Educator Effectiveness...not so bad?

SLO and Educator Effectiveness are two buzzwords that have been added to the educational lexicon in Wisconsin. If you aren't familiar with the current state of education in Wisconsin, we are experiencing great change in many different ways: Conversations about changes to how schools are funded; a media fueled perception that there is a battle over adopting the Common Core State Standards (when in fact the state school board association voted to move forward with implementing the common core); and the rocky implementation of a statewide educator effectiveness program; among many, many other changes.

In any state's education system there are countless buzzwords and acronyms that can make a conversation between two teachers sound like they're speaking in a foreign tongue: RtI, EEN, IEP, TREK, ESL, ELL, these are just a few! The latest acronym to be added to this conversation in Wisconsin is SLO or Student Learning Objective. This is part of the Educator Effectiveness initiative that will be used to assess if students are actually learning and if teachers are actually doing their jobs of educating. For the sake of brevity, I'm not going to get into the fact that there are so many things teachers do to impact kids that cannot be measured or even observed. However, there are things that can be measured that, if teachers are effective educators, we should be able to chart, observe, and analyze growth and gains among students. Do I like completing the volumes of forms required for this new initiative?- Nope. Do I think that the many, many hours I have spent and will spend completing these forms could be better spent preparing awesome lessons for my classes?- Oh boy, do I!!! Does the entire process frustrate me and increase stress levels?- Heck yes!!

Even though this process is stressful, time consuming, and frustrating, after some reflection, I've come to realize that there might be some merit to it. I was asked recently if I thought this process was making me a better teacher. My gut reaction was: "Absolutely not!!!" But then, I stepped back to examine what I have done so far and how it has forced me to take a good hard look at what I do in my classroom. Further conversation with my principal led to even greater reflection on the process and I have come to realize that the complaints I had and those I heard from many of my colleagues sound very familiar...

During a pre-formal observation conference with my principal, I came to the realization that the complaints I had and those I heard from other teachers are extremely similar to the complaints we hear from our students. Here are the three most common complaints:

1. I don't understand what I'm supposed to do!!! No one told me exactly what we are supposed to do!!! If I get this wrong, it's not my fault!!!- When a student unloads like this in class, my response includes parts of the following: "Did you listen to the directions? Did you read the directions carefully? They are right there on the assignment. I explained them when I handed out the assignment and I asked if anyone had any questions. Did you ask a question to gain clarification? Did you try to find the answer in another source? The directions are also posted on the class calendar and I clarified a few things in an email after class." Regardless of the students answers to these inquiries, I always follow it up with this: "When you got frustrated or needed help, did you come find me? Or, if it was outside of the school day, did you email me?" The answer to this is overwhelmingly "No." I have heard this same basic complaints about the Educator Effectiveness process and the same response could be used: There are extensive resources available through the DPI, WEAC, and from people in our own buildings. Did you read them? Did you ask questions? Or, did you just throw your hands in the air and give up? We certainly would not want our students to do the latter, so why should we?
2. What is the point of doing this? This is sooooo stupid? I will never use this ever again!!!- Sometimes you have to do things that you might not enjoy doing and you might not understand why you should do it but you have to do it anyway. This is the lesson educators have tried to impart on students throughout history. Kids, especially teens, think they know what is best for them when it comes to, well, pretty much everything. But, we as teachers, with our superior knowledge, experience, and extensive training have a much better idea of what is best. Might this same lesson be applied to how we approach Educator Effectiveness? The realization I have come to is that someone (actually a whole group of someones) with far higher levels of education and a vastly superior understanding of the education system developed this program of Educator Effectiveness. I would hope that they wouldn't engage in creating this program if they did not find any value in it just as good teachers don't engage students in lessons that don't actually serve a purpose.
3. Why do I have to write about what I learned??? I already did the assignment!!! What's the point???- We ask students to not only think, but also think about their thinking and also reflect on their learning. We expect kids to be reflective and thoughtful about their learning so they can grow and continue to improve as students. So, why do we get up in arms when asked to reflect upon the things we do as teachers? I attended Viterbo University and it was there that I had the value of being a reflective practitioner pounded into my brain: Did the lesson work? Yes? Why? How do I know? Did the kids actually learn? Prove it. Every teacher should be able to prove that their students learned: The Educator Effectiveness program makes you prove it.

Im still not sure what my final position will be on the Educator Effectiveness program but I do know these three things: The process is making me think about what I plan to do in my classroom; it's making me reflect on what I have done in my classroom; and it is definitely not a perfect way to determine who is and is not a good teacher. 

What are your thoughts on or experiences with Educator Effectiveness? Share them in the comments below!