This project suggests teachers require consistent feedback that is focused on “excellence in instruction,” not only test scores. Absolutely — couldn’t agree more!

As an expert in teacher education, I can confidently state that there is no agreement on what is considered “effective teaching.” Thomas Kane’s concern over the effectiveness of classroom observers assumes that there is bona fide rubric that can adequately measure effective teaching. If there was such a rubric, this EdCast interview wouldn’t be taking place. It is very important for the public to understand this when considering how we evaluate teachers. A classroom observer cannot know what the teacher in a classroom knows. In other words, teachers typically collect information about the individuals in their classroom and how each student relates to the content. This information consciously drives the decisions teachers make throughout a class. An observer can never know that crucial information. Moreover, the measured effectiveness of learning varies tremendously with age and subject. At the moment, administrators have things that they want their teachers to do because of school-wide initiatives, but the desired practices are by no means universal. The truth is, we don’t know what effective teaching looks like. Until we get there, we are asking for your patience.

How and why is it that the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation has turned its philanthropic money towards improving teachers in the classroom? Isn’t the assumption that poor performance by students is caused by poor performance by teachers? How do we know that? Test scores? You mean those ridiculous tests they call measures of student achievement? Again, after putting billions in technology to improve 4 thousand schools in America and getting no better results from test scores, the Gates Foundation has turned to making teachers better by identifying what makes a teacher a good teacher. In my view, it is not a taught skill. Either you have a good personality to work with students or you don’t. I had professors who had personalities that were so droll that it did not matter how hard they tried to communicate the information, they were not attended to. So they have hired this Harvard guy to identify the characteristics of what a good teacher is. In my view, there is no teacher unless there is a personality and that personality must include the ability to make students laugh and learn. If the teacher can’t make them laugh, they can’t teach. After that, all the other stuff can be taught.

Not sure of the full agenda, but the phrase “best aid teachers in discovering which among their skills are most effective in the classroom” caught my eye. My expertise is in observing classrooms and gathering objective data to inform the teacher accurately on their teaching practices and student behaviors. Helping teachers by giving them accurate data on how much time they talk in a student discussion, or the pattern of their response to misbehaviors, or the number and type of non-divergent questions they ask — all areas were teachers very frequently misjudge their own performance — empowers them to make the changes they believe will improve their teaching.
By providing an objective, data-based baseline, follow by the teacher implementing a change, and providing the same objective follow-up data engages the teacher in action research about their own teaching. It’s a very effective approach to improving teacher quality that demonstrates respect for the teacher’s dedication to ongoing improvement of skills and treats them as the competent professional that they are.

I’ve created over 200 electronic tools for easily collecting this type of data, and have developed the Data-Based Observation Model that includes guidelines for interactions between observer and teacher. The tools are used in hundreds of schools across the country.
Peace, John Tenny, Ph.D.

What I find frustrating as a classroom teacher listening to this is that there needs to be actual teachers making the rubrics. ( I have not read the study so take this from a person who has only listened to the podcast.) We know what we are doing and can be reflective on our own practices. Teacher self-evaluation can and should also be part of evaluating teacher effectiveness. There are so many nuances involved in any given lesson, so many variables in student abilities – it is the teachers themselves that can give the most valuable criteria for evaluation.

My other concern is about having students give feedback and wondering at what age are they capable of actually having clear judgment to ascertain a teacher’s effectiveness. Although that might seem to be helpful, I would not want to rely on a young child’s perceptions too heavily (or at all).

In my twenty years as a classroom teacher, using the Richard Elmore idea of ‘educational rounds’ has really been most helpful to me as a professional in my field. Peers observing and giving feedback is effective because they also know the students and the context in which you are teaching. We developed our own criteria and use it in our evaluations of one another.

As an educator, I am continually amazed how vast resources are given to understanding “effective teaching practices”. The results of these studies do not provide and new information, they are simply exercises in due diligence. Not to belittle the good work that was done here, however we’ve known for decades that test scores, surveys and classroom observations are effective means of measuring the effectiveness of teaching (delivery and learning).

The greater (and un-answered) question is why do some students thrive and and others do not under the same classroom conditions. Abraham Lincoln, Booker T. Wahsington, Jimmy Carter and many others came from less scholarly backgrounds. The American story is based on the rise from poverty to prominence. So, the argument that those from less privilege backgrounds are less likely to succeed is unfounded. Many of the individuals are more driven to succeed in education as their only way out of poverty. I was born in Mississippi during the 50′s and have attained a doctorate through many perils to me as an African American in the public school system.

I submit that the quality of education in America will not be improved until the real systemic problems are resolved. In the US an education the key to success in a competitive society, and a benefit and service that is not extended equally to all.

Archimedes-Learn