This is so good and it is true for every school system, not just Waynesboros. Reading through number 1 is a must. When a system becomes so deeply flawed that students suffer and good teachers leave (or become jaded), we must examine how and why we do things. 1. Tear Down the Hoops Our teachers spend far too much time jumping through hoops. Every year, our district invents new goals (such as “21st Century Skills”), measuring sticks (most recently a “Growth Calculator”), time-consuming documentation (see “SMART goals”), modified schedules (think block scheduling and an extended school day), and evaluations (look in our seventy-two page “Teacher Performance Plan”). As a district, we pretend these are strategic adjustments. They are not. The growth calculator was essentially brought forward out of thin air, SMART goals are a weak attempt to prove we’re actually doing something in the classroom, etc. Bad teachers can game any system; good teachers can lose their focus trying to take new requirements seriously.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 17:42:42 +0000
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