Thursday, June 9, 2011

New plan for teachers

From the PG:

"At least initially, the clinical resident instructors will focus their efforts on principals and teachers who formally evaluate their peer teachers.

"That's the unique piece of this model," Ms. Lane said. "You're going to reverse training to have teachers training principals and other administrators.""


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11160/1152462-298.stm#ixzz1OmXuimgw

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11160/1152462-298.stm

7 comments:

Questioner said...

Tribune article on this topic:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_741255.html

Anonymous said...

Here we see yet another expensive, not-well-thought-out plan designed to replace another expensive, not-well-thought-out plan.

I starting to notice a pattern here.

Questioner said...

Wouldn't the district need to go w/ this expensive plan so that the groundbreaking PFT/district contract doesn't fall apart?

Anonymous said...

I agree with 10:39am that it is another not-well-thought-out plan. There was never a need to have teachers evaluate principals or others in supervisory positions. This is an insult to the principals and to the teachers who are now being made to do this. That's right MADE. When asked if, as a CRI teacher, they may return to their former job because the job description had changed so drastically, they were told a resounding NO. You signed up, you pay the price. Now, I ask, would you willingly sign up for any new program after seeing this? Also, the helping of non-tenored teachers is laughable, since there are more than a few CRI teachers that have not reached tenor themselves.

Anonymous said...

If there are non-tenured CRIs -- that is with three or fewer years of teaching experience, that's an issue the Board et al, should have considered all along. They wouldn't be any better teaching new teachers, either.

I don't imagine they'll be doing much telling of principals... I do know that at several schools vice-principals (VPs who will be gone next year, too) have had to be pulled in to do RISE evals too, since they end up taking up so much time. Next year those vps will be gone and I think most teachers would rather have their RISE done with the help of another teacher rather than a "director."

Anonymous said...

Where is there more information for the public about the changes that include the dissolution of the VP positions?

Anonymous said...

This lack of planning is nothing but the fruit of a tree planted in 2005. Perhaps we should slowly, but surely trace the roots of how PPS landed in the fine mess it now finds itself in.

Here's a short list of the greatest hits during the 2005-06 school year:

1. July 27, 2005: Board hires Mark Roosevelt as Superintendent of Schools. Roosevelt had no formal experience as a Superintendent.

2. September 28, 2005: Board breaks its contract with Andy King, demoting him from Chief Academic Officer to Special Assistant to the Superintendent. This will lead to the first of a series of expensive HR settlements.

3. November 22, 2005: Roosevelt begins his stream of carefully controlled studies, hiring the RAND Corporation to prepare a school closing analysis for $97,400. Like so many to follow, the underlying models assigning ratings to specific schools would never be made public, only the conclusions and a summary of the findings.

4. February 28, 2006: Board accepts a $1.5 million grant from the “Fund for Excellence” for start up costs for the Accelerated Learning Academies. Like so many programs during the Roosevelt, the Board would chase the immediate cash and give no regard for the long term sustainability of the program. America's Choice is hired for $3.6 million to support implementation of the ALAs. This is the same night the Right-Sizing plan is approved.

5. March 22, 2006: Kaplan is hired to write curriculum for $8.4 million.

6. April 26, 2006: The Institute of Learning receives a $400,000 contract to provide professional development to principals. An IFL or successor contract would become an annual item; the first one is funded by a grant, hiding the district's long term ability to support it. Expansion of central office in full swing with the creation of a Chief of Research.

7. May 26, 2006: The primacy of all things marketing begins with the Board opening positions for a Media Relations Manager and Community Relations Manager, all in the same year that 22 schools were slated to close.

8. June 21, 2006: The curriculum shuffle progresses with the DSF Charitable Foundation giving $1 million for new pre-k to 5 reading materials. Math wars remain with $120,000 spent for a Harcourt pilot and another $600,000 to other publishers. $50,000 is awarded for construction curriculum software at the same time that said CTE offerings were beginning to be phased out.

9. July 19, 2006: The Pennsylvania Department of Education hires PPS to run the Duquesne City School District. PSSA scores would drop dramatically during Mark Roosevelt's tenure as Duquesne's Superintendent of Record.

Next up: 2006-07