Hawaii teachers freed from the reign of tests... partly...
While Chicago teaches and children face another round of so-called "standardized" tests in April, May and June 2016, the push back against those tests has been growing across the USA. Take the example of Hawaii, which has done something many in Illinois claim to be impossible:
Standardized testing to no longer require teacher assessment, By Max Dible
KAILUA-KONA - Educators in Hawaii just became a little more powerful.
The state Board of Education unanimously approved recommendations Tuesday effectively removing standardized test scores as a requirement in the measurement of teacher performance, according to a press release from the state Department of Education.
The recommendations, which were subsequently approved by Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi, will offer more flexibility to incorporate and weigh different components of teacher performance evaluation, although the option to use test scores in performance evaluation remains.
The recommendations originated from members of a joint committee between the Hawaii State Teachers Association and DOE, established by the most recent collective bargaining agreement in 2013. Vice Chairperson of the BOE Brian De Lima said that since then, the committee has conducted ongoing reviews and improvements to the evaluation system.
"There was a continuous evolution to make things better so teachers don't spend all their time involved in the evaluation process, particularly when they've already been (rated) highly effective or effective," De Lima said. "And the teachers being mentored who may need additional work, they're getting the attention and the support so they stay interested in remaining in the profession - the most important profession."
Formerly, teachers in Hawaii were beholden to curriculum and standards developed with little or none of their input by entities HSTA Secretary-Treasurer Amy Perruso described as "corporate philanthropists." These entities, namely the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, have had sway in setting teacher performance standards, developed testing for those standards and profiting from the system, she said.
Teaching effectiveness, then, was rated on student understanding of curriculum teachers themselves didn't develop but were forced by the administration to implement. Performance of teachers was also rated on aggregated test scores of every student participant - the majority of whom individual teachers never had in their own classrooms.
"The teacher evaluation system served as a control mechanism," said Perruso, who also teaches social studies at Mililani High School on Oahu. "If you don't follow the guidelines, you won't be rated as 'effective.' That's why what happened (Tuesday) was so critical. It gives teachers back a modicum of power. We're no longer completely held under the thumb of principals because they can't use test scores against us anymore."
The move was a small but crucial step toward empowering teachers to reclaim some control inside the education system from the private sector - a paradigm that Perruso said has had a devastating impact on the teaching profession and public education.
SEE REST OF ARTICLE AT http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/news/local-news/standardized-testing-no-longer-require-teacher-assessment
