More than 60 Attend LWV Teacher Effectiveness Forum

On March 2, more than 60 people gathered at N. Charleston City Hall to be informed by an expert panel sharing their experiences with teacher evaluation at different levels. 

• Dr. Janice Poda, former SC Dept of Education Deputy Superintendent and now Strategic Initiative Director for Education Workforce at Council of Chief State School Officers, presented an overview of teacher evaluations and their challenges.  
• Dr. Fran Welch, Dean of the College of Charleston's School of Education, Health, and Human Performance, spoke about how Colleges and Graduate Programs are preparing teachers to be effective.  
• Judy Hammett, the Executive Director of Leadership Development and a Senior Cabinet Member with the Berkeley County School District, shared Berkeley County's methodology in evaluating teachers and terminating them when necessary.
• Lucy Beckham, Principal of Wando High School and the 2010 MetLife/National Association of Secondary School Principals' National Secondary Principal of the Year, outlined how she values teachers at the classroom level.  

With their experience in the classroom and their years of addressing teacher effectiveness at the classroom and systems level, audience members - several of which were from a class on Current Trends in the Teaching Field at the College of Charleston - quickly saw that measuring teacher effectiveness is an agreed upon need with many factors to consider. 

Luckily, our LWVCA Board has agreed to keep the conversation going. Peggy Huchet, Co-Chair for Education, has created a proposal for the State League to study Teacher Effectiveness, which will be presented at the LWVSC Annual Convention (May 14-15th) in Sumter. We hope LWVSC will adopt the study so we can work together as a state to address this topic. Contact Julie Hussey if you are interested in being a part of the discussion.

Behind the Scenes - Teacher Effectiveness Forum

Last fall, when Susan Milliken suggested that the LWV of the Charleston Area host a forum on teacher evaluation, the Post and Courier had just run a story which rated teacher performance by using posted MAP score results.  It was a hot topic then, and it has only gotten hotter.

In January, Rep. Bakari T. Sellers (D) from Bamberg introduced  Bill 3363 in the SC House to enact the Education Professional Performance and Pay Accountability Act of 2011 which would "require the State Department of Education to create and implement a system for assessing the performance of teachers and other school based staff; to provide a framework for rating teachers and other school based staff based on job function; and to require the department to develop guidelines whereby local school districts shall establish pay plans that offer bonuses to certain highly effective personnel." This bill was immediately referred to the Committee on Ways and Means. 

Then on Feb 8, our State Superintendent for Education publicly stated that he wants to see teacher's salaries based on how much students learn in class as measured by tests taken at the beginning and end of the school year as well as evaluations from students, parents, principals, & fellow teachers - see The State Newspaper - Zais: Overhaul Teacher Pay.

In typical League fashion, we gathered a committee and began to organize.  Sitting at our first gathering, I knew I was in the presence of amazing minds with years of experience working for children. 

Thanks are in order! Thanks so much to Peggy Huchet for a wonderful job moderating the forum; Jane Pulling, who used her extensive education contacts to connect with some great presenters;  Jon Butzon, LWVSC Education Chair, director of the Charleston Education Network, and advocate for improving teacher quality, who kept us on task; Paula Egelson, LWV of the Charleston Area VP for Administration and teacher effectiveness researcher by profession, for her expertise, getting Dean Welch from College of Charleston, and assistance with the reception; Donna Cardarelli, a new area resident and League member, for sharing her experience as a teacher and jumping into the conversation; and finally Susan Milliken, for encouraging us to address the topic.  

We want to keep the conversation going and look deeper at how we can improve education for all children.  If you are interested, please contact Julie Hussey.