Teacher Quality Showdown in Houston's Corral
Looking at the headlines coming out of Houston last night, it was a regular showdown at the school improvement corral. Teachers versus parents. Reformers versus status quo. Process versus outcomes. And in the words of far too many Simpsons episodes, we can't possibly forget about the children!
For those late to the rodeo, last evening the Houston Independent School District School Board voted (unanimously, 7-0) to approve HISD Superintendent Terry Grier's teacher quality efforts. The plan allows the school district to terminate (as a last resort) teachers whose students are unable to make the grade on standardized tests. According to the numbers being circulated, about 3 percent of the HISD teacher force, or 400 teachers, could be effected by this new initiative. For those who want more on this, the full story can be found here in the Houston Chronicle.
Most see Grier's efforts as a direct response to the current calls for teacher quality and accountability coming from Arne Duncan and the folks at the US Department of Education. Student performance remains the king. Effective teachers are the path to student performance. Ergo, students whose test scores don't improve have ineffective teachers who may not be suited for the classroom. Or so the SAT logic goes. Grier is moving a real, tangible plan aligned with Duncan's teacher quality pillar.
This vote has been brewing for weeks. As part of his negotiations with the teachers union, Grier tried to use AFT President Randi Weingarten's speech from nearly a month ago (Eduflack's analysis here) as grounds for the union to support his efforts. His argument was straightforward. If Weingarten was serious about rhetoric to fix a broken system and focus on effective teachers and student achievement, she should side with him on his teacher quality efforts. Why should 97 percent of HISD teachers be tarred by the student test scores of just 3 percent? And don't forget, Weingarten embraced the idea of using student test scores as part of teacher
For those late to the rodeo, last evening the Houston Independent School District School Board voted (unanimously, 7-0) to approve HISD Superintendent Terry Grier's teacher quality efforts. The plan allows the school district to terminate (as a last resort) teachers whose students are unable to make the grade on standardized tests. According to the numbers being circulated, about 3 percent of the HISD teacher force, or 400 teachers, could be effected by this new initiative. For those who want more on this, the full story can be found here in the Houston Chronicle.
Most see Grier's efforts as a direct response to the current calls for teacher quality and accountability coming from Arne Duncan and the folks at the US Department of Education. Student performance remains the king. Effective teachers are the path to student performance. Ergo, students whose test scores don't improve have ineffective teachers who may not be suited for the classroom. Or so the SAT logic goes. Grier is moving a real, tangible plan aligned with Duncan's teacher quality pillar.
This vote has been brewing for weeks. As part of his negotiations with the teachers union, Grier tried to use AFT President Randi Weingarten's speech from nearly a month ago (Eduflack's analysis here) as grounds for the union to support his efforts. His argument was straightforward. If Weingarten was serious about rhetoric to fix a broken system and focus on effective teachers and student achievement, she should side with him on his teacher quality efforts. Why should 97 percent of HISD teachers be tarred by the student test scores of just 3 percent? And don't forget, Weingarten embraced the idea of using student test scores as part of teacher