Teacher Evaluations

Unfortunately (or fortunately?) the teaching profession is not except from evaluations and assessments on the job. Teachers are often observed and critiqued on numerous things. However, unlike other professions, teachers are often evaluated on the success of someone else; their students. While assessing teachers on their student’s scores may seem appropriate on the surface level, there is a lot to take into account. Teachers are dealing with diverse classes with students that need special attention on a daily basis. Teachers usually have to deal with ESL students, special needs, low-level learners and socioeconomic diversity all within the same classroom and they usually have to teach with limited resources and immense pressure from state requirements. Not to mention, a student’s test score is probably not even the best indicator of success and is often biased based on an assortment of different factors, including their home-life. As you can see, evaluating a teacher can become quite the complicated process.

As we look at evaluating teachers, we must take into account a variety of different system to do so. We must also look at why we are evaluating them. According to AFT President Randi Weingarten, “teacher evaluations must be about improving teaching, not just rating teachers." While teachers may sometimes be unfairly evaluated, they should take responsibility for student learning by taking initiative to revamp the teacher evaluation process (Weingarten, 2016). 

One of the evaluation systems being used today is VAM (value-added modeling). VAM measures a teacher’s effectiveness by comparing the current test scores of a teacher’s students to the test scores of the previous year. The difference between the two is the value-added by the teacher. However, VAM has been criticized because the results will favor teachers who have less troubled students over teachers who have been randomly assigned more diverse classes (David, 2010).

Another type of evaluation system is a combination of formative and summative assessments done by school or state administration. First, teachers are given ongoing formative assessments of performance for the purpose of professional growth and improved practice. Second, they are given periodic summative evaluations or observations (Braun, 2013).

I think teacher evaluations should include the best of both worlds. Both measurement and development as a teacher are effective ways of assessing this profession. Evaluations shouldn’t just focus on rating teacher effectiveness, but giving specific feedback for improving teaching methods so that can become more effective teachers. An integrated system will be a better, fairer indicator of successful teaching. Teachers should be provided with professional development opportunities with support from their school districts. Teachers can be given mentors to work with and be given feedback from both students and parents. Peer and self-evaluations can also help assess a teacher as departments usually work closely together. 

References 

Braun, T. Teacher Assessment and Evaluations; Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/HE/TeachrAssmntWhtPaperTransform10_2.pdf 24 June 2016

David, Jane. Using Value-Added Measures; Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/may10/vol67/num08/Using_Value-Added_Measures_to_Evaluate_Teachers.aspx June 23 2016

Marzano, Robert. The Two Purposes of Teacher Evaluations; Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov12/vol70/num03/The-Two-Purposes-of-Teacher-Evaluation.aspx 24 June 2016. 

Weingarten, Randi. Teacher Development and Evaluation; Retrieved from http://www.aft.org/position/teacher-development-and-evaluation 23 June 2016

Pre-Assessments

Assessments come in many different forms and types and are given for a variety of different reasons. When creating and giving an assessment in the classroom, the teacher must first decide the purpose it will serve. As we learned in unit 1, assessments can be for learning or of learning. Assessments of learning measure how well students have achieved a certain objective. Assessments for learning allow teachers to adjust their teaching strategies to better suite the needs of the students in their classroom. A pre-assessment is given before the start of a unit to gauge student’s prior knowledge of certain subject. Because classrooms are filled with diverse learners, it’s important for teachers to understand how much their students know so they can differentiate content going forward. Student readiness has major implications in differentiation and can allow all students to be successful in the classroom and on summative assessments at the end of the unit. This flow chart shows 3 different strategies for differentiation after a pre-assessment. You can start by making a standard lesson for the 12 students who scored in the normal range and then differentiate from there. The 5 high-level students can be given leadership roles and opportunities to work independently and collaboratively with low-level students as a mentor. The 5 low-level students should be given scaffolding and graphic organizers to help them catch up with simple vocabulary and concept with teacher guidance. 

There are numerous ways teachers can implement pre-assessments, such as anticipation journals (students write about expectations and prior knowledge), group games and activities (students share prior knowledge to the group, carousel brainstorms (students collect a database of prior knowledge), and many more. However, just like summative assessments, pre-assessments must be differentiated to allow all students to share their prior knowledge on a certain topic. I created an interactive online quiz that students can take at home or in the library. This is a great way to incorporate technology into the classroom and doesn’t take up much class time.

As you can see, pre-assessments can be just as important to the learning process as post-assessments. They allow teachers to measure prior knowledge and differentiate accordingly by creating engaging lessons for all types of specific learners.

Resources

Assessing Prior Knowledge (2015). Retrieved from https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/teach/priorknowledge.html June 09 2016

 

Pendergrass, E. (2013). Differentiation: It starts with Pre-Assessment. Retrieved from www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/dec13/vol71/num04/Differentiation@_It_Starts_with_Pre-Assessment.aspx 09 June 2016

Pre-assessment Ideas (2016). Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/lrtsas/differentiation/5-preassessment-ideas 09 June 2016

High-Stakes Testing in South Korea

 I am currently teaching ESL at a middle school in the Korean public school system. Korea has been constantly performing at a high level on global standardized tests in recent years, especially on the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment). Korea and other Asian education systems like Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan have dominated the top of the rankings along with one European country, Finland. Living and working in Korea for the past 3 years has taught me  a lot about the rewards and consequences of living in a high-pressure society that places so much importance on standardized testing. 

The “수능” (Suneung) is the infamous Korean entrance exam that all Korean high school students take in the fall of their senior year. This single standardized test score will determine what university a student can receive admittance from. Since it is only offered once a year, over 20% of students will delay university to retake the test and try for a better score (Hu, 2015). The SKY universities (Seoul, Korea, Yonsei) are well known for being the best universities in the nation and only take the top scores every year. Admittance into one of these universities usually means a job with one of the mega conglomerates of the Korean economy, like Samsung, Hyundai, or LG. The Suneung is known as being the most important test a Korean will take, placing an insane amount of pressure on the Korean youth starting as early as elementary school. Korean students are known to start preparing for the exam as early as 1^st grade by attending after school academic academies called “학완” (hagwons). Korean middle school students spend an average of 12 hours a day studying between normal school hours and attending hagwons after school and on weekends. South Korean families spend more than any other nation in the world on education with an average of 15% of their total income going towards extra academic resources (Dalporto, 2016). On the day of the Suneung, businesses open one hour late to keep traffic of the roads. Local police stations offer free escorts to students running late. Planes are rerouted and delayed to help reduce noise and distractions around test centers. In the week leading up to the test, Buddhist temples are often overflowing with praying parents. Underclassmen are known to form cheering squads that line the streets of towns, shouting encouragements and banging on pots and pan the morning of the test. I remember walking to work my year in Korean and being astonished at the sight of it all.

Because such importance is placed on education in the Korean society, teaching is one of the most respected career paths one can choose. While Korean teachers work very long hours and have an enormous amount of paperwork, they are rewarded with high social status and job security. Teaching is one of the most secures jobs in Korea and it’s virtually unheard of to be fired based on student performance. Despite being such a difficult job to obtain (only 5% of applicants gain acceptance into a teacher-training program or university) it’s still one of the top career choices for young Koreans. A long summer and winter break, plentiful bonuses, job security, and good government benefits (health insurance and pension) are just some of the perks teachers in Korea enjoy. If you compare this to the teaching profession in the U.S., the differences are startling. American teachers are often evaluated on how well their students perform on standardized tests and are not considered to be on the same level of society as doctors, lawyers, and other high salary occupations.

Because of Korea’s success on standardize testing, U.S. policy makers have taken notice and tried to emulate it. The No Student Left Behind Act is good example of standardized testing policies being put into place that are good in theory but can have severe consequences to students. While the U.S. routinely places in the middle on PISA results, it’s important to weigh the cost of getting to top. The pressure Korean students feel to succeed is almost unparalleled. Due to the heavy influence of Confucianism, Korea is a collective society and individual failure reflects badly on the whole family. Suicide is the leading cause of death among Korean youth (age 15-24). Students often don’t get home from late night study sessions until midnight and are up again at 5 a.m. the next morning.

Are the results of a standardized test worth robbing students of their childhood? And what exactly are these standardized tests evaluating? Standardized tests often emphasize memorization over critical thinking and application to real-world knowledge (Badke, 2015). Korea’s Ministry of Education just recently announced a plan to reduce the amount of summative testing in middle schools by promoting “free-semesters.” These free-semesters will encourage students to experience learning activities outside of the classroom by taking field trips and doing job shadowing. These activities will take the place of mid-term and final exams in the second semester of each school year.

As you can see, there are differences and similarities between Korea and the U.S. when it comes to standardize testing. While countries use high-stakes testing, Korean culture and society places more emphasis on the results. Even though Koreans are continually scoring at the top of the PISA, the costs are not worth it in my opinion. However, there is one thing that that U.S. should take away from Korea and that’s the mind set they have towards teachers. Even though standardized testing is so important, a teacher’s value is not determined by the student’s results. They are rewarded with a safe job, good salary, and well-respected in society.

Cited Works

Badke, William. The Conversation Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/what-can-the-us-learn-from-south-koreas-testing-pressures-40365 03 June 2016.

Dalporto, David. South Korea’s School Success Retrieved from http://www.weareteachers.com/blogs/post/2015/04/01/south-korea-s-school-success 03 June 2016

Hu, Elise. Even the Planes Stop Flying Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/11/12/455708201/even-the-planes-stop-flying-for-south-koreas-national-exam-day 03 June 2016