STOP Teacher Observations! Part II
Picking up from Part I of STOP Teacher Observations, it is time for observations to go, and to propose an alternative, or adjunct, to the current ineffective method of traditional teacher observation.
Unconvinced such an idea is workable? Imagine you are a principal who never leaves your office, yet your teachers are producing top quality results: consistently high standardized test scores, on-time attendance, parent satisfaction and a positive atmosphere in the school. Would you still feel compelled to perform your standard formal observations, or could you at this point determine teacher proficiency based solely on data with an increased frequency of informal walk-throughs? Or do you really need those formal teacher observations? And even if your school has low test scores, poor attendance, unhappy parents and a general unhappy atmosphere, are you regular teacher observations helping to improve any of these issues?
Principals, do you like your OB/GYN? Your pediatrician? Your dentist? Your lawyer? Of course you do? Undoubtedly, you are very satisfied with their proficiency and professionalism. When do you think the last time was that they were observed or evaluated by their peers in their professional settings, their offices? Never. So how did they get to be so good and professional at what they do? How did they grow professionally? They did what teachers should have been allowed to do for decades.
All private sector professionals use their office data (# new patients/clients, daily income, office visits, % of successfully recalled patients/clients and much more) to drive daily decisions in their practices. Teachers are not afforded this luxury. Even if we use classroom data to run an efficient, organized and happy classroom, we are guided (I’m being nice) by what is told to us during post-observations and then told what we are expected to do for the next observation. This goes on, and on, and on… for years. Coming from private practice into the public sector of teaching, and ever since my first observation, I have seen this as absolute madness and am constantly amazed by how much growth and development teachers are able to achieve in spite of this cycle of education’s version of professional development.
I equate teacher professional development via teacher observation/evaluation to having our own “helicopter parents” watching over us every day. Don’t laugh. According to Parents magazine:
“Helicopter parenting refers to a style of parenting (observations) where parents (administrators) are highly involved in their child's (teacher’s) life. Their intense focus can negatively impact a child's (teacher’s) mental health, self-image, coping skills, development, growth and more. They typically take too much responsibility for their children's (teacher’s) experiences and, specifically, their successes or failures… It means being involved in a child's (teacher’s) life such that it is over-controlling, overprotecting, and over perfecting, in a way that is in excess of responsible parenting (administering).”
“Engaged parenting (administering) has many benefits for a child (teacher), such as feelings acceptance, improved self-confidence, and opportunities to grow.” However, in the case of hover-parenting (educational micro-managing) "the problem is that, once parenting (formal observing) becomes governed by… decisions based on what might happen, it's hard to keep in mind all the things kids (teachers) learn when we (principals) are not guiding each step.” Meaning oversight is so far-reaching, principals often miss the forest for the trees. “Failure and challenges teach kids (teachers) new skills, and, most importantly, teach kids (teachers) that they can handle failure and challenges."
While some of you may disagree with this analogy, most of you will see the all-too clear parallels between helicopter parenting and evaluation by teacher observation as being detrimental to teacher growth and professional development.
Most of us believe, rightly so, that teachers need to be evaluated in some way, shape or form. I agree, and we are evaluated - every day… by 30+ kinetic little bodies in our classrooms five times each day. We are also evaluated by our colleagues as they walk past our doors and are evaluated by administrators walking the hallways. We are evaluated by parents when we call home to let them know of a problem - or a success - with their child.
Unlike other professionals, our "practice" is an open book. People (colleagues, parents, admin...) are constantly in our rooms. Ask any custodian who they think is a good teacher (or a bad teacher) and they will come to the same conclusion as the principal. Everyone who has come to yours or my room has an opinion of us. We have doors open and are under the microscope from the time we arrive until the time we leave. We enjoy having administration walk in our rooms to see what we are doing. How great is it when that happens and the principal sees you later in the day and points out how much he/she liked what you were doing and tells you, how what they saw makes you such a special part of the school! There's your informal and very welcome feedback. It’s how your doctor feels when you leave his/her office and say, “Thank you doctor. I’m so lucky to have a doctor like you!” We've all had administrators say this and how do we feel afterwards? Empowered. It validates what we do and we grow professionally by this type of interaction. These moments are a lot different, and much more effective, than post-observation meetings.
There are two questions that need to be answered. The first is, “Why do we have teacher observations in the first place?” The answer is simple. Schools want to know how you, the teacher, is doing and if your students are receiving the best possible education. But if that’s the case, then why aren’t observations working? Student achievement is not rising commensurate with either the frequency or magnitude of observations. I argue it is even worse than that. The observation has become neither a source of support nor an opportunity for true professional growth. More importantly, how are teachers still messing up as demonstrated by continued mistakes such as undifferentiated Do Nows, or improper classroom seating, or inadequate level of questioning after 10 or 20 years of regular observations? 30-year veterans are getting crushed (earning a Developing) on their inadequate use of technology in a single observed lesson! Come on. We must be really really horribly unqualified teachers. Right? (No, wrong!)
It’s obvious that current teacher observations are not producing significant change in student achievement and classroom behavior (and may actually be doing the opposite), so the second question is, “How do we move from the current system of teacher observation (which nobody really loves and is not achieving the desired result!), to one more aligned with how every other professional evaluates - or self-evaluates - their growth, professional development and productivity?” It is all about data. Now there are two sides of the debate here:
Do we continue to use regular teacher observations as the barometer of teacher success? vs. Do we take a different approach to interpreting classroom data that will give administration what they are looking for (and more)?
It goes beyond eliminating teacher observations. Only by removing this unnecessary and unproductive oversight can teachers fully develop their own successful practices as do all other professionals. This is a non-negotiable.
The problem is that both sides are unwilling to give in and so we are at an impasse. Regardless of what you believe, administrators don’t really enjoy doing observations but have no choice as teachers are not giving them any of their data in a format that will supersede teacher observations. While teachers are digging their heels in the belief that their data (grades being the cornerstone) should not be used as the litmus test for what is happening in their classrooms. That is because they have absolutely no idea how other professionals use their data to drive their practices and how much better and easier their lives will be by doing so. If used as data should be used, it is not punitive. It is used to set goals, based on benchmarks from which both students and teachers can see tremendous growth and advancement. If both students and teachers were shown how to do this, it would convince them to get on board with real goal setting. Imagine this, Monday morning rolls around and before the students are let into the building, your principal announced announces over the PA system that:
“Beginning this morning, there will be no more formal teacher observations. From here on in the APs and I will be walking the halls, visiting your classes, talking with your students and will be reviewing your classroom data with you from time to time. In the weeks ahead you will be shown how to develop, collect and display/analyze all the classroom data you have been collecting over the year in an entirely new fashion. There will be three in-school professional development sessions to show you how to do this. The best part (besides no more formal observations) is that this new strategy will not involve computers, apps, Smart Boards, cell phones or any technology. Students will be shown how to set and make real goals. Student data will be kept in the class and students will be 100% responsible for updating their information. You will be shown how to start them setting real goals. You will then use this data along with grades, attendance, home contact, etc… to keep your own thin, and easy to monitor, Teacher Binder with a condensed version of all class data. This will be updated daily in your binder, on your desk, and will be available to any administrator upon entering your classroom. As with all other professionals, you will be responsible for collecting all data as well as doing the necessary statistical analysis from which you will make decisions on how to run your class. This does not mean we will be taking a “hands off” position when it comes to how you manage your classroom, but will instead be adopting a new approach, a new way, of shifting classroom management back to you while making your data more useful to you, available and transparent for all entering your classroom. You will be hearing more about this new “evaluation program” in the coming weeks, but rest assured we think you will find this a better way for you to professionally develop as all professionals outside of education do. Have a great week!
How does this sound? While teaching, I did exactly this. My colleagues certainly remember my students keeping their data in folders that was updated each Monday using Progress Reports as well as my ‘big data graph” shown here:
The point being that if an observation is meant to bring the teacher to a higher playing field, it is not working. So what are we doing with all the teacher's classroom stats? There are ways to collect, organize and display these so that anyone coming into your room could take a 1-minute look and see how everything is trending - up, down or not at all. Classroom statistics are - and should be viewed as - the lifeblood of all classes!
Just like teaching someone to drive, you cannot continually tell a person what to do or not do. Eventually, you need to sit back, bite your tongue, and let them learn, or else they’ll be a nervous wreck each time you go out with them. Better yet, let the new driver get more practice in by themselves! A spouse nagging their better half about their driving does not make him or her a better driver. Just as telling teachers or students what direction to take and what to do cannot possibly make for better students or educators. Let the teachers figure it out - using their data to guide them, just as all other professionals do!
My final criticism of the observation is its having very little (and most times nothing) to do with what we are really accomplishing in our classrooms. No disrespect intended but what is a first-year AP going to say about a 25-year veteran social studies teacher that couldn't have been said during an informal stroll into the class, a look at their data and followed up in an informal conversation vs. a post-ob detailing all the mistakes made during the lesson? Which approach would help you to better professionally develop? 99% of teachers are doing the right thing 99% of the time. Would it not be more constructive to reinforce those 99% positive moments rather than seek out the 1% of procedural errors during a formal observation?
This post is intended to open a dialogue. I have kept all this Goal Setting data for many years and have spoken with administrators about my stats - going so far to have invited them to look through my classroom statistics to get an idea of what I do and how I do it. They have all seen my “big goal setting board” and have thought it mildly interesting, but have never asked me what I do or why I do it. They simply do not understand how practice management works, but they can learn. For 20+ years in the classroom my teacher observations have always been rated effective, but if admin were to ever have looked at my data and statistics with an open mind - a different perspective - they would have come to the same (and I believe even better!) conclusion. This must change. Education must start to give teachers the same opportunities to develop the same as every other profession! Principals, are you ready to step outside your comfort zones and try something different?
Dr. Cubbin
Website - schoolgoalswork.com
Substack articles (like this one!) - schoolgoalswork.substack.com