ATE UNION MEETING ~ MAY 28, 2014 vame sore Winsett sora Wha) Fahases rn THE PROBLEM WITH EVALUATION: aoe Bh lo ish A aes om es Spocia {gh Sebel. Toate Stowe dusvopellves thy tudde Lak ondutouce& pusdelisca falls? Qty dnd ded wall L Pocrssticl os lof = es ie bezel onthe ead Starr of Basins Mab pail dzatll Clonusall anbensd stubs 0 haut buh edd lone) a dette, jel stad shu) 1 Salad che moths. aa ~ Hurdawos. wilucholl ep Loge asng ‘Rego Services NMTEACH BBS Susrare vals sucator Effectiveness System > Reports ‘eat @ ogee 11M 4 ofta b PL Ht Find Next District Educator Effectiveness Summative Report 204 3-20) | NMTEACE= Albuquerque Public Schools i u New Futures School | SARA T WINSETT Group A, Level HS. Tag 6* Overall Score: 104.96 Eiiectiveness Levet Minimally Effet Category Measure Possible Points State / District / Teacher’ Points Earned Summary | ‘Student, 70.00 23.77 ‘Achiovervent 0c 0.00 ‘Subtotal 70.00 23.77 Observation ~ Domain 283 e002 88.13 Ham Siderits aed | Bau Duvieteeins ec) | : URE Teacher Poin | Subtotal 66.00 38.13 sa cm BB Strenaihs and Weaknesses | Multiple Domain.184 39,00 25.35 Measure Teach Att 26.00 1774 ‘Subtotal 65.00" 43.05 Total Evaluation 200,00 104.96 —— «this Tap rofers to your lovel of Graduated Conskerations. [Tie SiedieatorEtetiveness | Text Sips omplat ~~] 473) through 200] of canal [Highly Efiective 146] through | <173) Highly Efocive | 148{ tough | <179) Btectve 478) tough | <1 Minimally Efiective | 92| through | <119) Ineffective <22| 2 \ }Sara Winsett, Employee Number aa May 20 2014 Jam a level 2A teacher with 17 years of experience. I teach Math and Science in a cross categorical class of learning/emotionally disabled Special Bd students in an alternative high ‘school for pregnant and parenting teens. I have a BS in Chemistry and an MA in Special Education. Ihave 17 years of exemplary evaluations, I ar highly qualified in all four areas. 1 am a bead teacher and a leader in my school. I work in the community and independently to develop my professional practice. Treceived a minimally effective score on this evaluation. Treject and dispute this evaluation as unfair and inaccurate. Tused my sick days when I or a family member was sick. This is part of our Negotiated ‘Agreement and shouldn't be considered as part of my evaluation. Thad 2 good observations and one poor one. The poor observation was due to my having Special Ed obligations in addition to teaching my class and | failed to be in 2 places at once. 1 was 10 minutes late to my own class, it was the ‘unannounced” observation and 1 was 80 nervous arriving late and finding the principal seated in my room, my lesson was poorly delivered, I am not too bothered by this as we all have good days and bad days and a cne-time misstep is not reflective of my daily work. I wrote daily scripted lesson plans based my Tier Il already scripted curriculum, because | was asked to keep an additional book of lesson plans in addition to the ones I already keep as 1 individisalize everything, This was very, very.time consuming. entered narratives into Teachscape in spite of inadequate treining‘and many glitches in the ‘software, I scanned many, many artifacts attempting to demonstrate my materials and products, ‘This used much valuable time on redundant recard keeping as all those artifacts and conditions are evident in my classroom. [taught using a combination of the old standards on which my current curricula are based and the new standards.which have nothing to do with the prescribed Tier IM curricula I am. required to use. Lattended and developed with my colleagues at ATF, professional developments based on the new standards in order to better my practice end help my fellow teachers do so as well. Tam glad to be evaluated on what I did well and what { need to improve, I ath by no means’ perfect educator, But ] am‘a harcworking, thinking teacher, attempting to do the best with what Iam given, Tam glad to cooperate and follow the guidelines given me by my principal, district and state, [am required fo use certain materials and cover certain topics. | Jollow the units of study to the best Lam able, given that they differ in order and content from the required Tier II materials. I work with each student's LEP to meet their individusl goals as required by federal law. There are many conflicts and contradictions between IDEA and RITT (or NCLB or whatever we are calling it these days). Ido my best to balance between the requirements. However there are things I am being evaluated on which I do not and cannot control.My students ere amazing young adult thurman beings. They cope with special needs in extraordinary excumstancee, It is o important for them as part oftheir education to learn confidence ia their stengtha ant how to improve their weaknesses, Many of my shudents will be limited in wht they can achieve in thie world but they hve the right to dreara and reach as far as they can. They may never rise tothe college and career ready standards set fr them by the PED, or tent weil gn thooe standarde, Stl, they have the right to learn as much as they can about the world they lie in and to gain the skis they are able to; in order to participate in our community as functioning cltizens, They yet may go higher and further than expected, if they are encouraged properly. No tect can teacure these students’ dreams or their perseverance and endurance ao they reech as high as they ean. To quote Sojourner Truth inher speech to the audience at Seneca Pails in 1851 “If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours olds @ quart ‘woulde't you be mean not to let me have my lite half meastre full” ‘These tests demoralize, and discourage sy students. Giving a hard working teenager with an effective reading level of 4 grade a college level test and telling them that they are faitures with a minimally cffective teacher is just plain mean. ‘This population characteristically has a high percentage of chronically absent and discouraged students, Most of my students are low 1Q, over age in grade and are om an alternative path to graduation. Many of my students have delayed mastery and poor retention. Some have impulse and focus issues, They are not good teat takers when they are well prepared. A one-time standardized test ‘where they have to sit in silence for hours on end is not something that will show their skills or knowledge. In fact such an experience can be traumatizing and un-motivating in the extreme, ‘My students have additional life streasors as they try to become parents as well as graduates. ‘This population comes with consistent issues of attendance, health, work/school/Iife balance that are common across the board with teen parents, Alternative schools arc ALTERNATIVE for a reason. My students were tested at random intervals over standards that we don't use on a test that is mown to be un-vetted and unreliable. The SBA hasn't been used for graduation in years, Last year they didn’t even count any scores ... all my sped students got a standard diploma Yeqardiess of their scores, This year there are so many loopholes and alternatives if test scores aren't met, these alternatives function to keep graduation numbers up, just PED CYA, ‘The EOC's are a joke. The Chemistry EOC doesn't follow the state standards at all, There were no questions on certain topics and others over material that isn't covered at all. The Algebra EOC uses different standards than the ones used in the prescribed Tier III curricula, Thave watched as my students quietly wept or just plain broke down over these tests. T have gently encouraged them to do their best even when I know it is a waste of our precious educational time, Thave no idea and no way of finding out which test scoies these are or which students were counted. The students associated with my name on AIMS include students who dropped out in November and December, students who graduated last year and others who never have been in any of my classes. Thave data gathered in a rational way over timed intervals of the school year for my math courses that show my students geining in’ skill and practice. (Graphs and narrative included here]. i | i i | |Each year my school graduates 30-60 students, cach of whom is either employed, or enrolled in post-secondary training/education. This is the measure of our success; not test scores. Jam highly motivated and well intentioned towards my stiidents, my'school and my community, (Attached please find my rubric for domains 1 end 4), Once again, I am pleased to cooperate in any plan to improve my professional practice. | am. willing to examine areas of weakness for improvement and grow in areas of strength, just as I expect from my students, [ welcome observation and feedback about my pedogogy. 1 do not accept any feedback based on un: vetted, nonsensical VAM, standardized test scores from hmngry, socio /economicaliy challenged, chronically absent, learning/emotionally disabled, alternative school, alternative graduation pathway, wonderful people but not exactly the best test takers, That this measure is 50% of may evaluation is a meanspirited joke I further reject this evaluation on the grounds that it is an ALEC backed. political move: designed 19 undermine the public schools in order to replace them with privatized educations! Schenes. The Governor and her unqualified sexretary designate have an agenda to demoralize teachers and drive them from the profession to be replaced with Unlicensed tn~unionized provtors for their oa fine curricula These pubic edcation destroying, union-busting schemes Fixe been putin to action by Ms. Skandorain other states and the results exe known and predictable, ‘The facts are that neither our soboo!s nor our teachers are failing; we are being set up by & political agenda. It is known that spot testing isn't an effective measure of student learning or effective teaching, It is Imown that poverty rates correlate stronger with school success than tested measures, [tis known that the VAM algorithm used by the state is nonsense which they hope no one is mathematically savvy enough to notice, The facts are that this evaluation aystem is Worthless and politically driven to make teachers and echools look bad. It is not reflective of reality. All these things are published, known facts. ‘The fact is that I am not a minimally effective teacher. I do not know what my level of effectiveness I have because it has not been measured. I welcome the day when we have @ reasonable system which values education and reflects what teachers do in their claserooms,Algebra | and Algebra Models schoo! year 2013/2014 Special Ed using tier Ill curriculum: Inside Algebra In August, this class had 7 students enrolied. Over the year to 14 students total enrolled. In May, 4 students finished the course. 3 stucients hac! maternity leave for 2 weeks during the yesr. The average initial skil level of the students is about 3 grade level. Many have reading comprehension and written language issues 2s well. 4 of the students were ELL. Most are enrolled concurrently in Math strategies to build their basic math skis as we learn algebraic reasoning, There are also 3-5 Math! students working ‘on individwal IEP goals in this class as wel, Attendance is important to growing in mathematical skill; even though the class is self-paced attendance ‘can affect progress greatly, Several students lost eredit due to peor attendance and made litte progress. ‘There were a few students who just plain refused to work on most days and they did not pass the class, The students who had good attendance and worked sincerely to learn do well with this curriculum. | teach the skills individually and they move on when they reach 80% [or better) mastery. The curriculum breaks down each skill into steps and allows the student to reech mastery through completing smaller steps. | use a variety of strategies and techniques depending on each students individual tearning needs We use drill sheets, games, manfpulatives, and other strategies as needled, Most students can finish 3-8 chapters each 18 weeks. There is a strong component of real life application of the skills so students may grasp WHY as well as HOW we learn each skill. There isa placement test at the beginning of the year and progress assessments at regular intervals through the year. This year’s graph shows the students gradual increase in algebraic skill over the course ‘of the school year, The 4 students who compfeted the course showed about an average of 20% increase in skill This is not insignificant in spite of them never quite reaching proficiency. (In an ideal world | would work with them another 18 weeks and | think we would make it to proficiency level.)All students patticipating showed an increase in their mathematical skils and algebraic reasoning, Sua!