Teachers' evaluations on steroids.

[no_hypocrisy]

Now I think I've heard everything.

In an affluent suburb in northern New Jersey, an assistant superintendent has a new mandate for non-tenured teachers. These teachers need to record (write down) every interaction with a student(s) for the entire school day and what the results were. Example: You have to record that you asked a general question to the class (the question verbatim) and asked for the answer. You call on a student and have to specifically name that student, what s/he said,what you responded, what other students said, and so on. And you have to stop teaching in order to write this all down and hand it in at the end of the school day. A virtual diary.

BTW, the assistant superintendent of schools used to be a math teacher, only understands numbers, not people.

[narnian60]

1. Start the camcorder!

I'm not writing all this crap down.

[duffyduff]

2. This is an excuse to dump a teacher before he or she reaches "tenure."

Nothing more, nothing less.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Total agreement.

[LWolf]

4. "Sorry, class."

"I'm too busy writing down everything I say and everything you say to teach you anything today."

[mbperrin]

5. This is required of the special ed inclusion teachers in our district.

And yes, it is just as bulky and just as dumb as it sounds.

We've slowed it down some by requesting feedback from admins on EVERY entry to see if they think:
1. it's in good order for a report
2. the interactions were valuable, and if so, why? and if not, why not?
3. Overall evaluation of the document daily for relevance and assistance to students.

They haven't been able to explain why these requests of ours aren't good, and they don't want to say they don't have time, because of course, that would mean that nobody reads them really, and therefore, they are no good to anyone for anything.

I'll let you know how it works out. Right now, we're waiting for responses.

[Ka hrnt]

7. Great way of solving the problem...

...dump it right back in the laps of the geniuses who created it! Far too many administrators need to be subjected to the absurdity of their own ideas, maybe then they'd get a clue.

[HiPointDem]

15. +1. though it seems like anyone with half a brain would understand how unworkable that is.

so methinks they did it on purpose, to drive people out before they get tenure, or to wreck their classes so they get low ratings.

[Ka hrnt]

6. Sigh...

"...the assistant superintendent of schools used to be a math teacher..."

I'm going to guess he/she wasn't a terribly good teacher if he/she does not realize how horribly disruptive (and useless) this is.

"only understands numbers"

Again, I'm going to guess he/she doesn't really understand numbers either if they don't understand that a bunch of worthless data isn't going to be useful (and again, not worth the cost of collection/analysis).

This could very well be the dumbest idea I've heard come out of education...and I've heard a lot of stupid #@! come out of Principals, AP's, Superintendents, and other "educational experts".

[duffyduff]

11. yep to this

"I'm going to guess he/she wasn't a terribly good teacher if he/she does not realize how horribly disruptive (and useless) this is."--

That is why he is an administrator. He became one because he had the right connections instead of being fired like he should have been or not hired in the first place.

The bad part of this idiocy is teachers have to carry it out or else be charged with "insubordination."

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. And who is going to read all this nonsense?

I'd be writing down a lot of 'blah blah blah' in my journals.

[Smarmie Doofus]

10. Highly-paid administrators. Then they'll score it w. a "rubric". n/t

[Squinch]

14. The word "rubric" makes me gak.

[Smarmie Doofus]

9. Gates got 800 on his math SATs.

>>BTW, the assistant superintendent of schools used to be a math teacher, only understands numbers, not people.>>>

It is said that he would ask first dates at Harvard what THEIR sat scores were.

That was his "ice breaker".

It's not clear if he ever had a second date.

Holy mother of jesus. People like this are now in charge of education in America.

[duffyduff]

12. Another reason SAT scores aren't indicators of IQ or much else.

n/t

[Squinch]

13. And then, the superintendent is going to what with this?