Great piece yesterday from Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times (whose column is a must-read regardless of the topic).
He starts out by noting, "Reformers like myself face a conundrum. Teachers’ unions are here to stay, and the only way to achieve systematic improvement is with their buy-in. Moreover, the United States critically needs to attract talented young people into teaching. And that’s less likely when we’re whacking teachers’ unions in ways that leave many teachers feeling insulted and demoralized."
He then described a 2-year-old experiment in New Haven whereby "the school district reached a revolutionary contract with teachers. Pay and benefits would rise, but teachers would embrace reform — including sacrificing job security. With a stronger evaluation system, tenure no longer mattered and weak teachers could be pushed out. Roughly half of a teacher’s evaluation would depend on the performance of his or her students — including on standardized tests and other measures of learning."
So far it seems to be working in terms of ineffective teachers are able to be eased out of their positions, while for those remaining, "feedback is making everyone perform better — principals included."
He starts out by noting, "Reformers like myself face a conundrum. Teachers’ unions are here to stay, and the only way to achieve systematic improvement is with their buy-in. Moreover, the United States critically needs to attract talented young people into teaching. And that’s less likely when we’re whacking teachers’ unions in ways that leave many teachers feeling insulted and demoralized."
He then described a 2-year-old experiment in New Haven whereby "the school district reached a revolutionary contract with teachers. Pay and benefits would rise, but teachers would embrace reform — including sacrificing job security. With a stronger evaluation system, tenure no longer mattered and weak teachers could be pushed out. Roughly half of a teacher’s evaluation would depend on the performance of his or her students — including on standardized tests and other measures of learning."
So far it seems to be working in terms of ineffective teachers are able to be eased out of their positions, while for those remaining, "feedback is making everyone perform better — principals included."
