Raising the Bar for Students and Teachers
The headline 鈥Can Hawaii Kindergarteners Flunk Their Teachers?鈥 implies a flawed system in which teachers are set up to fail. This is simply not the case. The Hawaii State Department of Education (DOE) has devoted extraordinary resources to a new Educator Effectiveness System (EES), which is based on a concept from a group of teachers that is designed to help teachers succeed, thereby elevating their profession, and ultimately, public education in Hawaii.
It is designed to measure educators鈥 professional practice and their impact, and provide feedback and support to teachers to improve their effectiveness with students. Highly effective teachers can be identified for recognition and to serve as teacher leaders. The DOE shares Hawaii State Teachers Association鈥檚 (HSTA) vision for 鈥淎 Quality Teacher in Every Classroom.鈥 In fact, HSTA has participated in DOE鈥檚 statewide discussion about how to achieve this most important goal for our students and Hawaii鈥檚 future.
The EES that is being piloted this school year in 81 schools, is a multi-tiered system based on supporting and developing the professional teacher. Students鈥 test scores are only one part of it. Other metrics include classroom observations, student surveys, student growth data and student learning objectives.
Before the pilot began last school year (2011-12), the DOE held focus groups with teacher leaders from the 18 initial pilot schools. Prior to that, more than 80 educators formed the first Great Teachers Great Leaders Task Force, made up of representatives from the business, philanthropy, labor, and education sectors. The Task Force met weekly in 2009 and 2010 to draft the evaluation system. Finally, the Teacher-Leader workgroup provides input on the overall model and suggests potential improvements and ways to avoid implementation challenges. And with the EES still in test-drive mode, the DOE continues to make more tweaks before full implementation next school year.
Research clearly identifies that teachers, after children鈥檚 families, have the largest impact on student outcomes and achievement. We want all of our students to be provided with the most dynamic, stimulating learning environment possible.
At the beginning, many teachers and principals who are in the pilot schools were hesitant and apprehensive at the change. But the value is being realized and now those schools are reenergized. The results speak for themselves.
On Hawaii Island for example, in the Kau-Keaau-Pahoa complex area, seven of nine schools recently achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) 鈥 a first for that complex area of schools. AYP is a distinction earned by schools that reach academic achievement benchmarks in several areas, including test scores. Raising the bar for our students raises the bar for our teachers, too.
About the author: Ronn Nozoe has served as Deputy Superintendent for the Hawaii State Department of Education since December 2010, and has worked within the DOE as a teacher and administrator since 1995. He has a bachelor’s degree in English and master’s degree in education, both from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
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