Teacher Evaluations

In Michigan, teacher evaluations have been in the news since January 4, 2010 when Governor Granholm signed legislation that required school districts to have a "rigorous, transparent, and fair performance evaluation system."  The system required the following (among other things):
A.  Evaluates the teacher's or school administrator's job performance at least annually while providing timely and constructive feedback.
B.  Establishes clear approaches to measuring student growth and provides teachers and school administrators with relevant data on student growth.
C. Evaluates a teacher's or school administrator's job performance, using multiple rating categories that take into account data on student growth as a significant factor.

The state school code then changed to state that job performance and job accomplishments shall be a significant factor in determining compensation and additional compensation.

All of that sounds good in theory.  But according to an article in the New York Times rating teachers using test data is fraught with difficulties.

I do not believe that any teacher or administrator objects to being held accountable.  We recognize that our job is to educate the students who attend our schools.  We welcome the opportunity to educate the students who come to our schools.

But, as seen the the New York Times article, creating the system is difficult.  

The New Year: A Time to Look Back and Look Ahead

Waking up on January 1^st is really no different than waking up on December 30^th or January 2^nd.  But we, it seems, see January 1^st differently. 

January 1^st has become a day for reflection and anticipation.  We look back to see what the past year was like and we look forward hoping that the New Year will be better than the old one.

As I look back on this past year, I can see that we have changed.  Our district spent time reinventing itself.  We closed buildings, created new ones, and attempted to address our structural budget deficit. 

What we did was painful.  While we changed the look of the district, we also changed much of our history and our traditions.  It was not, and is not, easy.  Yet, it was necessary. 

We had a structural deficit.  We were spending more money that we were receiving in revenue.  We could not continue to operate that way.  A new direction was not only needed, it was necessary.

In deciding to change, it was important to create positive educational environments.  I think that plan that was created attempted to do that.  We created an early childhood and kindergarten center, which concentrates staff time and attention.  At Neff, teachers, aides, administrators, and support staff all focus on the needs of our kindergarten and early childhood students.

Our four grade 1-6 buildings keep our preteens – students up through age twelve – together.  We have provided professional development in reading and writing instruction to our teachers, attempting to create consistent instructional practices between classrooms and buildings.    

A grade 7-8 building was created at Hayes.  Here all the students in the district come together.  Staff can work together to focus on instructional practices and create educational experiences for our students that are consistently and deliberately provided.

Our high school has had the students who were in our Sawdon Alternative High School folded back into the building.  A Student Success team focuses on providing support for students who struggle.  Continued and expanded opportunities for advanced placement are provided as well.  As with Hayes, at the high school we are focusing in providing consistent and deliberate instruction.

Looking back on last year reminds me of the tremendous changes that have been made.   Not everything went as smoothly as I had hoped.  We planned and thought through as much as possible, but there were obvious areas where we fell short.  We continue to strive to improve and make the educational experience of our students as positive as possible. 

Now January 1^st has come.  The New Year beckons to us.  Right now the possibilities are endless.  What will happen?  How will life change?  What will be different than last year?

My resolution is to continue working to create the district that all of us want - a district that provides quality educational experiences for every student. 

Our stated goal is to be considered one of the best districts in the state and nation.  I believe we can accomplish that goal.  It will take hard work.  In the current economic climate I do not anticipate that we will receive additional resources.  In fact, we might see reduced resources.

Yet I remain hopeful.  Why?  We have the most important ingredient we need to be successful - people who care.  From our employees to our parents to our community members, I have been overwhelmed by the passion and the commitment that has been displayed. 

People have rolled up their sleeves and dug in to help recreate our district.  The challenges have been, and will continue to be, difficult.  Yet, people have stood up and made a commitment to work hard for our district.

I do not know what the New Year will bring.  I do know that together we will continue to shape and change our district so that our students will receive the education that they need and that they deserve.

Let's here it for student achievement!

I look at a lot of data.  This week I looked at summaries of how our students did during the first trimester of this year at the high school.

We had 43 9th graders earn all "A"s or "A-"s  on their first report card in high school.  Of those 43 students,  17 of them earned all "A"s.

We had 42 10th graders earn all "A"s or "A-"s during the first trimester.  Of those 42 students, 24 of them earned all "A"s.

We had 32 11th graders earn all "A"s or "A-"s during the first trimester.  Of those 32 students, 13 of them earned all "A"s.

The senior class had 40 students who earned all "A"s or "A-"s during the first trimester of this school year.  Of those 40 students, 19 of them earned all "A"s.

Overall, we had 157 students who earned all "A"s or "A-"s.  Of that group 74 earned all "A"s.

The freshman class had the most students who earned all "A"s or "A-"s with 43 students.  The sophomore class had the most students who earned all "A"s with 24 students.

Grades are clearly one indicator that we have to look at to see how well we are doing.  Grades help us answer the question - Are our students learning?  

But grades are just one indicator.  We need to look at test scores, survey our community, get feedback and insight from a variety of sources.

But for today I want to celebrate the achievement of these 157 students.  They worked hard and I want to say to them, "Job well done!"

Oh the weather outside is frightful!

When I grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, snow was a big deal.  While Albuquerque is a mile high – we always considered Albuquerque, not Denver, the Mile High City – winters were typically cold but dry.  The Sandia Mountains, which frame the city on its eastern side, always had snow in the winter but it was rare in the city itself.

Growing up, I can recall only a handful of days when school was cancelled because of the snow.  Most Michiganians would chuckle at the decision making process that was used.  If Albuquerque had more than an inch of snow, school was usually postponed or cancelled. 

Why?  Albuquerque had no snow removal equipment or system.  Well, that is not completely accurate.  There was a system.  It was called the “waiting for it to warm up” system.  If there was snow, the city’s process for removal was to wait for it to warm up.

Here in Michigan, and in Grand Ledge specifically, we have to deal with snow on a regular basis.  Cancelling a day of school or delaying school for two hours is a decision that is not made lightly.  What is considered when we cancel or delay school because of the weather?

First, and most important, we consider the safety of our students.  Will our students be safe as they wait for buses, ride to school with their parents or on a bus, or walk to school. 

Cold weather is a factor, but this is Michigan.  It is going to get cold.  If the temperature or wind chills are below minus 20 we will consider cancelling or delaying school.  We have a wind chill temperature index from NOAA that we rely on to help us calculate how cold the air feels on human skin. 

This chart includes a frostbite indicator, showing the points where temperature, wind speed, and exposure will produce frostbite on humans.  This chart gives us an estimate of the time it would take for a person who is outside to be in danger of getting frostbite. 

We know that many of our students have to walk to bus stops or walk to school.  We consult this wind chill chart to make sure that students who are outside waiting or walking will not be placed in a dangerous situation.

We also consider the safety of our students as they wait for buses to arrive.  Are the roads that our students wait on safe?  This week with the ice and cold temperatures many of our roads were dangerous.  Having students stand by the side of a road that is ice covered may expose them to danger.  Delaying school allows traffic to clear and roads to be less hazardous.   

After the safety of our students, we consider the delay that snow will cause.  Our buses can maneuver in almost anything.  They will rarely get stuck.  But that is not true for cars.  There are many times when our buses could continue a route but a car is stuck and they cannot get around it.  If we delay for two hours it usually allows for most of the traffic to get out of the way and makes it easier for buses to run their routes on time.

Snow also causes problems on some of the country roads that our buses travel.  Many of these roads are not plowed and end up being one lane.  While our buses can usually travel these roads it is not unusual for cars to get stuck.  When this happens in front of a bus the bus is then put in a difficult situation.  It can attempt to go around the car, but often it is hard to see where the road ends and the ditch starts.  Or the bus can back up, which is a very difficult thing to do under normal circumstances.  Put forty to sixty students on the bus and backing up becomes very challenging.

Snow has become more of a problem in the past couple of years as cities and counties try to cut costs by reducing when and how much they plow.  I can sympathize with the cities, townships, and counties as they work to manage their budgets.  What it means for us is that roads are often not ready first thing in the morning like they used to be.

It is important to know that we have someone who drives the roads in the morning.  We are not just guessing that the roads are bad or that the snow is deep.  We know the conditions because someone has been on the road.

Getting students and staff to school safely and in a timely manner is important.  We are cautious.  When you receive that early morning wake up call that lets you know that school is cancelled or delayed I apologize for the inconvenience that it causes.  However, the decision was not made lightly and it was done for what I consider to be good reasons.

What do grades tell us?

Below are the passing rates for the first trimester of this school year at Hayes.  These are for core curriculum courses.

Core Curriculum
Course	Enrolled	Pass	Fail	% Passing
English
English 7	337	331	6	98.20%
English 8	371	350	21	94.30%
Math
Math 7	319	297	22	93.10%
Algebra A	199	180	19	90.50%
Algebra AB	141	141	0	100.00%

Core Curriculum
Course	Enrolled	Pass	Fail	% Passing
Science
Science 7	343	324	19	94.50%
Science 8	379	348	31	91.80%
Social Studies
Social Studies 7	354	347	7	98.00%
Social Studies 8	393	369	24	93.90%

What am I trying to do when I generate data like this?  Am I trying to suggest that we grade too easy or too hard?  Am I trying to suggest that we are failing too many students or passing too many students?

Data like this gives us information.  It allows us to examine our practice.  More importantly it allows us to reflect on who the students are that are not succeeding and gives us a chance to ask ourselves what can we do for those students.  How can we help them?

Students need to pass their classes.  Yet they must earn their grade.  We should not just give a student a passing grade unless they can demonstrate to us that they have learned the material.  When we see our passing rates it allows to ask ourselves questions, to see if we are accomplishing our goal.

What is our goal?  That every student will make at least a year's growth in a year's time.  That every student will learn.

Student Success in Grand Ledge High School

Are students successful at Grand Ledge High School?  That is a simple question that is actually harder to answer than one would think.

Here is one way to examine if students are successful.  The following charts show how many students were enrolled in our high school Michigan Merit Curriculum courses.  They also show how many students passed each of these courses during trimester one of the 2010-2011 school year and how many students failed.  A passing percentage can then be calculated for each course.

As an example, 207 students were enrolled in our freshman level English course - BCL A.  Of those 207 students who took the course during the first trimester of this school year, 187 students passed and 27 students failed.  That means 87% of the students who took the course passed the course.

Course	Enrolled	Pass	Fail	Passing %
English
BCL A	207	180	27	87.00%
Hon Eng 9a	51	51	0	100.00%
ACL A	130	123	7	94.60%
ICL A	182	158	24	86.80%
GCL A	168	159	9	94.60%
Math
Algebra 1a	77	65	12	84.40%
Algebra 1b	143	119	24	83.20%
Algebra 2a	182	155	27	85.20%
Algebra 2b	49	49	0	100.00%
Geometry A	195	164	31	84.10%
Geometry B	33	21	12	63.60%

Course	Enrolled	Pass	Fail	Passing %
Science
Biology A	331	288	43	87.00%
Chemistry A	234	201	33	85.90%
Chemistry B	11	11	0	100.00%
Physics A	64	54	10	84.40%
Social Studies
Civics	126	121	5	96.00%
Econ	171	167	4	97.70%
US History A	184	173	11	94.00%
World History A	278	260	18	93.50%

Several thoughts and questions pop into my mind as I look at these numbers.  First, the passing percentage is really a neutral number.  It is not good or bad.

What is more important is to know what is behind the number.  Who is failing?  Why are they failing?  did they not do the work?  Do they not have the skills to do the work?

Could we have identified who these students were earlier and tired to intervene?

How much earlier could we have intervened?  Did these freshmen have trouble in 8th grade or 7th grade?

How do these grades relate to the MEAP tests and other standardized assessments that we give students?  Do those assessments identify for us students who will struggle in class?

 

Random Thoughts on How Many Students Should Pass a Class

As the Superintendent, I can access information that shows me how many students passed each class that was taught at the high school.  

During the first trimester at Grand Ledge High School, we offered 173 courses.  The chart below identifies passing rate ranges and how many courses were in that range.  For example, in the 100% range - where 100% of the students who took the course passed - there were 87 courses.  In 87 courses offered last trimester at Grand Ledge High School 100% of the students enrolled passed.  There were 53 courses offered in the 1st trimester of the 2009-2010 school year at Grand Ledge High School where 90-99% of the students who took the course passed.  

	Number	Percent
100% of Enrolled Students Passed	87	50.3%
90-99% of Enrolled Students Passed	53	30.6%
80-89% of Enrolled Students Passed	23	13.3%
70-79% of Enrolled Students Passed	7	4.0%
60-69% of Enrolled Students Passed	2	1.2%
50-59% of Enrolled Students Passed	1	0.6%
Below 50% of Enrolled Students Passed	0	0.0%
		100.0%

What am I to think of this information?  Is what I see good or bad?  Does this kind of information help me get a better sense of how we are doing or does it give a distorted and incomplete picture?


Part of me says that this kind of information is helpful.  When students fail it is a problem.  I want students to pass.  I want teachers to be aware of students who are struggling and offer assistance.  If a student is failing a course I want the district and the school to take notice and try to find a way to help that student succeed.


But I don't want us to think that passing a class is the goal.  Learning the material, understanding the content - that is the goal.  I do not want teachers to think that they should "give" a student a grade just to pass them.  Students need to earn their grade.  If students don't do their work or if students don't turn in assignments or if students do not do well on tests, then they should not pass the class.  The goal is not 100% passing.  The goal is 100% learning.


Everyone of us connected to learning in the district should focus our effort on helping every student learn.     

Grand Ledge Parade

The GLHS band performs in the Grand Ledge Christmas parade.

Miss Fox Reviews Today's Schedule

Miss Fox spends time with her class reviewing the day's schedule with her students at Delta Center.

Greek Myths at Delta Center

Mrs. Soria talks with her class about Greek myths as they prepare to read stories like Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.

Wrestling at GLHS

Tonight at Grand Ledge High School the Comets had a quad meet. First match was against Eaton Rapids.

Do Parents and Students Use PowerSchool?

When I was in high school and my parents asked how school was going I always said, "Alright."

When they asked if I had turned in my assignments, I said, "Yes."

When I received my "D" in the first quarter of Algebra 2 they were surprised.  How was that possible when I was doing all of my work?  Little did they know that I really wasn't doing all of my work.

Parents don't have that excuse anymore.  

Power School is our student management system.  Parents and students can access Power School to view grades and see attendance.  

It's a good tool for both parents and students.   How often do parents and students access Power School?  Here are some stats from a Power School report on the high school that I looked at today.

It appears that both parents and students are taking advantage of this tool.

3rd Grade Math @ Beagle

Mrs. Bedard works on math with her 3rd grade class.

Word Work at Beagle

Mrs. Hoort works with Mrs. Beach's 4th grade class on learning about some of characteristics of words.