Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary Ron Tomalis testifies before the Senate Education Committee concerning a Team PA-administered pilot program that would strengthen the teacher evaluation system in the commonwealth.
Editor’s note: The first part of this story concerns a Senate Education Committee meeting on December 6 for legislators to receive an update on House Bill 1980, the teacher effectiveness bill.
Education Secretary Ron Tomalis told the Senate Education Committee that a lack of a strong teacher evaluation system in the state hurt the commonwealth in past attempts to secure federal funding under the Race to the Top program.
That, however, could change if the state passes a law to establish the system based on the impact of the pilot program currently being conducted by the state Department of Education, which builds upon Team Pennsylvania Foundation’s administration of Pilot I.
“There is another round of Race to the Top for states to compete and the alignment we have with the Teacher Evaluation program puts us in perfect position for up to a $41 million grant, of which a heavy portion will be incorporated into the teacher evaluation program,” Tomalis testified. “As you recall, it (a weak teacher evaluation system) was one of the very weak points that did not allow Pennsylvania to garner the $400 million in an earlier round of Race to the Top funding.”
Tomalis told the committee that he has been very surprised, but pleased, with the results of the pilot programs.
“I’m proud to report that we have over 100 school entities participating in the second pilot program,” Tomalis said, “which includes all kinds of schools from public schools, to charter schools, to cyber schools, to traditional brick and mortars.”
Tomalis said Pennsylvania needs to better focus its significant funding of its professional development efforts for teachers.
“We are more advanced than other states at this point using less resources. This makes me proud,” Tomalis said. “But we spend $500 million on professional development each year. A better evaluation system would help better target this money.”
Following his comments, a number of committee members spoke in favor of improving the teacher evaluation standards and noted this issue is receiving bi-partisan support in the General Assembly and among varied interested parties including school administrators, teachers and private sector organizations.
Editor’s note: The following is the original story posted in November concerning the House Education Committee meeting to gather testimony in consideration of House Bill 1980.
Representative Ryan Aument testified that he was driven to introduce a teacher effectiveness bill because – time and time again – that is what his constituents have told him is needed.
“I came to the conclusion that a strong and comprehensive teacher evaluation system is needed after numerous conversations with constituents, families, teachers, school administrators and education policy experts,” Aument testified before the House Education Committee on House Bill 1980. “My wife, a teacher in her fifth year, is also a strong and vocal advocate.”
House Education Committee members listen to testimony on a bill concerning teacher effectiveness, a major initiative of Team Pennsylvania Foundation.
Aument, R-Lancaster, said there is a great disconnect when 99.4 percent of teachers were rated in the 2009-10 school year as “satisfactory” as part of their performance review while over 20 percent of students failed to achieve basic skill levels in reading and math.
“An evaluation system that yields such disconnected results between teacher performance and student achievement is not accurate nor in the best interest of our students or our teachers,” Aument said. ”Research is conclusive that high among the indicators to student success is an effective teacher in the classroom. Rigorous studies consistently show that the impact of higher performing teachers is substantial.”
The economic impact of having effective teachers in the classroom is tremendous, according to Aument.
He testified that a Stanford University study shows that a good, but not great, teacher increases each student’s lifetime earnings by an average of $10,600. Students with teachers who rank in the top 16 percent will help their students increase their lifetime average earnings by $106,000 and the top four percent will impact a student’s lifetime earnings, on average, by $400,000, Aument testified.
“The opposite is also true,” Aument said, noting that a student whose teacher ranks as among the poorest will impact their student’s lifetime earnings negatively by $400,000. “Our students have a civil right to a quality teacher in every classroom. We must therefore identify who those (quality) teachers are, we must retain them, encourage them, ensure our students have access to them, and we must assist those teachers who are struggling.”
Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary Ron Tomalis said the state is proposing changes to the teacher and principal evaluation system because the current one isn’t designed to be in the best interest of students.
“Most important, the success in meeting the mission of our public education system, ensuring all children meet academic achievement, is dependent upon the quality of the teacher,” Tomalis said. “The purpose of this meeting is to address that so we ensure the children in our schools have the highest quality teacher before them.”
Tomalis also noted the current system, despite one minor change to the law in 1996, hasn’t been revised in decades.
“The initiative that we are addressing today would identify the strengths and weaknesses of teachers and would make sure our teachers are prepared to be the most effective teacher in the classroom,” Tomalis said. “Our current system under the law isn’t up to the challenge. With the exception of one minor technical change in 1996, it is my understanding that the law has not been changed in over 40 years – while the teaching profession certainly has.”
Tomalis said PDE recommends an evaluation system that moves from the current two-tier structure to four. The current system of rating a teacher as satisfactory or unsatisfactory would be replaced by evaluating them as distinguished; proficient; needs improvement; or failing.
Tomalis testified the department is proposing that 50 percent of an educator’s evaluation would be comprised of multiple measures of student achievement including statewide assessments, student growth data through the Pennsylvania Value-Added Assessment System and other measures of student achievement for grades and classes not otherwise assessed.
The other 50 percent would be based on what is classified as “traditional” teacher practices.
“It is very appropriate that we are looking at this issue of teacher effectiveness. We are a personnel-driven enterprise,” Tomalis said. “Overwhelmingly the bulk of the expense of our $26 billion investment that taxpayers make is tied up in personnel costs. And, the success of meeting the vision of our public education system is dependent on the quality of the teacher.”
The bill states student performance on assessments, value-added assessment system data, subjects and grades not measured by assessments like band and art, standardized tests, industry certifications exams, and other district-based and PDE-approved examinations would be the criteria used to establish one-half of an evaluation.
Linda Cook, board member of the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) and a teacher in the Penn Delco School District, said her organization does not agree with using standardized tests to calculate 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation.
Cook said she believes that teachers “do control their professional practice, and a high-quality teacher evaluation system should help all teachers know how to change their practice for the better.”
Richard Fry, a member of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA) and Superintendent, Big Spring School District, said PASA believes multiple measures should include, when appropriate, consideration of standardized test scores as part of the teacher rating criteria.
He added that PASA feels school districts should be permitted to use a differentiated plan of staff assessment so that evaluations can be targeted at novice teachers and professional staff who have demonstrated the need for ongoing assessment of performance.
“Such plans will permit administrators to target their attention to those most in need of review or improvement,” Fry said. “Other veteran staff that has a long record of demonstrated effectiveness could be reviewed on a different schedule.”
Many of those testifying also suggested more time for implementation of a new evaluation system be added to allow for training and analysis of additional data.
As written in HB 1980, a new evaluation system for classroom teachers would have to be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin by June 30, 2012, and by a program evaluating principals would be put into effect by the 2013-14 school year.
