Sunday, December 04, 2011

Great idea: teachers could ask to be evaluated!

I like Paul Bowers idea of allowing teachers to ask for evaluations. The current system is close to useless. Many, if not most, principals write evaluations without doing adequate observations, and their opinions are often based on school politics. Many principals are afraid of their own bosses--and of their own teachers! Superintendents think no news is good news, so if a principal can keep a school quiet, that principal is considered a success.

Evaluations should be done by outsiders: ideally, the evaluators would come from another school district. I'd like to see both experienced and inexperienced teachers doing evaluations; it would be a great learning experience for the newer teachers.

What if someone started a business or non-profit dedicated to evaluating teachers?

VOSD Radio: No Way to Avoid Schools Insolvency?
November 21, 2011
by Dagny Salas

Listen to the Nov. 19 episode of our radio show on KOGO AM 600, which airs Saturdays at 7:30 a.m.

Editor Andrew Donohue and special guest Paul M. Bowers, a concerned parent and frequent VOSD commenter, spend the show talking about San Diego Unified School District's problems and potential solutions...

"Teachers are the second-most important part of the education equation."

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