Professionalism: Assuring Teacher Quality

Sep 1, 1999 12:42 PM

With deepest appreciation to the members of the committee:
Clare Cohen Richard Mangone
Michelle Bodden Lisa Mendel
Helen Doughty Maria Neira
Danny Foceri Clarence Reynolds
Aminda Gentile Neil Shanahan
Howard Gollub John Soldini
Joan Goodman William Stamatis
Roberta Grabler Lucille Swaim
Carol Keefe Claire Sylvan

All of whom work long hours and have many responsibilities. They were extremely generous with their knowledge, their understanding and their time. This report is the result of their dedication.

Elizabeth Langiulli
Chair

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BACKGROUND

GOALS OF THE COMMITTEE

RECOMMENDATIONS AND DISCUSSION

CONCLUSIONS

PART I: BACKGROUND

“Teaching can be respected as a genuine profession when
there is evidence that teachers are experts in their subject matter and do a
good job of inducting students into their expertise. This requires a strong
pre-service program and rigorous licensure standards, accompanied by effective
induction programs. It also requires that quality be maintained through peer
review and intervention programs and ongoing professional development. When
high standards are not suspended in the face of teacher shortages, and when being
an accomplished teacher is recognized and adequately rewarded, then we will
have teacher quality assurance and vastly greater confidence of providing a
quality education for all students.”

Albert Shanker
“Quality Assurance”
Phi Delta Kappan
November 1966

The report A Nation At Risk stated that our nation’s public schools were failing because academic standards weren’t high enough. It recommended that we raise the standards for graduation. It also recommended that teacher preparation be improved and that teaching be made a more rewarding and respected profession.

While academic standards are higher and student achievement has improved somewhat, we have not reached the level of a “world class” education. We still have too many students who do not think critically, read or compute at a high level. Too few students graduate from our high schools with the skills they need to compete successfully in college or in the global marketplace. These facts leave many with the impression that our public schools are failing which has led some critics to apply marketplace standards to schools. They say that school choice would force schools to compete for students and that “market pressures” would make schools improve.

That belief, based on marketplace, rather than educational values, is the mainspring of a movement by those opposed to public education to provide vouchers to parents who choose to send their children to private or religious schools. This diversion of funds from public schools would create additional hardships for an already impoverished and underfunded public school system. In addition to vouchers, enemies of public education are calling for free standing charter schools, with no standards or accountability, and some local governments and school boards, despite well publicized failures in Hartford and Baltimore, are looking at the option of turning public education over to private, for profit, education firms.

There are others concerned about the current state of public education who also offer a variety of solutions and suggestions for reforms, but, unlike those who advocate for vouchers and privatization, they seek change within the public school system. These solutions include: higher standards for students and educators; wider choices within the public school system; school uniforms; extended school year and school day; a constitutional amendment for school prayer; merit pay; an end to tenure; and increased funding for public education that will not only attract and retain the best and the brightest
but will also ensure students are taught in structurally sound, safe, modern, well supplied schools and classrooms. Some of these solutions unfortunately are politically expedient answers to educational problems and will hurt, rather than help, public education. Some, while not harmful, are purely cosmetic. Other solutions will require large commitments of capital and the political will to support and improve public education. Still others may require several years to show results, a luxury of time we cannot afford given the relentless, vocal, powerful and well financed attacks on our public education system and, more importantly, the needs of our children.

Critics of public education have found, through shrewd and often pointed appeals, an ally in parents who justifiably seek the best for their children and who also know firsthand the conditions under which their children learn. Teacher unions, on the other hand, whether out of an anti-union animus, a need to find scapegoats or a general dissatisfaction with “bureaucracies,” are often attacked as a group that perpetuates the status quo, that sees any kind of change as a threat to its own vested interests rather than the interests of children, and as a force that uses its political and fiscal power to block improvements. Although teacher unions around the country have been strong advocates for reform, this fact is often not heard in the din of the rhetoric surrounding the state of education in this country today. The United Federation of Teachers has long been an advocate of school reform. We recognize that collective bargaining can have a profound effect on teaching and learning. For more than a decade our contract has contained language designed to support and encourage reform with measures such as shared decision-making, school-based budgeting, alternative teacher evaluation procedures and professional development programs to support new teachers as well as for those who are experiencing difficulties. The UFT, in collaboration with several educational reform organizations, was the driving force behind changes in staffing and hiring of teachers; changes designed to support improved teaching and learning. The preamble to our current contract states, in part, “…the Union and the Board mutually agree to join together with other partners in the redesign and improvement of our schools, including closing those that have failed and supporting their restructuring….The standards to which we hold our students must never be lower than those we hold for our own children….”
Yet, despite all these visible supports for reform one charge against teacher unions still has particular resonance among the general public—that unions protect incompetent teachers. This is evidenced by attacks on tenure by politicians and school boards throughout New York State, by sensationalized cases of teachers who have been brought up on charges sitting in district offices for years, collecting their full salaries, by anecdotes of teachers who cannot read or write or speak intelligent English. All of this has unjustly called in question the competence of all teachers and often negates much of the work we have done as a union to improve and reform public education.

• This focus on teacher competence is understandable. Teachers are the heart of education. In September 1996, the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, a blue ribbon panel of educators, administrators, superintendents, governors and business leaders issued its report, What Matters Most: Teaching for America’s Future. The report stated:
• What teachers know and can do is the most important influence on what students learn.
• Recruiting, preparing and retaining good teachers is the central strategy for improving our schools.
• School reform cannot succeed unless it focuses on creating the conditions in which teachers can teach, and teach well.

These basic premises rightfully emphasize the overwhelming importance of the interaction between teacher and student. These premises led to the following recommendations: setting high rigorous standards for all teachers; improving teacher preparation and professional development; strengthening teacher recruitment efforts; placing qualified teachers in every classroom; encouraging and rewarding teacher knowledge and skills; and creating schools that are organized for student and teacher success.

Following the issuance of that report the New York State Education Department issued its own report on teacher quality. This report focused on methods to ensure that those teachers currently in classrooms around the state are proficient in their field. This report recommends that teacher certification be based on demonstrated competence contingent on satisfactory periodic review. Among other recommendations it calls for more demanding teacher preparation programs and a new certification structure based on continued professional development.

Given the attacks on public education, the widespread frustration with the seemingly slow pace of reform, the focus on teacher competence (a focus that places our entire profession under scrutiny) and the public perception that teacher unions, despite proof to the contrary, oppose reform, President Randi Weingarten established a committee to take a hard and often difficult look at the role the UFT must play in assuring teacher quality.
This is the report of that committee.

PART II GOALS OF THE COMMITTEE

As a teacher union and as an advocate for public education, the UFT recognizes that collective bargaining and school improvement for student achievement go hand in hand. We will never cease our struggle for salaries that recognize our status as professionals, our fight for better working conditions and safer schools and our defense of due process. All of these are crucial in attracting and retaining teachers of the highest quality. Critics of unions say that incompetent teachers are protected by tenure and recommend that tenure be abolished to make it easier and more cost effective to remove incompetent teachers. Other proposals recommend that if tenure cannot be abolished, then it and due process should be circumvented by invoking solutions like “renewable” tenure or stringent recertification procedures.

The original goal of this committee was to discuss teacher performance review and evaluation models to determine if changes in these areas would effectively respond to the current concerns. It became clear that these items are only part of a larger picture that comprises education reform. The members of the committee felt strongly that to consider only the issues of review and evaluation would be insufficient. They felt it was imperative to examine all the components of education reform such as teacher preparation, staffing practices, mentoring, peer assistance and professional development and not discuss the issues of review and evaluation in isolation.

The committee, therefore, set as its goal the definition and recommendation of the systemic changes that need to be made in order to assure teacher quality and its correlation to improvement in student academic achievement.

To this end, the committee reviewed what is in place and discussed what is needed to enable education professionals to take on the responsibility of cultivating quality schools and of nurturing the highest standards for the profession.
The following report presents the committee’s recommendations.

PART III: RECOMMENDATIONS

The committee recognized that if we are to reform education and raise standards for students, then children must be taught by teachers who have deep content knowledge and highly developed skills. Committee members noted that currently the system does not do enough to encourage and support continuing teacher quality. “Staff development” in many schools and districts is often mandated, top down, and offered as stand-alone workshops on staff development days. It is often unrelated to the classroom-based needs of teachers or their levels of experience and it is designed without the input of those it is intended to assist. In addition, while many staff developers are talented, experienced and supportive colleagues with strong backgrounds in content, pedagogy and adult learning there are, unfortunately, far too many who have been given the title “staff developer” without ever having had to objectively demonstrate their own competence as teachers and learners. It was agreed that there is a need to make sweeping changes in the areas of recruitment, staffing, induction, ongoing professional development, support and evaluation. It is not surprising, therefore, that the committee’s first recommendation concentrates on establishing a professional career continuum—a continuum that includes career benchmarks and incentives to attract and retain excellent teachers, and ongoing professional development that is embedded in a meaningful way in the day-to-day work of teachers.

Recommendation # 1: The committee recommends the creation of a
professional career continuum for teachers that
encourages rigorous standards for those en-
tering the profession and increased peer in-
volvement in staffing, mentoring, professional
development, and intervention

Quality assurance in the teaching profession must be a systemic continuum which includes: strong, effective pre-service preparation; rigorous licensing requirements; strong support for teachers new to the system; ongoing quality professional development and peer support; flexible and appropriate evaluation; intensive peer intervention for those who are experiencing difficulties and opportunities for those who are qualified to share their expertise. The purpose of this continuum is to support excellent teaching, which in turn will serve the students in the best possible way. It is also expected that a defined professional continuum will help to attract well-qualified candidates to consider teaching as a career choice.

THE PROFESSIONAL CAREER CONTINUUM

A. An internship for newly hired first-year teachers is the first step in the professional career continuum.

The committee recognized that newly hired teachers, who have pre-service qualifications, will still require support to assure that they can help all students meet the new academic standards at high levels. Therefore, all new teachers need to be mentored from the opening day of the school year. New teachers should have a reduced teaching load so they can work with their mentors, participate in staff development during the school day and perform classroom intervisitations with their mentors and peers. Their required involvement in school-wide activities and responsibilities should be limited. First year teachers should also develop a career growth plan. If preparatory provisional teachers (PPTs) are hired the system has an obligation to help them achieve full certification, for example.

Interns would be subject to annual performance review. If the mentor demonstrates that the intern could profit from continued intensive peer support and coaching, the mentor would recommend that there be a second year of mentoring.

B. Residents, those teachers who have completed their internship, are the second step in the career continuum.

The committee noted that after the first year, teachers, many of whom still lack proper certification, are left alone without assistance and yet are expected to demonstrate all the skills of experienced practitioners. Resident teachers, therefore, would continue to receive peer support and coaching from career or LEAD teachers (see below) in the school.
Resident teachers would have full teaching responsibilities and an increased involvement in school activities and responsibilities. They would continue to participate in ongoing professional development during the school day and that addresses their needs and those of their students.

Teachers who are new to the system but not new to teaching should participate in an orientation program to learn about the system and the school. They should also have appropriate peer support during their first year, full teaching responsibilities and ongoing professional development, based on their level of experience and current needs.
Resident teachers are subject to annual performance review.

C: Career teachers are certified teachers who have completed all requirements for permanent certification and tenure and are the third level on the career
continuum.

When teachers achieve career level status they should receive a salary differential. This differential will reflect their experience and qualifications. During this period the career teacher should participate in ongoing, meaningful professional development at the school and district levels and have and opportunity to fully engage in school-wide activities and responsibilities.

Career level teachers have opportunities to expand their role in the school community by participating in peer coaching and team teaching activities, including time with peers to reflect and to enhance their own classroom practices.

The career teacher has the opportunity to choose the form of evaluation described in Article 8 J of the Bargaining Agreement. The Teacher Performance Review option encourages experimentation and self-directed review through the use of portfolios, videotaping of lessons, conducting workshops, etc. which are developed in collaboration with the teacher’s supervisor. Career teachers can use either alternative evaluation techniques or traditional evaluation methodology for their annual performance reviews. If career teachers do not receive a satisfactory rating, they can apply for and receive peer intervention.

D: The fourth step on the career continuum is the LEAD teacher.

There was significant discussion regarding this level of the professional career continuum. It was agreed that currently teachers are not recognized for leadership qualities on a consistent basis. As special assignments arise they are posted and generally selection is made on an ad hoc basis with little regard for educational expertise. We propose there be established a recognized and qualified pool of teachers called LEAD (Leader in Education and Academic Development). A Professional Practices, Standards and Review Committee, with union and board representatives, would develop and articulate the criteria for LEAD teacher status. Teachers would have to apply and be credentialed to attain this level in the career continuum.
A LEAD Teacher Certification Board, composed of educators selected by the union and the board of education, would have to be established. This board would be a subcommittee of the Professional Practices Committee.

Teachers who have: a) at least seven years of satisfactory service and have taken an educational leadership role in the school community; b) have shown evidence of a professional growth plan; c) have completed advanced studies in content areas so they can assume and lead instructional programs needed by the system (literacy, math, science, technology, etc.) would be eligible to apply. Teachers who have achieved National Board certification would automatically qualify as LEAD teachers.

Applicants would then have to complete a rigorous, objective review process. This process would include: a) demonstrating outstanding classroom teaching ability working with students of diverse needs; b) demonstrating an ability to work collaboratively with colleagues and others; and c) completing an interview with members of the Professional Board. Upon successful completion of the process they will receive a certificate verifying that they have fulfilled the specific criteria for LEAD teacher. Successful candidates would receive an appropriate salary differential.

LEAD teachers would have expanded career opportunities and responsibilities to provide services needed by the system. They would assist in moving and supporting instructional change. Positions such as mentor teacher, peer intervenor, teacher specialist, staff developer, curriculum developer, literacy specialist, project director, facilitator or other special positions that demand content or pedagogical expertise should be filled by LEAD teachers. If, however, a LEAD teacher accepts a position that supports classroom-based instruction but requires additional responsibilities, preparation and time outside the classroom, an assignment differential, based on the knowledge and skills required for the position may be given. In line with the Committee’s belief that the most qualified teachers should work as closely as possible with students then these positions may have a specified term of service to be determined by the union and the board. The union and the board will also develop procedures for ongoing review of performance in these positions.

LEAD teachers should conduct professional development activities for new teachers and be encouraged to teach in hard-to-staff and low performing schools. The committee strongly recommends that eventually LEAD teacher certification be required to qualify for a supervisory position. This will ensure that supervisors, based on a rigorous, objective determination, will be prepared as instructional leaders who can work collaboratively to recognize, support, encourage and evaluate high standards of teaching and learning.

To provide support for teachers at every stage of the professional career continuum requires that we look at the way teachers are certified, hired, mentored, provided with professional development, evaluated, and assisted if they experience difficulties in the course of their career.

E: Teachers who become National Board certified should receive appropriate
additional compensation.

Recommendation # 2: All teachers who enter the system should be
certified provisional teachers.

There are over 10,000 uncertified teachers working in New York City schools (almost 13 per cent of all teachers) and many of them work in hard-to-staff schools where children have great needs. In the view of the committee the practice of hiring uncertified teachers perpetuates the view that anyone can teach with little or no preparation and that this is not a profession that requires deep subject knowledge and exceptional skills. There is an especially high percentage of PPTs in shortage areas. We believe that the board has an obligation to assist PPT’s who are employed to become fully certified.

To ensure that there are sufficient certified teachers available, it is also necessary to enhance recruitment efforts. Recruitment programs should have a closer connection with local undergraduate and graduate schools to make certain that teacher preparation programs are upgraded to attract excellent students.

Although the Committee felt that the question of improving recruitment procedures is an important area for further study by the union, we also recognized that it fell outside the purview of this committee. Nevertheless, it is important to note that recruitment efforts should have a closer connection with local undergraduate and graduate schools to make certain that teacher preparation programs are upgraded to attract excellent students. We must explore, in collaboration with these institutions, new approaches to teacher preparation that do not separate theory from day-to-day practice. One such option, as a first step in ensuring teacher quality, might be an apprenticeship program in which prospective teachers can actively work in classrooms under the direct guidance of LEAD teachers.

Recommendation #3: Staffing decisions should be made as close to the school level as possible by encouraging the formation of school
based personnel committees.

The committee recognizes that current staffing practices of assigning teachers from a
Central office may fill the vacant positions in a school but often fails to meet its
educational needs. The UFT contract anticipates that by the year 2000 most schools will
be staffed by personnel committees.

Critical to attaining higher student achievement is insuring that every classroom
have a well-prepared teacher whose abilities, special skills and educational philosophy
are aligned with the new standards. Since 1995 the UFT contract has outlined procedures whereby school-based staffing committees can develop criteria for selecting staff based on educational qualifications and experience.

The committee therefore recommends that the board and the union encourage the creation of school personnel committees by identifying schools in every district that would enter into the process. Fostering and establishing an environment to accomplish this goal should be one of the criteria to rate a superintendent. In addition, the board and the union should conduct up-dated awareness sessions regarding personnel committees in each borough. Professional development for school-based staffing committees should focus on helping these committees to develop and align clearly articulated instructional plans and goals with the skills and abilities of applicants.

The school personnel committee should function as a sub-committee of the school’s leadership team so that the school’s educational goals can be an integral part of staffing. The responsibilities of the personnel committee should also include the selection of school-based mentors.

Schools that have functioning personnel committees established through the SBO Staffing and Transfer Plan and which have performed successfully for three or more years should not have to complete a School Based Option. However, they would have to file an annual report of their activities.

Recommendation #4: Professional development should be structured to
meet the educational needs of the school, provided
on an ongoing basis and linked to the teachers’ growth
plan goals.

Professional development should be ongoing and an integral component of each school’s culture. The school leadership team should establish a professional development sub-committee to serve as the vehicle for identifying and responding to the educational interests and needs of all staff members. They should assist in planning and implementing job related learning experiences in their schools.

A district level professional development committee comprised of a majority of school-based staff selected by peers should be prepared to support and provide oversight of job related learning for improved instructional practices in schools.

It is also recommended that every school have a Teacher Center or similar school-based professional development support to facilitate integrating professional development
into the day-to-day activities of a school.

Recommendation #5 The mentor program must provide services to all
first year teachers (interns) and to any intern for
whom a second year of internship is recommended.

The mentor program is critical to fostering high quality teaching in the classroom. It sets the stage for the rest of a teacher’s career. Article 8G2g of the UFT contract defines a mentor as “…a skilled, experienced colleague who has chosen to share his or her expertise by assisting the intern.” All mentors should be classroom teachers who have achieved LEAD teacher certification. Mentors can model high levels of teacher performance in a supportive, nonjudgmental relationship. Mentors may also deal with issues such acculturation to schools and districts, new teacher anxieties, and problem solving skills so that the intern is not overwhelmed.

The school system should select mentors in the spring of each year based on the anticipated needs of the school, and they should be in place by opening day of the school year. A system-wide, generic curriculum should be used to instruct mentors. An addendum could be designed which meets the needs of a specific district or school. The mentor program should be aligned with and support new teacher programs and activities. Mentors, as well as interns, should have an appropriate reduction in teaching schedule to allow for the time necessary for the mentoring process.

Teachers new to a building, or those who have experience but are new to the system should be required to participate in a modified peer coaching program which would give them insight into the culture of the school. It is recommended that the professional development committee devise an orientation process specifically for the school.

Recommendation #6 Reintroduce and emphasize the use of Teacher
Performance Review as a process for teachers to
take a more active role in their own professional
growth.

Teacher Performance Review (TPR) has a long history in Article 8J of the Bargaining Agreement. As the contract states “…performance reviews are based on assessment/evaluation procedures which identify and recognize the range of abilities and experiences of teachers and link a teacher’s performance, a school’s educational goals and related professional development activities. The reviews must be based on the agreed upon characteristics of good teaching, including consideration of positive student learning outcomes and parental involvement.” Teacher Performance Review was designed to provide teachers with an alternative to the traditional system of teacher evaluation based upon brief, one-shot visits to classrooms. This alternative gives teachers the opportunity to reflect on their practice and develop professional skills and insights and supports the concept of the teacher as learner. Yet TPR has met with some resistance. Most schools have remained with the traditional observation that results in a snapshot of a teacher’s performance and has little to do with professional renewal and growth. The alternative evaluation process has the potential to foster teacher excellence in an environment of peer support and experimentation with new techniques. There is a need, however, on the part of the board of education to update their implementation guidelines and to clarify and make explicit how this process works. At present there are many interpretations of the meaning of Teacher Performance Review and most of them have a chilling effect on teacher’s choices about alternatives to traditional observation. Many supervisors, accustomed to traditional and outdated evaluation systems based on power, compliance, control and ease have not been given the opportunity to learn about new practices and methodologies. Yet a supervisor’s ability to support and evaluate teacher performance assumes the supervisor possesses the most current skills and knowledge in this area. Therefore, widespread staff development for teachers and supervisors is essential. There is a clear need for new implementation circular and orientation that explains the process as it has been modified and developed over the years. To facilitate the acceptance of TPR as part of the fabric of school life discussion about teacher choice of alternative evaluation ought to take place in the spring and become part of the preferences that teachers make for the new term. This permits requisite planning and preparation to occur and it enables a smooth transition for students who may be participants in the development of new approaches to teaching. Success for this process requires systemic support from the board in collaboration with the union. It is also necessary to update and reintroduce Teaching for the 21st Century, which contains the guidelines for Teacher Performance Review, especially in light of the number of teachers new to the New York City system.

Recommendation #7 Peer assistance through the Peer Intervention Program
should be encouraged for career teachers who are
experiencing difficulty in their classrooms.

During the span of a career, teachers are evaluated in a variety of ways. The form of the evaluation can change as they progress from intern to career teacher. When they become career teachers they can opt to be evaluated in the traditional way, or by alternative means.
Yet, along the way it is possible for a tenured teacher to falter, to no longer perform at a satisfactory level in the classroom. It is recommended that at such time as a principal determines that a teacher’s performance is less than satisfactory the principal be obliged to provide the teacher with the opportunity to receive peer assistance. This assistance might take the form of videotaping lessons and discussing them with a LEAD teacher. It might include guided classroom intervisitation. It might be reflected in pre-observation conferences or by assisting in developing lesson plans, or by encouraging attendance at a workshop in classroom management. If these interventions do not prove to be successful, the supervisor should be required to inform the teacher in writing that it is likely that the teacher will receive a U rating and that the Peer Intervention Program is available. A copy of that letter should be given to the chapter leaders. This must be done in a timely fashion so that the teacher has an opportunity to apply for and receive assistance.

Any member who receives a U rating should also receive notice from the board that the Peer Intervention Program is available. (This procedure is currently in place and should continue.)

PART IV: CONCLUSION

“In a completely rational society, the best of us would aspire to be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and highest responsibility anyone could have.”
Lee Iacocca

Higher standards of performance are being required of both students and teachers in order to meet the challenges of a changing world. The union has been in the forefront of the fight for education reform. This is reflected in our long time struggle on issues such as lower class sizes, redesigning failing schools, an end to social promotion, as well as issues such as safe and secure buildings that are in good repair. The union has fought the budge fights for mentoring, peer intervention, teacher centers, staff development and relief from administrative assignments so that professional activities could be enhanced. For 20 years the union has provided meaningful staff development and in-service and graduate level courses to help teachers achieve certification and hone their skills

The recommendations in this report shift the focus of teacher quality from dependence solely on pre-service preparation to recognition that teachers must be lifelong learners. Professional development must not be viewed as a program separate from our day-to-day teaching. Policies and adequate budget allocations must support it.

The professional career continuum recommended in this report provides a practical framework for staffing, supporting and retaining quality educators. It promotes teaching as a career rather than a job. It follows then that there must be a fair evaluation process that will assure teachers, parents and the public that those who are providing instruction to children meet the highest professional standards. The committee believes that is best accomplished through an enhanced Teacher Performance Review process that was developed by the union and the board. For those relatively few that falter the committee has recommended increased use of the Peer Intervention Program, which provides peer assistance and, if necessary, counseling services.

The committee’s recommendations form a comprehensive blueprint for implementing a systemic approach to assuring teacher quality. This is one of the most significant strategies for improving student achievement.