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With so much money in the balance and so many accusations of inaccuracy, we thought a closer look at these scores was warranted. So we asked DISD to provide the CEI’s, to no avail. So we’re putting out a request: Won’t you, dear teacher, share your CEI sheet? Go ahead and black out your name and your employee ID, as well as any other identifying information – our goal is not to unmask you, but to report on the skepticism teachers share regarding these reports. (But leave in your school, subject and please point out the trouble spots, mistakes and other info that you think reporters should know about these numbers.) Any takers? Fax: 214-977-8319 or attach it to an email, or mail it to me at Kent Fischer, PO Box 655237, Dallas TX 75265 Amended: If there's info on your CEIs that would violate student privacy rights, black that out too. |
We’ve heard anecdotally that teachers have found problems with their CEI’s – the Dallas ISD’s teacher rating system that it’s |
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Comments
Posted by MizBennett @ 10:11 PM Mon, Jan 28, 2008
Kent, if I had CEI's I would show them to you. I am not a core teacher.
This has multiple ramifications. I'm not eligible for any stipends with regard to tutoring. I'm not eligible for bonuses if I had good CEI's. I'm not eligible for additional compensation for having over 165 students.
So, I do a really good job with 185 to 200 students. . . I get no compensation, regardless. Where is the equity?
Posted by DISDCoreTeacher @ 5:37 PM Tue, Jan 29, 2008
MizBennett
You say you get "no compensation?" You get a paycheck each month, right? You're paid to do a job, which sounds like you do well. But if you're not a core teacher, do you honestly believe you deserve a bonus? I don't think so... transfer to a core subject, prove yourself, then you might get a bonus.
Posted by Kathryn Brothers @ 7:48 AM Wed, Jan 30, 2008
The comment left above by DISDCoreTeacher is exactly why I am opposed to the pay for performance plan. The divisive tone and insinuation that somehow non-core teachers aren't as important disheartens me. It is unfortunate that some people out there really think that one kind of teacher is more important than the other. Core teachers often tutor off grade level and off subject to be a team player and assist the school but that doesn't show up on any reports. Non-core subjects such as music and art have been proven over and over and over to help students with their reading and math skills. I think MizBennett meant that she won't be eligible for the bonus pay unless the whole schools' SEI index merits a bonus--and that isn't fair. I don't have CEI's to show anymore because I am not a non-core teacher after having been a core teacher for 7 years. I told the school board in November that I believed the plan would encourage divisiveness and competition among teachers instead of unity and cooperation. I am a little sad that I am right.
Posted by Observer @ 8:41 AM Wed, Jan 30, 2008
Non-core teachers (music, pe,technology, and art) often tutor students as well in core subjects. My husband is a specials teacher in DISD and spends quite a bit of time tutoring small groups in fluency and reading strategies in addition to his regular time teaching a specials class. He loves the kids and proves himself to be a team player everyday.
Posted by Kathryn Brothers @ 12:17 PM Wed, Jan 30, 2008
Amend: I meant to write that non-core teachers often tutor off grade level and off content area. Some core teachers do too, but my focus was meant to be on non-core teachers. Sorry!!!
Posted by Aimee Bolender @ 2:32 PM Wed, Jan 30, 2008
Kent-I think there are teachers who would like to share their CEI's, without violating student confidentiality. If you don't receive a response to your plea, I will happily give it a try! CEI's are not something that teachers should hide under a bushel-basket, but instead bring them out in the open for serious criticism and alaysis. Even though I have known about CEI's since the early 1990's, I sill find them massively confusing.
In my letter to the editor, unpublished, I wrote:
Regarding Editorial on January 16, 2007, “Final Score Is No Score”
From the teachers’ perspective, CEIs are not a valid evaluation tool. Here are a few good reasons why we distrust the final scores.
Principals are not able to answer detailed teacher questions regarding how CEIs are calculated.
Teachers have no process to independently verify the accuracy of their CEIs.
CEIs can be wrong. We know this because when teachers appeal their CEIs, there is a good chance the final score will be adjusted.
CEIs do not factor in the learning environment. Example of a few of the fundamental issues that are ignored: Did students receive their textbooks when other students received theirs? How many special education students are assigned to a single classroom? Is administration inept at student discipline or instructional leadership?
The formula can easily be described as institutionalized racism. The complex calculation includes the expectation that black students will perform less well than Anglo students.
Statistically there is no difference between a 49.9 and a 50, yet a teacher with a CEI of 49.9 is labeled “ineffective.”
Aimee Bolender
President Alliance AFT
Posted by Diane Birdwell @ 8:45 PM Wed, Jan 30, 2008
Aimee--
Then, why did your AFT rep speak in SUPPORT of the Bonus Pay Plan in a speech before the board when they voted on it in November? THE PLAN IS BASED ON CEI'S!
You cannot have it both ways.
Speaking in favor of a scheme that uses CEI's, and then telling people you are against their use is "Vichy France" thinking in my book. Pick a side and stick to it.
NEA sat at that table, and we oppose the use of CEI's. We said it then, and we say it now. A kid is more than a test score. We oppose the Bonus Pay Plan on that basis alone.
At NEA, we are already hearing of teachers who want kids moved out of their classes because it might hurt their CEI--and bonus... and so it begins.
Posted by Valerie Powell @ 9:04 PM Thu, Jan 31, 2008
I'll be accountable for my CEI the day that I can go to every student's home and make sure they are in bed at a decent hour, that they eat breakfast in the morning and that they head off each day not pregnant,not stoned, without a cellphone/MP3/Playstation etc. and carrying their textbooks,school supplies and completed homework. Teachers in our low-performing schools are being judged needlessly by the failures of our student's parents.
Posted by park @ 9:45 PM Thu, Jan 31, 2008
There are teachers all over the United States who are very successful with this exact student population. If you don't want to be held accountable for your teaching skills with the students in DISD, just say so. Don't blame their parents or the neighborhood. Just get comfortable with the fact that there are teachers who can motivate them and have extremely successful results with this population. Too bad more kids don't have access to those teachers.
Posted by Just a minute @ 10:52 PM Thu, Jan 31, 2008
Park,
As a former teacher, I take insult to your insinuation that such teachers don't want to be held accountable. I think the problem is that the accountability system is off kilter. If I'm not mistaken, the CEI's don't really take into account how much a student has progressed. Rather, the focus is on whether students meet a certain standard. For example, a 5th grade teacher whose students started the school year at a 2nd grade level wouldn't be deemed effective if those students ended the year on a 5th grade instead of 6th grade level. This means that a teacher who saw students progress 3 grade levels would be ineffective as compared to a teacher who had students begin on grade level and end on grade level. Something about that just doesn't strike me as fair.
Posted by Diane Birdwell @ 9:02 PM Fri, Feb 08, 2008
Park-- I love your passion for our kids. However, in a mirror of some teachers who blame only the kids for failures, you seem to blame only the teachers. Shouldn't reality be a blend of the two worlds colliding in a classroom?
What grade and subject do you teach? Tell us how you make a miracle every day with the same kids we have. As a teacher, I am also a life-long student, so I SINCERELY want to know how you do it.
Maybe some of your methods just need the little bit of life in a thought for us to benefit from them. I mean, I call parents, I counsel kids. I tutor whenever needed. I loan money to the ones who have no bus fare. I help the lovelorn get over the "big breakup." I hand out the occasional granola bar to the kid who needs one.
What else could I be doing?