAT Tracks Editor's Note I:

Don't know if the image below was chosen for the Gates' op-ed or for "related articles" linked on the same page.

Regardless...

It succinctly captures the anti-teacher mood running amok in the United States today:

CAT Tracks Editor's Note II:

My "morning after" rant and rave follows this morning inspirational from Bill Gates.

From the New York Times...

Link to Original Story

Op-Ed Contributor
Shame Is Not the Solution

By BILL GATES
Published: February 22, 2012

Seattle

Last week, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled that teachers’ individual performance assessments could be made public. I have no opinion on the ruling as a matter of law, but as a harbinger of education policy in the United States, it is a big mistake.

I am a strong proponent of measuring teachers’ effectiveness, and my foundation works with many schools to help make sure that such evaluations improve the overall quality of teaching. But publicly ranking teachers by name will not help them get better at their jobs or improve student learning. On the contrary, it will make it a lot harder to implement teacher evaluation systems that work.

In most public schools today, teachers are simply rated “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory,” and evaluations consist of having the principal observe a class for a few minutes a couple of times each year. Because we are just beginning to understand what makes a teacher effective, the vast majority of teachers are rated “satisfactory.” Few get specific feedback or training to help them improve.

Many districts and states are trying to move toward better personnel systems for evaluation and improvement. Unfortunately, some education advocates in New York, Los Angeles and other cities are claiming that a good personnel system can be based on ranking teachers according to their “value-added rating” — a measurement of their impact on students’ test scores — and publicizing the names and rankings online and in the media. But shaming poorly performing teachers doesn’t fix the problem because it doesn’t give them specific feedback.

Value-added ratings are one important piece of a complete personnel system. But student test scores alone aren’t a sensitive enough measure to gauge effective teaching, nor are they diagnostic enough to identify areas of improvement. Teaching is multifaceted, complex work. A reliable evaluation system must incorporate other measures of effectiveness, like students’ feedback about their teachers and classroom observations by highly trained peer evaluators and principals.

Putting sophisticated personnel systems in place is going to take a serious commitment. Those who believe we can do it on the cheap — by doing things like making individual teachers’ performance reports public — are underestimating the level of resources needed to spur real improvement.

At Microsoft, we created a rigorous personnel system, but we would never have thought about using employee evaluations to embarrass people, much less publish them in a newspaper. A good personnel system encourages employees and managers to work together to set clear, achievable goals. Annual reviews are a diagnostic tool to help employees reflect on their performance, get honest feedback and create a plan for improvement. Many other businesses and public sector employers embrace this approach, and that’s where the focus should be in education: school leaders and teachers working together to get better.

Fortunately, there are a few places where teachers and school leaders are collaborating on the hard work of building robust personnel systems. My wife, Melinda, and I recently visited one of those communities, in Tampa, Fla. Teachers in Hillsborough County Public Schools receive in-depth feedback from their principal and from a peer evaluator, both of whom have been trained to analyze classroom teaching.

We were blown away by how much energy people were putting into the new system — and by the results they were already seeing in the classroom. Teachers told us that they appreciated getting feedback from a peer who understood the challenges of their job and from their principal, who had a vision of success for the entire school. Principals said the new system was encouraging them to spend more time in classrooms, which was making the culture in Tampa’s schools more collaborative. For their part, the students we spoke to said they’d seen a difference, too, and liked the fact that peer observers asked for their input as part of the evaluation process.

Developing a systematic way to help teachers get better is the most powerful idea in education today. The surest way to weaken it is to twist it into a capricious exercise in public shaming. Let’s focus on creating a personnel system that truly helps teachers improve.

Bill Gates is co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

POSTSCRIPT:

Your CAT Tracks editor here...

I am not an overtly religious person, certainly closer to being a "there are no atheists in foxholes" kind of person than "Father Ron'. Truth be told, my search for faith tends to peak in those trying midnight hours.

That said...

I gotta say that the Op-Ed above was a God-send on this "morning after".

We have all heard and read that "God will never give you more than you can handle."

Yesterday...

...a test.

The latest test.

When I first heard the news yesterday of Justin Miller's withdrawal as a candidate for Cairo Superintendent of Schools, I was devastated.

"Gloom, despair, and agony on me...deep dark depression, excessive misery" were NOT simply the "funny" lyrics sung by/about the inhabitants of a fictional Kornfield Kounty, but, instead, the very real feelings of myself and certainly the vast majority of the current employees of the Kay-ro school district.

I mean...

...after a succession of "challenged" occupants of the position of business manager and down-right evil occupants of the Superintendent's position...

...finally, COMPETENCE!

Out of the wilderness, a person who did a job well, did not flare at questions, and who seemed to have no agenda, no axes to grind...possessing a simple desire to support and facilitate the educational mission of CSD #1.

And, now...

Going, going...

Sigh.

Heavy siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

My best to Justin Miller...he gave his best, he deserves the very best.

CAT Tracks Editor's Note: Well, guess a disclaimer/clarification is in order! Justin's contract with CSD #1 runs through June 30, 2012...his new position would not begin until July 1, 2012. So, folks...enjoy it while you can; savor the remaining days. (Is it too early to sound the alarm? That familiar refrain..."Check Your Check"! Did somebody say "Sigh!")

Our loss is definitely a gain for Justin's future employer.

Unlike Justin's current employer, maybe his next employer will recognize, appreciate, and reward competence...take suitable steps to RETAIN competence, to RETAIN good people.

Sadly, that is NOT the Cairo School District way...

So many good people - EXCELLENT PEOPLE - have passed through CSD #1, contributing their varied talents to the betterment of the children of Cairo...only to be kicked to the curb. (Remember Mac and Naomi?)

The "good news" for the "dearly departed"...they ALWAYS land on their feet, find their bed of roses.

Meanwhile, back in Cairo, we are left with the thorns.

We await the outcome of the search - high and low...and lower, overturning rocks that other school districts didn't know existed.

Once again, the Cairo Board of Education let a "good one" get away...

...showed another quality person the door.

Yep...

...the rest of those lyrics: