Tuesday, December 14 is Principal Recognition Day. I’m not sure why this date was selected, but I understand there may be declarations signed by major government officials. WhooooHooooo!
It’s not likely something for which they make numerous greeting cards. There is no need to purchase a gift for your favorite school principal. It’s just a special day to remind you that good schools don’t become good schools without good principals leading them.
At times I have written about the principal’s job being the best job in any school district –especially the elementary principal. But there is one aspect of the principal’s job that is the most critical to student success. It is complicated, challenging and can be emotionally draining. That is teacher evaluation.
It is the job of the principal (and assistant principal, too) to evaluate the performance of each teacher. The evaluation should be viewed as a way to help teachers become better teachers, but the tool must also be used to remove teachers. Poor teachers do not stay in the classroom because of tenure laws as many people think. Poor teachers stay in the classroom when they are not being evaluated properly.
Years ago, teachers were evaluated (hopefully each year) by the principal, who would drop in on a class or two, make some notes and fill out a form or check list giving the teacher a score in each identified area. The principal would go over his/her observations with the teacher and that would be that.
Today it is a little more complicated. The teacher evaluation process in Delaware is called DPAS II. It has a number of required parts.
1. The teacher completes a goal form, establish targets for the year.
2. Teacher and principal meet to go over goals.
3. Before the teacher’s teaching can be formally observed the teacher must complete a pre-observation form.
4. Teacher and principal meet to discuss what the principal will be seeing.
5. Principal observes the lesson.
6. Teacher and principal meet to discuss the lesson.
7. Principal completes a formative evaluation.
8. Near the end of the year the principal and teacher review the goals and discuss whether or not they were reached and why.
9. Teachers in their first three years must then receive a final evaluation.
10. Teachers with continuing contracts may go through this cycle every two years.
This must be done for every teacher. It is very time consuming and seems to require more conferencing than observing.
Most teachers are good teachers who take their work seriously. They work hard and want to do better every year. But, we’ve all known a few stinkers. Maybe you had one in school or maybe your children have had one. They smell up the school until a principal has the courage to tell them they stink.
It’s hard telling someone who has invested a college education in this career that they maybe don’t belong in education. It’s even harder sometimes to convince them that it is true and to prove it with evidence collected from the process above.
That’s why the principal is so critical to school success. That’s why they deserve special recognition.
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