Thank a teacher today

Posted on May 7, 2013 by ceawhatworks

We appreciate America’s public school educators who educate, believe in, care for, and protect their students. Who are they? Classroom teachers, specialists, interventionists, paraeducators and teacher assistants, counselors, nurses, speech and language therapists, preschool teachers, music teachers, art teachers, PE teachers, media specialists and librarians, school psychologists and social workers, and faculty at colleges and universities…

We join America in thanking ALL educators – and all school staff who support students, their families, and our schools – for all they do for students.

Public school employees give selflessly. They work long hours, including evenings and weekends outside of school, to mentor, tutor, and coach students, plus plan and prepare for their work with students. They reach into their own pockets, spending nearly $1,000 on average every year to pay for things their districts do not provide.

Public school employees believe in every student’s abilities and potential. They inspire self-confidence and lifelong learning in their students. They strive to provide a safe learning environment, and they collaborate with peers, parents, and the school community to support students and their families.

During the National PTA’s National Teacher Appreciation Week, we salute America’s teachers and all the school employees who dedicate their lives to helping our students thrive.

We encourage you today, on National Teacher Day, to change your Facebook status to thank a teacher who made a difference in your life.

Filed under: News, Public Education, Quality Teachers, Teaching and learning conditions, Teaching Profession | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Family team teaching captures spirit of National Teacher Day

Posted on May 7, 2013 by ceawhatworks
Adele Bravo

Adele Bravo

The Colorado Education Association honored the work of educators across our state today on National Teacher Day, May 7, by highlighting the dedication of two Colorado teachers who took a classroom ‘pen pal’ project to the next level to foster cultural understanding between students of two very different schools.

Hanson Elementary School in Commerce City, Colo., is less than 20 miles from Kohl Elementary School in Broomfield. The schools, though, are “worlds apart” according to Kohl first grade teacher Adele Bravo, a member of the Boulder Valley Education Association.

“They are very different, very diverse,” Adele said of Hanson students, which is why she teamed up with a second grade teacher at the Commerce City school to bring their classes together as pen pals.

Mallory Bravo

Mallory Bravo

“In my class, I have 17 native Spanish speakers and five native English speakers, so the language and culture really do play a role in our classroom and in our school,” said Hanson’s Mallory Bravo, a member of the School District 14 Classroom Teachers Association.

Kohl has few English language learners by comparison. Family income is another big difference in the school demographics. Adele says about 90% of the Hanson students qualify for free or reduced lunch, whereas only about 20% of her students have that need.

The differences leave the pen pals with much to find out about each another.

girls“It doesn’t matter what we look like, the language we speak, the color of our skin, our clothes. We can work together with the world,” said Adele on building the school partnership. “We had this mantra our whole school year, ‘The World is Our Family,’ so this was an extension of our thinking.”

The student friendships grew despite the teachers not having funds to get the kids together. Adele solved that problem by winning a student achievement grant from the National Education Association. The schools were able to purchase computer tablets to open up communication between the students through videos and live, online connections. And on a snowy day in April, Mallory’s students took a field trip to Kohl to meet Adele’s students in person for the first time.

boys2“A lot of our kids grow up in the community and stay in the community, and to visit a different community, a different school, means the world to them,” said Mallory. “They’ve connected on a very personal level. As opposed to just sharing ‘what I did for the school day,’ it’s more of ‘this is my family, this is who I am and I really want to know who you are.’”

These vastly different schools do have something in common – teachers named Bravo. That’s not a coincidence. Adele, a 21-year veteran teacher and a former Colorado Teacher of the Year, is Mallory’s mother. Adele and Mallory started up pen pal relationships for their classes when Mallory began her teaching career at Hanson three years ago.

“I am so proud of her,” said Adele of her daughter. “We said, ‘Let’s bring these diverse kids together,’ and it is so much fun. She is an amazing teacher and I have learned so much from her while doing this project.”

Mallory was excited for her students, but also for the chance to teach beside her mom.

“She is such a role model to me, Teacher of the Year,” said Mallory. “I look up to her so much, this is just the ultimate collaboration.”

boysVideo Link:  Watch Pen Pal School Visit picture video on CEA’s YouTube Channel.

Filed under: Public Education, Quality Teachers, Teacher Profiles, Teaching and learning conditions, Teaching Profession | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Boulder Valley teacher to tour Brazilian schools with national educator group

Posted on April 24, 2013 by ceawhatworks
Kristin Donley

Kristin Donley
Boulder Valley EA

The NEA Foundation has named Kristin Donley, science teacher at Monarch High School in Boulder Valley School District, as a 2013 Pearson Foundation Global Learning Fellow. With this honor, Donley joins a unique class of 36 award-winning public school educators who will build their global competency skills, or the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance. Donley was Colorado’s nominee for the NEA Teaching Excellence Award last year.

“In order for students to be prepared for the global age, their educators must be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and disposition to teach in the global age,” said Harriet Sanford, President and CEO of the NEA Foundation. “Our Global Learning Fellows program has an intentional focus on supporting educators as they strengthen their global competencies: investigating the world beyond one’s immediate environment; recognizing multiple perspectives; communicating ideas effectively with diverse audiences; and taking action to improve conditions.”

The fellowship expands on the NEA Foundation’s mission to advance student achievement by investing in public education that will prepare all students to learn and thrive in a rapidly changing world. It is designed to help educators acquire the necessary skills to integrate global competence into their daily classroom instruction, and prepare students to thrive in the interconnected  global age, and thus contribute to the closing of the global achievement gap.

The Fellowship builds a structured and collaborative learning experience that supports educators as they acquire global competence skills.  Over the course of one year, Fellows are supported by the NEA Foundation staff, partners, and other field experts, as they work through:

  • Readings and webinars to introduce global competence and country specific concepts;
  • Online coursework on global competence, country specific concepts, and interactive language learning;
  • A two-day professional development workshop with sessions led by leaders in global competency and country-specific knowledge; and
  • A study-tour designed to focus on the themes of global competence, education (both practice and issues of international, national, and state policy) and economics.

The tour of Brazil, June 19-27, includes visits to schools in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro to provide educators with structured opportunities to observe classroom instruction and to interact with Brazilian teachers and administrators. It also includes opportunities to investigate Brazil’s rich historical and cultural landmarks. The tour is sponsored by the Pearson Foundation and the NEA Foundation and is designed by Education First.

In preparation, the fellows will complete an online course to provide them with a framework to contextualize their experiences in Brazil by examining the impact of its historical and cultural legacies on contemporary Brazilian society and educational system. The NEA Foundation has also partnered with Rosetta Stone to provide the fellows with basic Portuguese language training. “As we know, language is the road map to other cultures, and therefore an important tool for building global understanding,” Sanford said.

Together with the Pearson Foundation, the NEA Foundation will share the fellows’ experiences and observations through blog posts and photos as they travel.

At the conclusion of the Pearson Foundation Global Learning Fellowship, educators will begin working on a final project to create a lesson plan, unit plan, or full curriculum integrated with global competency skills. By creating this plan, and then sharing with educators around the world via an open source platform, the educators are contributing to an increasing field of knowledge on this topic. Further, they are positioned to lead their profession by advocating for global learning and global competence within their schools, communities, and districts.

The NEA Foundation is a public foundation supported by NEA members’ dues, corporate sponsors and others interested in public education.

Filed under: News, Public Education, Quality Teachers, Teaching Profession | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

TELL Colorado Survey extended to March 11

Posted on March 5, 2013 by ceawhatworks

The TELL Colorado Survey partners have extended the survey to next Monday, March 11. Whew!

More than 27,000 teachers or about 44 percent of all Colorado public school teachers have taken the survey since it began February 6. Now it’s time for the rest of you to take it.

Your school get its own data about the teaching and learning conditions in your school, based on your survey responses, if your school gets to 50 percent participation in the survey. Why not? What do you have to lose? It takes only 20 minutes to complete the survey.

Sure, that’s TIME, but time well spent on behalf of teaching and learning. As Erin Wagner, a kid, says in her poem titled “Moving Time” -

Time is going, always going
Never stopping, never slowing.
Say it now, please don’t wait
For tomorrow might be too late.
Hold on as it flies, be still as it slows.
Because… you never know.

(Found at the Poetry Zone)

 

 

Filed under: Public Education, Quality Teachers, Teaching and learning conditions | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Celebrate Read Across America Day, March 1

Posted on February 28, 2013 by ceawhatworks

You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild
To pick up a book and read with a child.

You’re never too busy, too cool, or too hot
To pick up a book and share what you’ve got.

In schools and communities, gather around,
Pick up some books and pass them around.

There are kids everywhere who really need
Someone to hug, someone to read.

Come join us March 1 in your own special way,
and make it Colorado’s Read to Kids Day!

Friday, March 1 is Read Across America Day, an Association celebration observed by parents, students, elected officials (the Colorado Legislature), and educators across the U.S., maybe even around the world. Read Across America Day is not a fancy celebration, or one that costs a lot of money. It’s pretty simple: Pick up a book and read with a child.

Need some ideas? Parade Magazine has idea and tips for everyone. NEA has dozens of Resources to Get Reading, from a wide array of booklists to summer reading ideas. Get the facts about children’s literacy. SchoolTube has a Read Across America channel where you can share your Read Across America videos.

Check out Read Across America on the NEA web site too.

Join us – we’re reading to students and reading with students of every age, not just on Read Across America Day. Every day!

Filed under: Early childhood literacy, News, Parental Involvement, Public Education, Read Across America, School support staff, Teaching and learning conditions | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Art therapist suggests “put down the guns, pick up the crayons”

Posted on February 9, 2013 by ceawhatworks

Originally posted on John Wilson’s Unleashed blog by Deb Shoemaker, MAAT, ATR-Registered Art Therapist, LPC – Licensed Professional Counselor, who has a private practice in Wilmington, NC.

School started back on January 2nd in my county after a two week winter break. On that same morning I drove by my neighborhood elementary school as I do every weekday; and, as I always do, I looked at the school as I drove by it. On this particular morning I saw a sheriff’s car parked in the front lot. The sun reflected off the metal, calling even more attention to it and the armed uniformed officer standing at the school entrance. It was then that I became very sad.

Our local Board of Education had elected over the holiday break to mandate law enforcement officers in each of the elementary schools in our small, quiet resort town. This initiative was in reaction to the devastating massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The intent? To provide safety for our children.

I am a professional art therapist in private practice. Many of my clients are students in these schools. More guns, more security? These cannot be the only solutions, I thought. In fact, more guns and more tightened security only serve as reactionary Band Aids. They are not solutions to the problem at all. I’m not sure the whole problem has even been identified.

What is needed is for stakeholders to further examine the issues, to put magnifiers on the tragic events that have impacted our children, our schools and our nation. A great starting place is to ask, “What exactly lead someone like Adam Lanza to carry out that horrific act (killing 20 children, six adults and himself) on that morning?” A Band Aid won’t fix that problem; it will only make it worse because it gives the false perception of safety. A Band Aid hides the injury.

As it turns out, in the past two weeks, Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, agrees that more guns and tauten security is not the only solution. He cautioned that firearms alone do not make schools safer…and an overwhelming majority of teachers are echoing that thought with pleas for more resources, stating that they do not want more guns in their schools. Duncan iterates that ‘fear prevents students from making the most of their time in the classroom.’ I would venture to say that the same is true for educators. Furthermore, Duncan reports that security officers at schools does not translate to reduced violence, citing former Chicago Public Schools Chief Executive Officer, “I had schools who used to have nine security folks…I put all that money into nine social workers and I saw huge reductions in violence.”

The National Rifle Association-NRA-has indicated that they would like to help reduce (gun-related) violence in schools. Then let them fund school art therapy programs. Instead of placing more guns and fear in our children’s schools, place mental health professionals and art supplies in our schools. According to experts, currently less than 20% of students with mental health problems are receiving treatment for or even have access to mental health services, mostly because they cannot afford the services.

Teachers may and can be trained to identify students who have mental health issues and needs (they already do this), but they are professional educators not mental health professionals. Thus, the argument to make therapists accessible to students in their schools.

Art Therapy is the ideal application of such. It provides a two-prong solution: trauma recovery and prevention. With professional facilitation, drawing provides a safe outlet to communicate what children often have no words to describe, and it engages children in the active involvement in their own healing, providing a sense of control.

Art Therapy is a viable solution.

Adults just need to put down their guns, which only serve to model weapons as a solution, and students need to pick up their crayons and start drawing.

###

John Wilson is the former NEA Executive Director. He writes for EdWeek Blogs as “Unleashed.” Read more Wilson blogs.

Filed under: Parental Involvement, Public Education, School support staff, Teaching Profession, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

MLK Day and Presidential Inauguration: Historic occasion to stand up for economic and social justice

Posted on January 21, 2013 by ceawhatworks

NEA President Dennis Van Roekel issued a statement in honor of today’s celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the second inauguration of President Barack Obama.

“On Monday, our nation’s first African American President will take the oath of office, the same day we honor Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., our most impassioned and celebrated civil rights leader. This convergence amplifies the importance of both events, and carries special meaning for National Education Association members who have stood up for social and economic justice throughout the organization’s proud 155-year history.

“As President Obama begins his second term, the National Education Association is committed to restoring hope and bringing about change in our country by fighting for greater access to opportunity for all Americans. For too long, opportunity has been the province of a select few, while average Americans have been left behind. It’s time to address these inequities and restore fairness.

“Our democracy is built upon the notion of opportunity, which rests upon the foundation of public education. We must work together to strengthen that foundation so that all students—no matter their zip code, race or social class—have access to a high quality education, a learning environment that is healthy, safe and secure, and a community that supports them and their families, both on and off school grounds.

“Recently, we’ve seen firsthand how our educators have so dramatically given their whole hearts to their students. In addition to caring how well their students learn, they also care about their students’ well-being and the well-being of their families. The personal commitment we’ve seen in our educators, from the school bus drivers who rescued victims of flooding after Superstorm Sandy to the classroom teachers who sacrificed their own safety to protect the lives of their students at Sandy Hook Elementary, will be reflected in NEA’s renewed commitment to educational excellence, social justice, and economic fairness.

“We know that the pathway from poverty to America’s great middle class runs through the classrooms of public schools and institutions of higher education. We will always fight for the educational opportunities that erase achievement gaps. We will always stand side by side, students, parents, and educators, to make sure our voices are heard in the places where policies are made and jobs are created.

“Along the way, we will be guided by a George Bernard Shaw quote that continues to inspire me: Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not.

“On this important historic occasion, and on behalf of public school students across the nation, the National Education Association remains committed to dreaming and asking ‘why not?’ so that every public school student can look forward to a future filled with hope, prosperity and opportunity.”

Classroom Resources for Martin Luther King Day

NEA video celebrating Dr. King’s life and contributions to public education

 

Filed under: Public Education, Teaching and learning conditions, Teaching Profession | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

TELL Colorado Survey begins February 6

Posted on January 15, 2013 by ceawhatworks

As educators know, there is a clear connection between teaching conditions and student learning. This is why CEA is working with statewide partners for the third time to offer the TELL Colorado Survey to teachers from February 6 to March 6. We want to find out more about Colorado’s K-12 schools from the people who know them the best.

The TELL Colorado Survey is an anonymous, online survey which gives teachers and other licensed school-based educators the opportunity to tell their perceptions of the teaching and learning conditions in their schools. The survey data will provide educators, schools, districts, the Legislature, Colorado Department of Education (CDE), and CEA and its partners with information we can all use to improve our schools and support pro-education policies.

The TELL Colorado Survey (TELL stands for Teaching, Empowering, Leading, and Learning) was offered in 2009 and 2011, supported by funding from the Legislature. State-based versions of the survey are offered in a dozen other states in partnership with The New Teacher Center. CEA is working with CDE, CASE, CASB, the League of Charter Schools, and the Colorado Federation of Teachers on this year’s survey.

The TELL Colorado survey takes about 20-30 minutes and addresses issues of time, empowerment, leadership, resources, student conduct, community engagement, professional development, and mentoring. In their schools during the last week of January, educators will get individual letters with personal codes for taking the survey. After the close of the survey on March 6, The New Teacher Center will analyze data from all the schools that have sufficient participation for a written, school level report. Through this analysis, each school will have its own data to use in school improvement planning. The initial data will be available beginning in April.

Filed under: Funding, News, Public Education, Quality Teachers, Teaching and learning conditions, Teaching Profession, TELL Survey, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

“Trans” film can be a much-needed resource for educators

Posted on November 24, 2012 by ceawhatworks

On November 27, One Colorado Education Fund and the Denver Film Society will present Trans, a feature documentary that provides a personal look at the lives of transgendered people: the highs and lows, joys and challenges. Public school teachers and support staff who work with students of all ages may find the film an important resource for their schools.

The showing of Trans begins at 7:00 pm, November 27, at the Denver Film Center at 2510 East Colfax Avenue in downtown Denver. Tickets are $12 ($10 for Film Society members). A panel discussion will follow at approximately 8:30 pm.

CEA is a sponsor of this special event, along with the Colorado Public Health Association, Gender Identity Center of Colorado, Interfaith Alliance of Colorado, Padres y Jóvenes Unidos, and Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. (Tickets)

Why do we recommend this film to our members? Because our Association believes that a great public school is a fundamental right of every student – a school free from intimidation and harassment and safe for everyone including students who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered.

We know that all students are more likely to learn and succeed in safe, supportive environments. Unfortunately, safety can be an issue for children and teens who are seen as different because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. From the earliest grades, students routinely use homophobic language, and verbal taunts often escalate to physical confrontations.

The effects of bullying, harassment, and discrimination are obvious to educators, administrators, and parents. Students who are subjected to frequent harassment do less well academically, and are much more likely to be truant or drop out of school, be depressed or suicidal, consume drugs or alcohol, or carry a weapon to school.

As an organization, we are committed to addressing the needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered students. That’s why we provide information and resources, such as the documentary Trans, for educators to create great schools for every student.

Filed under: News, Public Education, Quality Teachers, School support staff, Teaching and learning conditions | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Denver teacher offers her take on Won’t Back Down movie

Posted on October 1, 2012 by ceawhatworks

Won’t Back Down is a work of fiction that looks to parent trigger laws as a strategy for school reform. I want to emphasize the word fiction for anyone who missed it the first time. Much has already been written about the film, for or against it. I will share what I know to be non-fiction, based on my 25 years of practice as an accomplished teacher. These things I know…

I am one of “those” kids. When speaking of kids living in poverty, many people refer to “those” kids. This is not a reason to feel sorry for them (or me) or to make excuses about why we cannot learn. But it is the first step in creating separation between people and factions.

In Lisa Delpit’s Other People’s Children, she suggests that as long as we consider “those” children as other people’s children and not “our” children, we will never provide all students the education that they need and deserve. Pronouns can mean a lot. I have been one of “those” kids and can speak from experience about what “we” need and what we don’t. But even those whose demographic data is different can help support our children. All of them.

Perpetuating separation and divisiveness maintains the status quo. Pitting parents against unions, teachers against parents, Teach for America teachers against career teachers, veteran teachers against novice teachers and ed reformers against unions ensures that we stay mired in division that simply maintains the situation as it is. Casting blame and shame only perpetuates the false dichotomy of us versus them. Meanwhile, our kids sit by day after day while adults play power games at their expense.

Meaningful change requires collective action. Margaret Wheatley in Leadership and the New Science, suggests that, “Real change happens…only when we take time to discover what’s worthy of our shared attention.”

As it turns out, it’s not so difficult to identify factors that are worthy of our shared attention. For example, teacher evaluation must improve to encourage individual teachers’ growth and, when necessary, allow for dismissal.  School leaders need to be equipped with the tools and resources necessary to support teaching and learning. We need to rethink school design so we can tailor instruction to students’ needs.

But creating systemic and sustainable change will require us ALL to work together to redesign the system for our kids. And teachers must play critical roles in identifying solutions—for we will be the ones who bring the changes to life in the classroom each day.

We WILL change the system when we actually muster up enough will to do so. As long as all of the different factions involved in education hold tight to oppositional roles, we will not muster the will to actually change anything. When we REALLY decide that ALL students deserve a quality public education—when that becomes our genuine priority and is the outlet for our energy and motivation— then we will make that change happen. It is as simple as that.

Our kids and our country deserve better.

I, for one, am ready to collaborate. Are you? I don’t care what factions you’re part of, what label you wear, or what your history (or your organization’s history) may have been. I am willing to work alongside all who are truly dedicated to supporting the collective action and systemic change that is so sorely needed by our most vulnerable kids.

Our kids do not have time to waste on adults slinging mud like children. Our kids and our country deserve a better public education system and I intend to help provide it for them.

Who among us is willing to lift yourself up out of the divisiveness, connect around a common vision and create a system that works for all children? While some “won’t back down,” I Will Stand Up for our kids, for our community and for my profession. Will you join me?

Lori Nazareno, NBCT
Teacher in Residence, Center for Teaching Quality
Denver Classroom Teachers Association-CEA-NEA Member

Filed under: Early childhood literacy, News, Parental Involvement, Public Education, Quality Teachers, Teaching and learning conditions, Teaching Profession | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

NEA ESP of the Year, a fellow Coloradan, inspires educators nationwide

Posted on July 5, 2012 by ceawhatworks

Judy Near, CEA-NEA member in Canon City ESPA, is representing Association members as the NEA Education Support Professional (ESP) of the Year. Near earned the honor last March and was recognized this week at the NEA annual meeting in Washington, DC.

In Near’s speech to nearly 9,000 fellow educators at the meeting, she urged them to take control of their profession by leading, telling them, “To lead, you just need a vision, hope, and the inner strength to believe you can change things.”

Near encouraged the annual meeting delegates to empower themselves and live each day with courage because courage helps protect students and their communities. “We care deeply for our students and their success, and we work to keep our students and schools safe,” said Near, a health technician and attendance clerk at Skyline Elementary School.

America’s nearly three million ESP are 43 percent of the public school workforce. They comprise nine staff services groups in both PreK-12 and higher education: custodial and maintenance; secretarial and clerical; transportation; food service; health; paraeducators (classroom assistants); security services; technical services; and skilled trades.

Job categories aside, we think of ESP members as the foundation of our schools and colleges, the people who work hard every day to keep schools healthy, clean, and safe and who work side-by-side with teachers and principals to help students achieve in school. Near knows from her work in Canon City schools over the last 27 years that ESP members get tremendous personal fulfillment from working with students and serving their school community.

NEA President Dennis Van Roekel agrees, “Education support professionals are invaluable members of a school community, often the strongest bridges from classroom and campus to community. Their relationships with students are not limited to one school year; as students move from grade to grade, they remain part of their educational experience. ESP members’ commitment to helping students succeed is the hallmark of Association leadership and Judy Near is a wonderful example.”

We think Judy Near is a wonderful example too, and we are very proud of her ESP of the Year Award and her accomplishments as an educator.

Learn more about the demographics of Association ESP members and watch Judy Near’s speech at the NEA Annual Meeting on CEA’s home page.

Filed under: Education Support Professionals, News, Public Education, School support staff | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

NBC Education Nation starts in Denver tonight

Posted on April 15, 2012 by ceawhatworks

NBC’s Education Nation and its annual focus on public education is right in our backyard. Channel 9 TV, an NBC affiliate, is the major partner in the events through April 20.

You can expect to hear a lot about Colorado’s education reforms of the last few years: the recent overhaul of the state’s academic content standards; CSAP-to-TCAP-to-New Assessment changes; the emphasis on literacy and grade-level reading at the Legislature; SB 191 and teacher evaluation; Innovation Schools in Denver. (Wonder if we’ll hear about our billion dollar shortfall in school funding?)

Tonight is the first big event, a Teacher Town Hall at the new Colorado History Center near the State Capitol in Denver. Many Association members will be there. Watch the Teacher Town Hall and participate in a live chat at EducationNation.com or watch the event on Denver Channel 20. It’s tonight from 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Read about all the events this week at the Events section of Education Nation.

Filed under: Early childhood literacy, Evaluation, News, Public Education, SB 191, Teaching and learning conditions, Teaching Profession | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

April 11: State Board to consider SB 191 teacher evaluation appeals process

Posted on April 10, 2012 by ceawhatworks

Tomorrow the State Board of Education will vote on the appeals process in Senate Bill 191, the teacher-principal evaluation system. The board’s vote is part of the rulemaking process on education legislation. After the State Board’s vote, the new rule goes to the Legislature where the House and Senate will vote on it.

The new law provides for a system to evaluate the effectiveness of licensed teachers and principals. In the past, state law required districts to rate educators as satisfactory or not satisfactory. When the law is fully implemented, principals’ evaluations will put teachers in one of four categories (highly effective, effective, partially effective, ineffective), and a teacher’s nonprobationary status will be based on effectiveness in the classroom.

Beginning with the 2013-14 school year, each district shall ensure that a non-probationary teacher who objects to a second consecutive Ineffective or Partially Effective rating has the opportunity to appeal because, at this point, the teacher is at risk of losing non-probationary status.

President Beverly Ingle’s CEA Journal column (April-May 2012 issue) outlines the district-level appeals panels our Association believes are critical.

Honor the State Council’s work on appeals process by adopting its recommendations
Our Association has supported the work of the State Council on Educator Effectiveness (SCEE) since the council convened in 2010 in connection with Senate Bill 191, the teacher and principal evaluation law. Three CEA members have served on the council for many months on behalf of all Colorado public school teachers: Amie Baca-Oehlert, District Twelve EA; Kerrie Dallman, Jefferson County EA; and Jim Smyth, Mesa Valley EA.

Now the State Board of Education is developing rules for an appeals process that will be part of the new evaluation system. In the last few months, SCEE – not only teachers, also school board members, principals, a parent, a businessman, a university professor, others – crafted well researched, thoughtful recommendations for the process for a teacher to appeal a second consecutive rating of Partially Effective or Ineffective in the new evaluation system.

From my perspective as a classroom teacher, the council’s recommendations are an impressive example of how a large group of people with different interests and expertise can come together and reach consensus for the benefit of our students.

We fully support SCEE’s recommendations for the appeals process. The State Board is considering them and other groups’ ideas from March 30-April 11. CEA has urged the State Board to defer to the council’s recommendations and adopt them. Here’s why:

  • The premise guiding the council’s work is that educators need a fair, credible evaluation system if they are to be effective educators. To make sure that the evaluation system being developed under SB 191 is fair and credible, we believe we need an appeals panel that has an equal number of teachers and administrators on it. This appeals panel would promote shared leadership among teachers and principals and give a teacher an evenhanded opportunity to present information to show that the rating should have instead been “effective.”
  • A teacher who appeals an ineffective or partially effective evaluation rating must be able to put his or her trust in the evaluation process and the appeals process. The teacher must know that the data and evidence the evaluator used to determine the rating was accurate data and the evaluation process was followed.

We do not believe that school districts should use any appeals process other than a panel of equal numbers of teachers and administrators. For example, a superintendent or other district official should not hear a teacher’s appeal and decide whether he or she deserves the ineffective rating.

We expect that the system the council designed and recommended to the State Board may need some adjustment as we travel through the uncharted waters of a new evaluation system, first with the pilot districts and later in statewide implementation.

We are in complete agreement that the Council’s recommended appeals process will meet the needs of our students, teachers, and school districts. We urge the State Board of Education to honor the council’s work and adopt the council’s recommendations on April 11.

For a teacher, the appeals process is an assurance that an impartial panel of one’s peers and administrators thoughtfully reviewed the teacher’s evidence to determine if it warrants a decision to uphold the evaluation rating.

For teachers, the appeals process is an affirmation that Colorado’s teacher evaluation system is thorough and rigorous. The appeals process is a means of demonstrating that we own our profession. We are helping shape our profession, we care for its well being, and we are responsible for its successes or failures.

Filed under: Evaluation, News, Public Education, Quality Teachers, SB 191, Teaching Profession | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

CEA working in partnership with education groups, others on early literacy

Posted on March 12, 2012 by ceawhatworks

During February 27-March 2, the Colorado Education Association (CEA) was proud to play a role in Colorado Literacy Week, a vibrant movement led by Governor John Hickenlooper, Lt. Governor Joe Garcia and literally scores of groups around the state.  Literacy Week was the outgrowth of a broad coalition of partners including business, elected and community leaders, along with CEA, organized to focus attention on and address the challenges we face with early childhood literacy.

Friday, March 2, as part of a nationwide program by the National Education Association called Read Across America, CEA helped sponsor and conduct special reading events in dozens of classrooms around the state.  CEA believes it is unacceptable for even one student capable of reading at grade level to fall short of this critical standard.

As Gov. Hickenlooper and Lt. Gov. Garcia emphasized in the Colorado Reads: The Early Literacy Initiative report issued last week, literacy neither starts nor stops in school.  When it comes to the classroom, however, CEA members have been working for decades on advancing literacy.  We supported the 1997 Colorado Basic Literacy Act as a critical foundation for making teaching literacy a top priority.  CEA members were also instrumental in revising the Colorado Academic Standards and integrating literacy into all academic content areas. Our members are committed to bringing the highest quality instruction to all public school students, especially those who struggle to read.

CEA has dedicated increased resources and energy to promoting strategies that are clearly effective in raising early literacy skills. This means first ensuring students have the resources, time and support to be successful readers and teachers have the preparation and training to effectively meet the needs of their students.  It also means focusing attention and awareness on approaches that have been proven to make a meaningful difference in helping our kids read, such as all-day kindergarten and summer reading programs. 

CEA members who are experts in early literacy and work with the most challenging cases every day emphasize that these kinds of programs are essential to helping kids read.  Success also means broadening awareness of the role school readiness, parental involvement, and early intervention play in literacy.  Moreover, we must acknowledge that achieving lasting results in early literacy involves confronting the other critical factors that greatly impact our system of education, including poverty and drastic cuts in school funding. 

Our mission is to capitalize on every opportunity to improve public education and early literacy.  CEA has been working in close partnership with other education groups, the state legislature and the Hickenlooper administration on a broad-based approach to early literacy.  A bill now before Legislature that looks to update rules regarding literacy teaching, HB 1238, is one part of this effort. CEA is working with others to amend the bill and collaborate with sponsors and  partners to it better results for public school students, their families and the Colorado citizens who invest in our system of public education.

Filed under: Early childhood literacy, Funding, News, Parental Involvement, Public Education, Quality Teachers, Read Across America, Teaching Profession | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Teacher unions step up to lead education reform

Posted on February 22, 2012 by ceawhatworks

NEA President Dennis Van Roekel is featured on the front page of the Huffington Post’s Education section today, talking about NEA’s Priority Schools
Campaign and what educators are doing to improve schools and boost student achievement.

Van Roekel, an Arizona high school math teacher, wrote about Romulus Middle School in Detroit, summarizing what he learned about the school as he studied how educators there were working to improve it. Van Roekel said, “After countless grand policy initiatives, and decades of education reforms and gusts of innovation, here is the lesson I think we can draw: the only way to turn around struggling schools is to work together — by demanding concrete changes that make low student achievement totally unacceptable for any group of students.

“Done right, this approach can not only help students in so-called “failing” schools, but is a scalable strategy for fixing America’s troubled urban school systems. It’s hard work, and the transformation won’t happen overnight, but that’s all the more reason to get started as soon as possible.”

Read the entire blog post at Huffington Post’s Education section and comment on what Van Roekel has to say.

Filed under: News, Parental Involvement, Public Education, Quality Teachers, Teaching and learning conditions, Teaching Profession | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Next Page »
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 49 other followers