Our obsession with testing and labeling students is sucking the joy out of teaching and learning.
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BREAKING NEWS: LFT Responds to LA Supreme Court Decision on Act 1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Les Landon, Director of Public Relations
(Baton Rouge – October 15, 2014) Statement from the Louisiana Federation of Teachers following the State Supreme Court decision reversing a 19th Judicial District Court ruling on the constitutionality of Act 1 of 2012:
Obviously the Louisiana Federation of Teachers is disappointed by the high court’s decision. After the district court ruled three times that Act 1 is wholly or in part unconstitutional, we had hoped for a different outcome.
Since we have not yet had a chance to study the Supreme Court ruling, we cannot comment on its particulars. We have always maintained, however, that the ultimate solution to the problems caused by Act 1 of 2012 will be legislative and not judicial.
The bundling of objects, the basis of our original lawsuit, was just one of the reasons that we considered Act 1 so ill-conceived. Another of our concerns, the way in which Act 1 dealt with the discipline and dismissal of teachers, was corrected with the adoption of Act 570 in the 2014 Regular Legislative Session.
Act 570 should serve as a model for future cooperation between educators and lawmakers. The LFT intends to revisit other offensive sections of Act 1 in coming legislative sessions.
It is time to return the joy of school: Shreveport Times Letter to the Editor
As a leader of teachers and school employees, you probably think this letter is about the testing ad nauseam we are forced to endure in our classrooms.
And while there is considerable angst, our greatest anxiety is what this does to our students. The actual joy of school is being robbed from our boys and girls. For example, when the inclusion of enrichments is not important, when recess is suspended because we need to be back in the classroom, when we expect children to choke down a lunch in the name of maximizing class time, when we don’t let our students talk during lunch because that is a distraction, and now even taking away naps from our youngest.
We have turned our schools into a forced march.
Student achievement is increased when what we present is meaningful and relevant. Those extra minutes taken away each day do not help because students are exhausted thus disengaged; therefore, no REAL learning is actually taking place. We believe that teachers teach and students learn best in an environment which recognizes that school is more than an assembly line.
It is time for all of us to demand better for our children. A world awaits our children, it is our job to prepare them for all aspects of that world and that is more than testing. Let’s return the joy of school.
— Jackie Lansdale, President, Red River United, Shreveport
Know Your Rights: My Principal is asking that I amend my SLTs!
Call us immediately at Red River United, 318-424-4579 (we may want to consider a grievance but must weigh the particulars of each individual’s case). SLTs are too important to take lightly.
Here are some basic facts on Student Learning Targets (SLTs) are a crucial part of a teacher’s COMPASS evaluation. To make sure that your evaluation is an appropriate, accurate and fair representation of your professional abilities, please review the following hints for writing your SLTs in collaboration with your principal.
- Set reasonable, realistic targets. Yes, they need to be rigorous but they must also be attainable.
- Consider including the stipulation that only the scores of students who took both the pre and post assessments will be included in the calculation.
- You might stipulate that a certain attendance factor will determine if a student remains in the SLT group. Refer to language for attendance requirements for updating students in CVR. The same rules should apply when writing SLTs.
- Students with high scores on the pre-assessment instrument may not be capable of achieving their targeted growth. Consider excluding those students from your group.
- SLTs should be written only for the students you teach, based on their specific past performance and pre-assessment data. Do not base them on the performance of the students in the entire school or school district.
- SLTs are intended to be a comparison of where your students were at the beginning of the year and how much they have progressed during the year, based on your teaching, just as a VAM score is based on the progress of only your students.
- Make sure your pre and post tests directly reflect your areas of instruction.
- Share your SLT drafts with your peers for wording and math calculations.
- Monitor and record student performance throughout the year.
- At midyear, check to see if you are eligible to make changes to your SLTs.
Red River United has received calls and emails about SLTs. Below are the most common topics and RRU’s position.
- SLTs may include an attendance component. There is no reason not to include attendance because even VAM sets attendance requirements (eliminate a student absent 20 consecutive days). Suggestion, include only students present for the pre and post tests and having 80% instructional class time attendance each semester.
- Growth targets and other parameters are not to be set exclusively by administration. Remember, an SLT should reflect rigorous but achievable growth targets and are to be agreed upon between the teacher and evaluator. Do not sign off on an SLT if you question its achievability.
- The percentage of students to be targeted can be less than 70%. The Louisiana Department of Education suggests 70% but it is not a requirement. The percentage depends on many factors, such as the number of students in the group, how the students scored on the pre-test, and the make-up of the group (regular ed, ESS, targeted intervention, whole group).
- You should only be held accountable for students that you teach. SLTs should not span entire grades or subject levels.
Know Your Rights- Impermissible Corporal Punishment
NO SCHOOL EMPLOYEE IS WITHOUT RISK. THERE HAVE BEEN 5 CASES JUST THIS WEEK.
What to do if an accusation is made against you?
- Immediately contact Red River United at 318-424-4579.
- Do nothing (say nothing) else until you have been presented the actual written statement from the child or the parent/guardian. Do not respond or engage in conversation with the child or parent/guardian.
- Your 24 hours to respond starts once you get the statement. Use this time wisely by seeking representation. From this point on, you have the right to representation in any further meetings. Always make sure you have representation!
- The written statement that you hand in must be carefully worded. A proper response takes time and patience to make sure that important facts are not omitted under pressure or in haste. Do not let yourself be pressured into making a written record right there in the administrator’s office.
- Make sure your Red River United representative reads your statement before you hand it in.
Click here for further information on Impermissible Corporal Punishment.
Have you been battered or assaulted? Know Your Rights.
Do teachers have a bill of rights? Yes! Know Your Rights.