Teachers In Need of Improvement

Richard Kahlenberg* writes about peer review as the better way to get rid of DC's worst teachers. Since teachers are harder on each other than any principal, he says, having them review each other's teaching practice, assignments, exams and lesson plans would result in evaluations that "weed out the incompetent while preserving the basic idea of tenure." I think he's right. Peer review means getting teachers involved in developing and participating in evaluation. This doesn't mean it waters down evaluation or makes it easy on teachers. But it does make it more meaningful. In Montgomery County, MD, for example, to be "put on PAR"– the county's peer assistance and review (PAR) program– means you've been evaluated by master teachers (not at your own school) as needing some form of remediation. For new teachers, this means more targeted professional development, which is often welcome. For veterans, this sometimes works as a reality check and a decision point– it either lights a fire under them to teach in new and better ways (pride swallowed) or reminds them that they forgot to retire or find a second career. I know a teacher who left after 20 years of teaching b/c she was put on PAR- it was the first time, she said, that she really "heard" the problem– she was a good teacher for the honors kids and a horrible one for the on-level kids, which is where she'd been placed by a well-meaning principal who was trying to put the experienced teachers with the kids who needed the most help. She didn't want to go through the program after 20 years of teaching, so she left. This is too bad for the honors kids she might have taught but, in the end, she says she's happier and says she had been thinking about leaving for years. And it's definitely better for the on-level kids who she was failing. She counsels kids for elite college placement now– probably what she should be doing.

Getting rid of tenure, to Kahlenberg's point, may open up some doors to kick some bad teachers out but it won't improve teaching. To be sure, peer review won't solve DC's teaching crisis but it's the better bet for ensuring that teachers are held– and hold themselves– accountable for their work.

*one of ES's non-resident senior fellows, featured at a recent ES event to highlight his book on Shanker.