After having read Ira B. Jones Elementary School's Teacher Working Conditions report from 2008:
- Identify what you believe are the most critical areas for improvement
- Post a summary of two to three recommendations that you would make to the Jones principal about steps to take to address the critical areas for improvement (these recommendations could be practice- or process-oriented)
- Pick at least one other students' post and pose to him/her a critical question that you have after reading the recommendations
42 comments:
According to the Teacher Working Conditions Survey, Ira B. Jones Elementary School appears to need improvement in the area of Educational Leadership. Ira B. Jones received a domain average of 2.68, while the district and state averages were both above 3.0. As stated in the Teacher Working Conditions Toolkit, any domain average less than 3.0 may be a critical area for improvement. The Educational Leadership section measures teachers’ perceptions about the extent of decision making power they have within the classroom and other school related issues. According to the data, almost half of the teachers disagree that they are centrally involved in the decision making process about educational issues. A specific area of critical need, according to the survey, is the role teachers are given when selecting instructional resources and materials. Teachers also reported their role in hiring new teachers was minimal. However, when analyzing these results it is important to discuss if teachers even want these extra responsibilities.
Recommendations for the Ira B. Jones principal to address the critical areas for improvement:
1. Meet with all department chairs to discuss how textbooks and other instructional materials are selected. Ask department chairs if they would be willing to serve on a committee with two or three other teachers in their subject area to help select instructional materials. Explain to the department chairs you would like teachers to have more of a role in the selection of instructional resources.
2. During a staff meeting towards the end of the school year, tell all staff members you would like to have more teacher input regarding the hiring of new teachers for the upcoming school year. Ask any interested teachers, who would be willing to give up a few days in the summer for interviews, to see you so an interview panel can be created. If funds are available you could even offer a small stipend to those who volunteer to give up a few days of their summer vacation to help in the interviewing process. Depending on how many teachers express interest in becoming part of this panel, you may want to create a rotating schedule so there will not be too many people sitting in on the interviews which may be overwhelming to the candidates. Remind teachers the administration has the final say in the hiring process, but you are truly interested in hearing the opinions of current teachers because they bring a different perspective to the table. Ask each teacher if they can bring a few questions to the interview they feel are important to ask the candidates.
The first area of improvement is leadership. I felt that the school did a poor job in giving the faculty the opportunity show leadership. As Hillary pointed out anything below a 3.0 needs to be taken a look at. Most of the teachers felt they had no say in their school. The second area I found interesting was how teachers felt they did not have the opportunity to lesson plan because they were spending their time on paperwork and unimportant tasks. One the questions asks does administration help take the paperwork load off teachers sos they cna spend time planning and the school did not recieve a good score on this.
I agree with you Hillary in the areas you have pointed out, but if you are meeting with just department chairs you sometimes exclude people unintentionally so there has to be a better way to draw information from the staff than a department chair meeting. DO I know the snawer no, but to many times people are left out with this process, myself included.
Protect teachers from duties that interfere with educating students. Explore further with teachers to determine what duties they feel are taking them away from classroom. Determine a strategy to reduce those duties. Allow teachers a greater role in decision making at the school. Explore further with teachers the activities that would like to have a greater role in decision making. Expand their ability to make decisions.
According to the Teacher Working Conditions Survey, Ira B. Jones Elementary School’s most critical areas of improvement are decision making and leadership. The teachers at Ira B. Jones rated their working conditions significantly below the school system and state. This section of the TWCS measures decision making about educational issues, instruction, group decisions and problem solving. Teachers also rated their role in selecting materials, teaching techniques, setting grades, hiring, student discipline and budgets. Amongst these a specific area of critical need is in the disagreement of the atmosphere of trust and mutual respect in the school.
Two quick and easy recommendations for area of critical need at Ira B. Jones Elementary School:
1. Begin the school year by creating a shared vision and mission statement. This should be done by having all teams/grade levels create a vision and mission together. They will then bring them all together at a faculty meeting to collaborate and combine them to make one. (The statement will be simple enough to be memorized) These statements will be repeated at every faculty meeting.
2. The next thing I would do is create a “expect committee” system at the school, to include all staff members. Together we would create committees that we felt were necessary for our school. (AIG, EC, ESL, EOG, AA male, etc.) Staff would volunteer their expertise on at least one committee. (Thus giving them a since of ownership) One of the most important committee in helping to create an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect is a celebratory committee. The committee would recognize birthdays, births, anniversaries, deaths, accomplishments, and peer recognitions. This approach would show staff their value, importance and needed leadership.
I would then get into the areas of the TWCS that I can control. (Time, hiring, professional development)
I agree with many of the former posts addressing the issue of educational leadership, so I am picking one area of improvement which is a little off the map but very important to me. I found particularly alarming the percentage of teachers who do not have access to instructional materials and resources, and other needs such as paper and pens. Teachers have plenty else to worry about when they're not hunting down dry erase markers, and I don't feel as if teachers should ever have to purchase such basic materials out of pocket.
I would suggest the following recommendations to the Jones principal:
1) establishing a parent-based association tasked with raising funds for teacher/classroom supplies,
2) alloting these funds to each teacher at the start of each school year (used to purchase supplies),
3) providing new teachers with additional funds (as they may require more materials than veteran teachers), and
4) setting aside additional funds to maintain a well-stocked supply cabinet/closet/drawer/shoebox, which can be accessed easily by teachers and staff when needed. An inventory system must be devised and teachers should be required to sign for items from this supply to prevent abust of this system.
Kendra- Ira. B. Jones has a mission statement posted on the school's website. Are we to assume the previous statement to be a lost cause in suggesting a re-written vision and/or mission statement?
According to the TWC survey for Ira B. Jones Elementary School, one of the primary areas of concerns seems to educational leadership. Like Hillary stated previously, the domain average was 2.68 being lower than the district’s average. All areas on the TWC were lower than the district’s average, but this area was significantly lower, which is why this would be the area that I would focus on improving. It seems as if the teachers have a small role in the decision making process. More than half of the teachers surveyed either disagreed or neither agreed or disagreed that teachers are involved in the decision making process. These are probably the same ones who feel like they are not trusted to make sound professional decisions about instruction. Two of my main concerns are the number of teachers that reported that they have a minimal role in selecting instructional materials/resources and making group decisions and solving problems. This school’s staff seems to be split among decision making, which makes me wonder if these teachers who disagree want to have a role in the decision making process at all.
One recommendation that I would make to the administrative staff would be to allow teachers to exercise more freedom within their classrooms without the feeling that they are being watched or judged. Teachers want to feel like they are trusted to carry out their instructional duties and make professional decisions about instruction. Encourage teachers to be risk takers and teach “outside the box.” The administration should empower these teachers and make them feel like they are the best teachers in the world and that their hard work and decisions are important.
Another recommendation would be to establish or revisit the process for selecting materials and resources. Encourage teachers to take part in this process by allowing their voices to be heard. Have grade level departments collaborate and select materials and resources that are most needed to improve their student achievement. Teachers are more likely to use the materials if they have researched chosen them. Also, allow these same grade levels to be a part of the hiring process when a position is available within their grade level.
Tony- maybe the school’s current vision/mission statement is one that the teacher’s have not bought into because they had no part in writing it or maybe its one that’s been around a while and means nothing to the staff. This would be a good time for teacher’s at Ira to be a part of a decision making process. A select group, such as the grade level chairs, could serve on the committee who writes it and then they could take it back to their teams and the teams could read and revise it. That way, all the teachers in the school have been a part of that process. This school probably needs a vision/mission statement that is well suited to the individuals currently at the school. All of this is assuming that they did not do this previously.
The first thing that jumps out is the response rate for the survey. Jones Elementary had a response rate of 79% or 33 out of 43 teachers chose to respond to the survey. Some investigation needs to be made as to why 21% of the teachers did not respond to the survey. That number is significant enough to change the overall response percentages in all categories.
The TWC indicates that the two areas of improvement are in the amount of time teachers have for planning and in the amount of input teachers have on instructional matters. 63% of the teachers responded that they did not have enough non-instructional time. 75% responded that there was not enough planning time and 89% responded that there was not enough structured collaboration time. In order to address these areas, the administration needs to look at what kind of non-instructional duties the teachers are being asked to do. How can time be created in the workday for teachers to have both individual planning time and collaborative planning time? Grade levels could have specials at the same time. The principal needs to examine the way the instructional day is put together and see where time can be created for the teachers to have this needed planning time.
The other category that seemed to jump out of the TWC was that teachers do not feel that they have a lot of input on making instructional decisions. A dialogue needs to begin in the school to make sure that both the administration and the teachers are defining instructional decisions the same way. The principal may honestly feel that the teachers have input on these decisions. With the little bit of data that is available, one has to wonder exactly who is in charge of instructional decisions and what kind of instruction is going on in the building. Does this building have a large number of “canned” programs in place that require the teachers to rigidly follow a proscribed system?
The two areas of interest may be related in that the fact that the teachers feel like they lack planning time may play directly into their feelings that teachers do not have much input on instructional decisions. These two areas seem to be great areas to approach because it may put the administration in a position to kill two birds with one stone.
Many of my classmates are addressing the leadership issue in their posts (as I did in mine). I do think we need to make sure that the administration and the teachers are using the same language and vocabulary about leadership. The survey talks about teachers having a voice in making instructional decisions. Exactly what does that mean to everyone? If everyone is not using the same definition of the question, then the answers may not be valid because everyone is talking about different aspects of leadership and instructional decisions.
Yes, Tony! At the beginning of a new school year, all schools re-write or create a new mission and vision. That is what I am suggesting. Except, I am making it clear that it will be a group effort. Thanks for the comment :-D
According to the Teacher Working Conditions Survey, Ira B. Jones Elementary School’s an area of critical need is indeed Educational Leadership. Looking at the survey results, it seems that there are some trust issues between the faculty and the administration. 33% of the teachers feel that the school does not have an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect. 9% were neutral in their response to that item.
A few of the previous posts focused on the teachers’ role (or lack thereof) in the decision making process at the school.
I feel that the teachers’ responses in a couple of areas are also connected to this issue.
36% of teachers feel that leadership does not support their efforts to maintain discipline in the classroom. Another 9% were neutral in their response to that item. 31% of the teachers feel that school leadership doesn’t make a sustained effort to address their concerns about the use of time at their school. 25% gave a neutral response. 33% of the teachers don’t feel empowered at Jones. Another 18% gave a neutral response. 36% of the teachers feel that school leadership neglects addressing leadership issues. Another 18% gave a neutral response. Finally, 36% of the teachers do not feel that leadership is effective at the school. Again, 18% were neutral in their response.
When analyzing this data, I feel that one has to note those neutral responses. The neutral responses make a statement as well as the positive and negative responses. If a teacher is undecided on an issue, it may mean that that particular issue isn’t being clearly and consistently addressed at the school.
The teachers at Jones indicated a need for additional time to plan with their colleagues, more involvement in decision making about educational issues, and an effective process for making group decisions and solving problems.
Ira B. Jones’ website states that they are a Comer Model School. The Comer Process uses the talents and interests of parents and school staff as collaborative decision makers in the operation of the school. One has to ask, “Is that really working for them?”
That being said, I would recommend:
1. Professional development on PLC’s. The staff needs to some extensive training on the model. Research has shown that when PLC’s are run effectively, teachers involved in them feel empowered to work to improve student learning. There is also an increased sense of affiliation with each other and with the school. Also, their sense of mutual support is increased by collaborative work with peers. I believe that the faculty at Jones could benefit from the increase in collective responsibility that PLC’s provide. It would also give leadership an opportunity to show that they trust the teachers to make sound decisions about instruction.
2. Hold monthly leadership team meetings. Ask PLC/team leaders to come prepared with questions and concerns from PLC/team members. Instituting a clearly defined way for teachers to have their concerns heard and addressed can certainly make a difference in the way they respond to leadership. It sets up a process for making group decisions and solving problems. It also shifts some of the focus from the administration to fellow teachers, helping to build an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect.
Hillary,
When you speak of department chairs, what does that mean in an elementary school context? I know that middle schools and high schools have them in math, english, etc. Does this same type of departmentalization occur in elementary schools? Just curious!
According to the Teacher Working Conditions Survey, the administration needs to potentially address several issues in the hopes of making the school a better place for its staff.
1. Decrease paperwork and duties for its teachers. They do not feel that the administration has been effective in protecting them from non-instructional work.
2. Teachers may want to have more input into decision making about educational issues. I added 'may' because as Kendra has mentioned in class, the question doesn't address whether they really want any of that responsibility.
Sarita,
I liked your idea about monthly leadership team meetings. Would you let this meeting serve to correct the issues you stated or would you bring this information to the whole faculty?
Lisa,
I think that would depend upon the issue in question. In some instances, the concern may be addressed within the leadership team and a response communicated to the PLC/team that submitted it. In other cases, the information may be beneficial to the faculty-at-large.
Again, it all depends:-)
There were three areas of concern that I had noticed using the TWC for Ira B. Jones Elementary School.
1. Time
2. Educator Leadership
3. School Leadership
1. After discussing in class several times, I can understand how Elementary teachers receive little to no time for planning. I would recommend setting aside two hours each week for planned PLC meetings for each grade level. By adjusting the schedule a bit, each grade level would use one day each week for PE/Music at the end of the day so that during that time, that grade level could meet for planning/PLC. I would also let the teachers have a say as to how long they use that two hours and which day of the week would best suit that grade level.
The second (Educator Leadership) and third (School Leadership) could be combined together. The teachers feel underpowered and they lack trust with the school leaders. I would strengthen my teacher leaders who can influence other teachers to motivate them to create ways to help cut down on paperwork and, at the same, create more decision-making abilities from the teachers.
Sarita,
I like your answers. As a high school teacher, I really don't know the time constraints for elementary teachers. Could you tell me how long a good, quality PLC meeting should last (for a reference for myself)?
Matt,
For the past three years, we've held weekly PLC meetings. Our schedule is set so that we have an hour in common planning time. We have found that we need at least that much time to accomplish anything worthwhile.
I think less than an hour would be frustrating and more than an hour might be exhausting.
Good question!
Some good analyses and comments. A couple observations:
I liked the comment about making instructional supplies more easily available. Sometimes it's those simple, quick-win strategies that demonstrate symbolic support for teachers.
A number of people have mentioned forming committees. There is nothing wrong with committees, just remember that committees take a lot of time and have their own micro-political implications. Will the principal sit in on all of those committees (which is a big time commitment)? If not, how will the committees coordinate their work so that they are not going in contradictory directions?
There is something called the Hawthorne Effect, which basically says that people are more satisfied in their jobs if they are asked about job satisfaction. In other words, sometimes just asking people for their opinions has a positive effect, even if you don't implement what they ask for (of course, in the extreme this can backfire in a big way).
Kendra, I like the concept of the entire staff creating committees they feel are necessary for the school. (AIG, EC, ESL, EOG, etc.) One question I have about this idea is what if staff members are hesitant to volunteer their time to serve on committees? I know many teachers already feel overwhelmed, so I am just curious about ways administration could encourage participation in these committees, but not force participation. I think this a creative and practical idea; I am just considering the logistics.
Saritab, good point about elementary schools not having department chairs. Maybe elementary schools could use grade level chairs or team leaders instead.
A good start might be to talk about the survey. Responders indicate that there isn't much being done with the survey. Even a simple thing like electing the leadership team might bring about some of the empowerment these teachers are looking for in the leadership of the school. These teachers responded with great enthusiasm to the questions that dealt with issues in which they had control. They comes across as being frustrated with a lack of appreciation. Almost to the point of trying to "get" the administration. This may be as simple as a personality issue. There is definitely a bit of a "mess" here. It is difficult to think about solving their problems without knowing the various components not indicated in the survey. I like the idea of doing some little things to make life easier for teachers. Another idea would be to give them a duty free lunch that might kill the common planning and the too much duties birds at the same time. Well, at least wound them.
Areas that are in need of improvement are:
1. Teachers being centrally involved in decision making about educational issues.
2. The amount of time for structured collaboration.
3. Teachers being protected from duties that interfere with their essential role of educating students.
I would recommend having the leadership team take the issue of how teacher time is utilized in the school back to the grade levels or departments. Get an idea of what the teachers feel are duties or responsibilities that are taking away from their main role of educating students.
I would also look at the schedule with the leadership team, and see if all grade levels are getting enough time to collaborate, and if their is a better way of arranging the schedule to free up more time and coverage so teachers can collaborate. If more time is added for collaboration I would want the staff to be accountable for the extra time. If minutes and agendas are not posted I would want them posted for the rest of the staff to see.
Using planning time to have PLCs is not shown to be as successful. From what we have read PLCs are most effective for teachers when they are conducted during the school day. Utilizing time before or after school to conduct PLC's would allow teachers to collaborate with out taking away their planning time. Getting teachers coverage for homeroom once a week would allow teachers to have their PLC in the morning and utilize some time before school, and their homeroom time to collaborate.
One area I think is interesting in the survey is teachers ability for advancement other than administrative. What advancements are there for teachers? Other than being on leadership or department chair?
The following are five recommendations for Action (A) tied to concerns (C):
1. (A): Formalize, Standardize and Communicate a Clear Teacher Evaluation Process.
(C): The observation process is one of the most visible leadership practices that directly impacts teachers. Currently fewer than 40% of reporting teachers consider it to be handled appropriately, with better than 30% considering it to be inconsistent at best.
2. (A): Drop-Box regarding Safety and Facilities
(C): At least 15% of teachers in an elementary school do not consider the school to be safe. No teacher should feel threatened by their environment. Emphasizing the importance of safety and providing additional avenues for teachers to communicate about their concerns would allow issues to be resolved.
3. (A): Review Teacher Working Conditions Survey (Dave) through a clear and established faculty review--brainstorming solutions and providing opportunity for more specific feedback.
(C): It is clear that the TWC data is never addressed or discussed--this is an opportunity to demonstrate reflective/responsive leadership and can be simply human resources, symbolic, but could lead to more sound structural and political actions.
4. (A) Paperwork Analysis (Josh, Lisa and Matt) by Department Chairs and Support Staff
(C) At least 50% of teachers responded that leadership does not relieve them of paperwork. It will be important to know what paperwork is expected in all areas, and be able to communicate the importance of vital documentation and eliminate superfluous papers.
5. (A) Provide opportunity to elect two additional staff representatives to the SIT
(C) Teachers do not feel they have a position on the School Improvement Team--another visible and symbolic place where leadership is evident. It would be a simple thing to add two members and allow teachers to elect them, giving them greater representation.
Ted, nice points. I'm curious if you think that working with leadership team and grade-level/department chairs will make all staff feel like they have a voice, or will leave them feeling excluded still--what do you think? Do you think that having to fully document and post minutes will feel like even more paperwork to an already burdened staff? How will you encourage this to happen?
I agree with my classmates about the areas of most concern that have been posted repeatedly already. I noticed that Jones Elem. ranked very high (substantially higher than the rest of the district, and even more so compared to the state) in professional development. As this is an area of strength already, my recommendation would be to use this strength to help strengthen some of the other areas. For example, teachers might be able to seek out and attend professional development that would help them become teacher leaders within the school, help make the paperwork more efficient, use collaborative time more effectively, etc.
Several people have made the recommendation of reworking the schedule to allow for more PLC time during the day. I'm wondering how you would ensure that this time is being used wisely and productively. When more time is set aside for collaborative planning for a team who doesn't utilize that time effectively, often teachers simply feel more resentful about the time that could be used for individual planning or with their students. I am especially wondering about the effectiveness of setting aside homeroom time for elementary teachers. In my classroom, homeroom is often filled with many different duties; checking in with students about a variety of issues, dealing with bus passes, parent notes, attendance, etc. These are things that need to be dealt with at some point, and I fear that eliminating homeroom time will push these duties into instructional time, making a teacher's day feel ever more chaotic.
As stated by most, the most critical area that needs improvement is Educational leadership. When looking at the data, I felt that there were some staff memebers that felt that they were not empowered, supported, or had the mutual respect of the leadership team.
Recommendations
The principal needs to look at the school based decision team. Is there a set way of voting on decisions? Is the team discussing topics and effectively communicating to each department? Are the departments offering feedback? Are decisions shared?
PLC- PLCs should be a way of empowering and supporting the staff. Are the various learning communities properly established and operating in the manner that they should be?
This idea of mutual respect, where is the breakdown occuring? The principal needs to do an informal evalutation of the school culture. Talk to teacher leaders, established members of the school, and find where the breakdown is occuring; the principal might have to revamp the vision, devise a plan of sell in, etc.
I like the switch of critical area of improvement,Tony. I certainly agree with the idea of supplying funding for more supplies. Your recommendations made me think about what if Jones Elementary was not a school that had the strong support of the PTA who could create more funding or there just wasn't any room in the school budget. Would these recommendations still be on the table. Should the principal scarifice other areas, if he or she felt it would improve the working conditions of the teachers?
Based on the TWC survey results for Ira B. Jones it appears that teacher empowerment and planning time are two issues that need to be addressed.
1.47% of teachers who took part in the survey believe that empowering teacher is “most” important in promoting student learning, but very few feel as though they are being empowered within the building. I would suggest that the administrative team work to provide a supportive environment that encourages teachers to examine and reflect upon their teaching. They should also make it possible for teachers to implement ideas and programs that result from reflective practice. This area could also be improved by providing teachers with more decision-making processes such as affect teachers teaching and learning.
2.To improve planning time, I would suggest structuring the school day in a way that allows for both collaborative and individual planning during the school day. I would also suggest that administrators dedicate more time on teacher workdays, earlier release days and late start days to planning and collaboration.
IB Jones Elementary school has needs for improvement with school leadership and their decision making process.
I recommend:
1) Implementing (PBS) Positive Behavior Support in the school. This would create a common approach to discipline issues and allow teacher ownership in creating the school wide norms.
2) Establish more interaction with administration & staff. Insist administrative team employ smiles and cordial greetings with staff. Praise staff for instructional and non-instructional efforts. Increase hall presence, attendance at games/school activities, and staff activities not related to instruction (example: breakfast or luncheons with staff).
3) Employ walk-throughs which are supportive/non-threatening,provide feedback which acknowledge strengths and ways to improve. This could also change the way teachers view administration and build a positive relationship.
As several people have mentioned committees, are principals trying to pass responsibility or are principals trying to use the political/human resource structure to get participation? I have seen administrators use committees for show and ignore their opinions and efforts.
Most critical areas for improvement would be Educator Leadership/Decision-Making. Thirty six percent of the teachers responding felt they are not centrally involved in decision making about educational issues. Thirty nine percent surveyed neither disagreed nor agreed when asked about opportunities for advancement within the teaching profession (other than administration) are available. When I answer neither disagree nor agree, usually I don’t have the option. Hiring new teachers had a whopping 70% of teachers having no role at all. Thirty nine percent felt they had a small role deciding how the school budget would be spent while 27% felt they had no role in this matter. Sixty eight percent had no input in the election of the school improvement team. As Hillary pointed out a domain average of less than 3.0 may be an area for improvement. The domain average for Ira B. Jones is 2.68.
Recommendations
Job vacancies should be posted in the teacher’s lounge or in a place where all employees have access to the information.
An interviewing committee consisting of the principal and possibly 4 teachers from various departments would be my recommendation for the hiring of new teachers.
The school improvement team should be chosen using private ballots. Another option could be to have each department vote in a representative .
Ted:
I look at the district job openings weekly. You never know, there may be something out there that could challenge you more than the position you are presently in. Sad as it is, some employees don't know that job vacancies should be posted. However, there have been times when positions were filled in our school that never hit the vacancies. In these cases I guess it was political if you know what I mean.
The biggest area of concern to me comes from the lack of awareness towards their SIP election process. The SIP Team should be the best possible representation of a staff, veterans and new teachers, various grade levels, different content areas, and different races and genders. Only then will the true "voice" of the school will be heard, and effective, pertinent changes be made.
The change here seems fairly simplistic, but could lead to ugly an ugly situation. Creating and publicizing the electoral process can be addressed from any faculty member, and will have a greater weight with the staff if it comes from a peer as opposed to from the top down. These changes will help mold the next year's board, and give the staff a sense of representation and power when it comes to making decisions in the grand scheme of the school.
I agree with Eddie, the personality of the principal can make or break initiatives. Does the principal have the capacity to empower teachers? Some people just have a hard time giving up what they consider power. This type of personality may, as Eddie spoke to, initiate reform on paper and not actually change.
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