Passive Firing
Earlier this week, Lacey, my best friend from high school, was forced to resign from her job as a Title I teacher. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Title I, it's a program at elementary and middle schools that gives struggling readers a chance to learn in a smaller classroom environment and with more one-on-one attention.
Lacey didn't want this job when she was hired. She was told in college that Title I took special training and a different degree. She told the school district that she didn't feel that she was qualified to teach Title I, and they reassured her that she was fine.
When she had her first evaluation, her evaluator Jodi basically ripped her a new one. The district was trying on a new approach to learning called "guided reading" that Lacey, not having trained in that district, knew nothing about.
This was all of the help she received from Jodi. Instead, my mom, who was teaching in the classroom next to Lacey, explained guided reading to her and urged Lacey to request an evaluator who could at least offer constructive criticism.
Lacey didn't do that, but she did get better--a lot better. She improved so much that when she had her next evaluation, Jodi accused Lacey of putting on a show, of not really being as good as she seemed. She claimed that Lacey's performance during her evaluation was atypical. But rather than drop by for another assessment to be sure of her accusation, Jodi was satisfied to chalk up Lacey's good performance to an act.
But with Lacey's performance improving, Jodi found other things to criticize in upcoming evaluations:
She criticized Lacey for not separating students more, when Lacey's room is practically an 8x10 cell.
She critcized Lacey for allowing the students to read out loud, an activity that forced them to follow along, lest they be called on and not know their place. This was one of their favorite things to do.
She criticized Lacey for doing the same paired reading activity more than once.
She criticized Lacey for not having enough variety in her activities but never offered alternatives.
She criticized Lacey for her students not having any pride in their work, to which Lacey responded, "No shit! They know that they don't have to do anything to get passed on to the next grade. They can flunk everything and the district will still pass them. Why would they have take any pride in their work?"
Finally, she criticized Lacey for having a student help another student to spell a word, although Lacey doesn't remember any such thing happening.
In the end, Jodi decided not to recommend that Lacey be rehired. The district thought it would look best for both parties if Lacey resigned. And so she did.
However, it seems to all of us (and by "all of us," I mostly mean my mom and her co-workers) that Jodi decided within Lacey's first weeks that she wasn't good enough. It mattered not that Lacey needed a little time to understand a program that was new to her. No, the decision was made and Lacey's improvement was irrelevant.
Of course, no one wants their children to be guinea pigs to a new teacher. But no teacher is any good after just a few weeks, especially if they're unfamiliar with the main approach. Perhaps she never should have been hired; perhaps she should have been allowed to stay after proving her worth.
Either way, they've dicked her around this year, but at least she's learned a lot on their dollar. Now she can go to another school and be awesome, while they replace her with a new teacher who's fresh out of college and needs to be shown the ropes. They'll never get anywhere this way. This school district really needs to be taught a lesson or two.
Lacey didn't want this job when she was hired. She was told in college that Title I took special training and a different degree. She told the school district that she didn't feel that she was qualified to teach Title I, and they reassured her that she was fine.
When she had her first evaluation, her evaluator Jodi basically ripped her a new one. The district was trying on a new approach to learning called "guided reading" that Lacey, not having trained in that district, knew nothing about.
This was all of the help she received from Jodi. Instead, my mom, who was teaching in the classroom next to Lacey, explained guided reading to her and urged Lacey to request an evaluator who could at least offer constructive criticism.
Lacey didn't do that, but she did get better--a lot better. She improved so much that when she had her next evaluation, Jodi accused Lacey of putting on a show, of not really being as good as she seemed. She claimed that Lacey's performance during her evaluation was atypical. But rather than drop by for another assessment to be sure of her accusation, Jodi was satisfied to chalk up Lacey's good performance to an act.
But with Lacey's performance improving, Jodi found other things to criticize in upcoming evaluations:
She criticized Lacey for not separating students more, when Lacey's room is practically an 8x10 cell.
She critcized Lacey for allowing the students to read out loud, an activity that forced them to follow along, lest they be called on and not know their place. This was one of their favorite things to do.
She criticized Lacey for doing the same paired reading activity more than once.
She criticized Lacey for not having enough variety in her activities but never offered alternatives.
She criticized Lacey for her students not having any pride in their work, to which Lacey responded, "No shit! They know that they don't have to do anything to get passed on to the next grade. They can flunk everything and the district will still pass them. Why would they have take any pride in their work?"
Finally, she criticized Lacey for having a student help another student to spell a word, although Lacey doesn't remember any such thing happening.
In the end, Jodi decided not to recommend that Lacey be rehired. The district thought it would look best for both parties if Lacey resigned. And so she did.
However, it seems to all of us (and by "all of us," I mostly mean my mom and her co-workers) that Jodi decided within Lacey's first weeks that she wasn't good enough. It mattered not that Lacey needed a little time to understand a program that was new to her. No, the decision was made and Lacey's improvement was irrelevant.
Of course, no one wants their children to be guinea pigs to a new teacher. But no teacher is any good after just a few weeks, especially if they're unfamiliar with the main approach. Perhaps she never should have been hired; perhaps she should have been allowed to stay after proving her worth.
Either way, they've dicked her around this year, but at least she's learned a lot on their dollar. Now she can go to another school and be awesome, while they replace her with a new teacher who's fresh out of college and needs to be shown the ropes. They'll never get anywhere this way. This school district really needs to be taught a lesson or two.