Kristi Kahl/00-01/Diary Entry 13

Entry # 13: Tough Decisions

It seems that during the past week or two I was faced with more than the usual number of tough decisions. Like all good administrators, I put off making them for as long as possible. Some are still haunting my dreams.

Before becoming a principal, it seemed that so many decisions were black and white. After all, the principal has to do what is best for kids. But then come the doubts and the worries that decisions you make will adversely affect your school's culture. And, for people like me who need to feel liked, making decisions becomes even tougher.

Who should be allowed to teach in our GATE program?

Which teacher should get the new bungalow when it arrives?

How should I draft that memo to the teachers who still don't do what is expected of them during the fire drill?

And what should I say to the teacher who has generated so many parent complaints I don't even know where to begin.?

Each of these issues sparks a dilemma about making a decision that is ethical, responsible, and fair.

One of the toughest decisions has to be the marks that a principal places on a teacher's evaluation form. I began my final evaluation conferences in March, doing a few each week so that I wouldn't be overwhelmed doing them all at once in mid-April. It is agonizing to have to decide between "Satisfactory," "Needs to Improve," and "Unsatisfactory" when referring to the performance of a human being.

My district, like most, has a form that lists categories and the requirements for teachers in each one. But there is no rubric describing the three possible ratings of S, N or U. No matter how hard I try, it is difficult to separate my personal feelings about a person from their actual classroom performance.
Would I place my own child in this classroom?

I suppose all schools have staff members who are popular with students and parents, and others who are team players and make major contributions to the school in many ways but are not always stellar in their classroom performance.

In separating the "Unsatisfactory" from the "Needs to Improve," I have to ask myself the question, would I place my own child in this classroom? If the answer is "no," then I know what I have to do.

Separating the "Needs to Improve" from the Satisfactory" is a more difficult matter. In my opinion, just about every teacher has some area in which he/she can improve. Yet this is not what the evaluation means. According to a recent article I read (the source escapes me), anywhere from 5 to 22% of teachers really need to improve. But I know that doesn't mean I compare our teachers to one another and rate 5-22% in the N category. But then again, what DOES that mean?

For me, it means that they have not yet reached a proficient level in their teaching. (Well now, that clears it right up!) The best way I know how to determine this is to get into the classrooms where I have doubts as many times as I possibly can. It is amazing the difference (or lack of a difference) one can see over the course of a school year. At least one teacher on my staff went from a solid "N" to a solid "S." (What does that tell us? What gets measured gets done!)

And what about first-year teachers?

First-year teachers are even trickier. Of course, one would not expect a first-year teacher to exhibit the same level of competence as a 10-year veteran. Yet how does one determine if they are progressing at an appropriate rate? What should they be able to do, and what will come with time? For me, I tend to believe that they should exhibit skills in instruction, including lesson design and incorporating a variety of activities in their teaching.

I expect that many will struggle with discipline, assessment, and may even make mistakes in judgment when working with angry parents. But, what about first year teachers who do not yet have a teaching credential? Should they be evaluated using yet another set of criteria?

While I haven't clearly figured out yet how to deal with this, I believe that like struggling teachers, new teachers need to be visited many times over the course of the year. If they change their teaching in response to my feedback, then I know that I have someone committed, and someone who will likely grow to be a solid teacher. If they resist my feedback, make excuses for why they aren't doing something, or downright ignore my specific directions to make a change, then I know I have a problem.

Visit often

One thing has made me feel more confident in my evaluations this year. I have been in to observe in these classrooms on many occasions. While on the surface this might seem like something that would be automatic, I know this is not always the case. When I was evaluated as a teacher, I was visited once -- I think during one year I was actually visited twice. That was it. Several of the twenty teachers I'm evaluating this year told me how surprised and thrilled they were to see me in their classrooms so often. Apparently, their previous evaluation experiences (in other districts) involved being visited once, or in the case of one teacher, not at all.

As I finish up this process of making these tough decisions, I try to focus on all that I have learned about my school and the challenges inherent in teaching young adolescents. I plan to continue to learn more about how to make these tough decisions as a competent and self-confident instructional leader.