Teacher Observations ≠ Success
Why are principals missing the BIG picture?
That’s right. Teacher observations do not translate into success. No matter what you are told, they are at best ineffective and at worst damaging to teachers’ professional growth. When did you last have a colleague tell you they are more professionally developed after being observed? Or when did you last read in the NEA newspaper or Education Week about the new data that just came out validating the benefit of observations using data collected over the span of a teacher’s career? As a teacher, have you ever been given any data from administration supporting teacher observations for professional development or do you just accept what you are told - that they good for you?
Schools are in trouble. Students are absent, late, disruptive, not engaged, not completing assignments, teacher morale is down, teachers are leaving in droves for the private sector and the list goes on. So with all these problems, why am I focusing my energies at teacher observations? Because teachers need help. They need change that will unlock their potential to become great teachers! As a new doctor prior to teaching, I know what it is like to break out, to release career potential. Teacher observations will never increase your potential and they will not make you a better teacher. I just spoke with a teacher leaving education after less than two years, She said she, “very recently decided to leave teaching mid way through my second year. I still have a strong love for education, but my physical and mental health really need to take priority. It was so much emotional burden on me to see kids and families needing support, and having me and my coworkers so limited in what we could do. I’m turning 25 in a few weeks and even though I love education, teaching is not a sustainable career for me. Or I would argue for anyone at this point. I’ve mostly taught special ed… but schools have so many new and worsening problems that teachers have very little power over. I felt like I was mitigating harm to students instead of actually teaching or helping. And nothing substantial could be changed from “inside” which makes frustration and burnout inevitable.” Schools hear this story, and ones like it, every day, but what are they doing to help? How were observations supporting, encouraging and developing this young teacher? Do the following two dialogues sound familiar?
Teacher: I wish observations would just go away! Why am I still being observed anyway? This is my 21st year teaching and I am scheduled for my third observation this year - so far. Why?? What is the point? What are they looking for? Will I ever be good enough to stop being observed? Isn’t teaching stressful enough? So why do they continue when everyone I speak with is seeing no benefit? Parents love me teaching their children. Students enjoy my classes. Their standardized test grades are right up there. I read the current education literature, sit in on colleagues’ classes (even though some administrators don’t approve of that), watch lots of YouTube videos to learn new techniques and even video record myself teaching to see how I can improve my presence and delivery of material. So why am I still observed after all these years? Administration is in my room infrequently (usually only to observe me) so you can bet they really don’t know what what I am doing over the course of the week - and they never even ask! They see a snapshot, but don’t see the whole movie. My students set goals that they keep in class. Then I set goals based on their grades, attendance, homework, being prepared for class, parent contacts and more. It is all on my desk in a simple binder that would tell anyone walking in my room everything about what I do. I’ve showed admin this, but they seem to look right through it, like I’m a child showing them I just learned how to whistle. Why do they ignore all this data? Isn’t our data the bottom line? I wish they would come in more often not to observe me, but to speak with me, not at me. But here comes another observation where something is always wrong: “Your bulletin board border edges are coming off”, “The message of the bulletin board is not clearly conveyed” “Where’s the rubric?” “Your Do Now only had two levels of differentiation”, “You took too much time ‘modelling’ the task”, “You should have called on more students” (even though you weren’t here yesterday and didn’t see me call on those other kids!), “There was insufficient scaffolding.” I’ve even been called to the carpet for student’s “friendliness” or their “attention span” or their “neatness and general organizational skills”! Do they think I don’t address these issues every single day? What do they think I’m doing when they are not observing me? Every observation feels like a “gotcha” moment and it is wearing me down. Two teachers already left mid-year. As my principal, you are missing who we are as teachers and what we are doing in class everyday. You are missing the big picture! Why didn’t you look at my data, and why wasn’t my student data mentioned in the post-ob? Why do you only mention the insignificant bad things? To be honest, when you are reading off my list of faults, I tune you out. I hear some teachers in other schools do “peer observations”. I’ve asked you about them. Why can’t we do them instead of formal observations. I remember when you hired me and you said that I would be a “tremendous asset” to your school, but now we only talk after your observations and from my end it seems that I am not the tremendous asset you thought I would be for the school and, in fact, from what you say in your post-obs, it seems like I am not doing a very good job at all and that I am a disappointment to the school. I have one foot out the door.
Same teacher, now a principal: I know many of you are worried about the upcoming observations but there is no need to be. Remember, the idea behind the observation is help you develop professionally. The goal of the observation is to support you. By observing you, I’ll be able to check and adjust your performance so that students get the most out of your daily lessons. My goal is to see what you are doing, then inform you of my observations so you can reflect on them and use these suggestions to improve your teaching. Observations are good for you. I’m sure my observations and post-observations are helping. Many teachers text me afterwards and tell me how much they enjoyed receiving feedback on how they teach. By being observed every year for the rest of your career is the only way you will improve as a teacher. Unfortunately, education is different than all other professions and teachers are not capable of professionally developing their craft on their own. You need us to do that for you. Some older veterans have asked if they could be exempted from future observations as they have been teaching 20+ years. For you veterans, please remember that teaching is ever evolving and you may not be current with contemporary pedagogy. That’s the purpose of our weekly PDs, so please pay more attention during these valuable learning times. Experienced administrators believe, “veteran teachers are often stuck in their ways and don’t adjust as well to ‘newer’ teaching methods and technology, so we must see you in action to provide feedback and guidance.” And the subsequent post-ob will help bring you up to date and show you what you need to fix. Don’t take my analysis personally. It is all about supporting you. And don’t forget, you “newer teachers are trying to find your way in the profession, so seeing you in action and providing ‘real-time’ feedback will help you tremendously.” The feedback we hear from you is that you “are thankful for the support you get via observations.” Hearing this makes my day! I once heard an “expert” say that, “you can’t understand what we as leaders go through, and why observations are important if you have never been one.” He was right. Unless you become an administrator, teachers will never fully grasp the observation process. Regarding your desire to do Peer Observations or Peer PDs, this expert also told me, “How can I give you feedback on what you are truly struggling with if I haven’t seen it in action? As a teacher you can tell me what you think your struggles are, but they may not be accurate.” So you see, we need to keep doing observations to help you because you are not capable of making your own observations about how you teach. Do you understand? Finally, this wise veteran administrator said, “You can’t make a valid argument about what is good and what is not good about observations if you’re looking at it from a teachers perspective.” I’m a Principal and when I was a teacher I felt just like you do - that observations were demeaning, degrading and held me back, but now that I am a Principal, I know better. Now I know teacher observations are necessary and good for you, the teacher.
Does any of this sound familiar? I’m sure it does, but how does this happen? How is it possible for an educated individual, a teacher, not to understand the importance or relevance of being observed, but when they become an administrator, it all becomes crystal clear? That it all makes sense. The answer is simple. Teachers are not on board with observations because they know they are not helping them develop professionally. And until administrations figure this out (by thinking outside their comfort zones), they will not be getting the best from their teachers.
Following graduation and student teaching (similar to an internship or apprenticeship) teachers need to begin the process of developing their craft - honing their abilities in their new career. This development is akin to becoming a new parent. You have a baby with your newly-minted parent degree. You are going to make mistakes and have ups and downs, but with each stumble you learn and become a better parent. Remember, failure is the best teacher. Imagine having your mother-in-law come over your house once a week or month and go through everything you are doing wrong - all the while telling you they are only trying to help. Oh, you’ve been there? Well, that is exactly how teachers feel about observations. At some point your mother-in-law backs off, but imagine if she came over every month for the rest of your life pointing out the minutiae of childrearing, housework and toilet cleaning? Would that make you a better parent? Don’t laugh, it’s a reasonable analogy.
All teachers learn how to be great by practicing. All professionals learn as they go. The new seating arrangement you made in class caused friction between students, so you change seats tomorrow. The class didn’t seem to understand your lesson based on your modelling which you thought was fantastic! But when you watched the video you made that day (since it was a new topic) you realized that your modelling was muddy and your explanations all missed the mark. So you made changes for the next day. You even had a colleague who teaches your same grade/subject stop in to unofficially observe your lesson since she said she had done it in the past. She gave you positive feedback and added a few good ideas for the next time you present this lesson. She even stopped in again and thought you crushed it! This is how we - as professionals - grow and develop in our practices. We practice.
All professionals go through it. As an example, at the end of a doctor’s schooling, they go through a residency just as other professionals go into internships, apprenticeships or student teaching. It is a critical part of their becoming a doctor. They do not see this time as holding them back or retarding their own personal professional development. They see it as an essential chance to grow and prepare for what’s to come when they are finally in practice. They not only need it, they want it. The same way new teachers want to student teach! Do they know everything there is to know? Of course not! That is why it is called a teacher’s practice! Do new doctors make mistakes? Absolutely! Just as teachers strive to provide the very best education to our students, our classes change constantly, so we adapt constantly. Given all the variables in classroom instruction, it is highly unlikely that we will ever attain a perfect “nirvana teacher” status. However with meaningful school professional development (PDs), self-video recording and reflection, goal setting via statistical data analysis, scripting, constant reading/learning, colleague collaboration and Peer Observations, teachers enhance their skills, expand their understanding of students, and improve their teaching methodology. Even doctors in their “practices” never achieve perfection, but they continue their commitment to deliver high quality care as we strive to deliver high quality education.
If schools gave this type of Professional Development (such as self-video recording for self-evaluation, goal setting via statistical data analysis, scripting, suggested reading/learning, colleague collaboration and Peer Observations, etc…) instead of PDs for the newest app or piece of technology and lose the observations, you would see change.
* Interesting note - Lawyers are not required by US law to do an internship. Once they are admitted to the bar, it confers the full right to practice as an attorney. So how do they get to be great attorneys? Practice!!
So to be clear, we all have one goal - to help teachers become self-actualized; to help them realize their full potential and to be happy and the best they can be in this wonderful career. That’s it. Unfortunately, administrative observations are “speed bumps” preventing teachers to achieve self-actualization which is motivated by, among other things, growth and development which will never happen under current observations. Teachers will never realize their full potential so long as this micromanaging continues.
Principals and APs - We LOVE to have you in our classes! Come in as often as you can. It can never be too much… really! But please, just lower your antennae and leave your observer hat outside the door. Come in and see - really see - what we are doing. Ask our kids questions, not because you want to evaluate how we are doing, but to find out what we are doing! Believe it or not, the kids love when you interact with us!
My most recent posts dealt with removing teacher observation from administration’s tool belt and replacing it with something better, more effective, and that actually works. This replacement is what I teach to teachers: how to collect, display, analyze and share their data with admin in a way that will afford much more clarity and transparency in lieu of classroom teacher observations. While there were a couple of administrators whose written responses were in agreement with me, the vast majority were in favor of maintaining the status quo, even in the absence of any quantifiable data to prove the benefit or reward in observing teachers multiple times, in perpetuity. So the basics of classroom instruction will be observed from the womb to the tomb (of our careers) to what end? What is the goal?
Can anyone show me the data to support the continued use of teacher observations in school? It is an unfair question because not surprisingly, there is none. And there is none, not because it is unquantifiable (anything can be quantified - even in relative terms), but because if anyone took the time to do this research, they would find exactly my point - that teacher observations do not achieve their desired objective. I have said it before, if teacher observations did what schools say they are supposed to do, I would be their biggest cheerleader. But this is not the case. And so here is the problem when seeking solutions to help fix our schools. The answers will not come from within our doors but from outside, in the private sector. Do individual schools and administrators achieve success? Of course they do! But schools need a system for all teachers and students to achieve success, not just a handful. There are solutions - excellent solutions - that are data-based, work successfully and come from the private sector. Every business entity and professional enterprise uses data to develop benchmarks, set goals and execute action steps. This should be our goal!
If teacher observations were the solution - or even part of the solution for today’s school problems there would be proof or evidence. There would be data or the existence of a case study to support this idea. This is how success is determined and developed in all other professions other than education. But sadly, there are no case studies or empirical data to support the continued administration of teacher observations. So unless we can determine on paper whether they work or not, how about looking into alternatives. Let’s work smarter, not harder!
Dr. Cubbin
Website - schoolgoalswork.com
Substack articles (like this one!) - schoolgoalswork.substack.com