As has been mentioned in several comments to a previous post, I-SS teachers are now being given the opportunity to take a version of the survey that the Principals took back in August. Pam Schiffman, Associate Superintendent of Accountability and Technology, sent the survey, via e-mail, with the subject line: I-SS Learning initiatives Opinion Activity – FOR TEACHERS. The survey lists a number of I-SS initiatives/processes and asks for input about each one.
Both Mr. Johnson and Mr. Rogers told me some time ago that the teachers would be given the same survey that was given to principals. However that did not happen. First of all, principals were given the option of listing most items as OK as is, tweak, or abandon while teachers are not given the option to directly mark abandon for any of the items. It was mentioned in one of the blog comments that teachers could write abandon in the Suggestions For Improvement section, but teachers should have been specifically given a column to mark abandon for individual items.
Next, the principals were given 34 items on their survey while teachers were only given 15 items. The following items were on the teacher’s survey.
- Baseline Assessments (BA)
- Common Formative Assessments (CFA)
- Predictive Assessments (PAs)
- School Improvement Planning
- Data Warehouse/Reports
- Early Release Professional Development
- High Yield Instructional Strategies (HYIS)
- Instructional Facilitator Model (IF)
- L to J (Lee Jenkins Resources)
- PDSA
- Classroom Walkthroughs (CWTs)
- Professional Learning Communities (PLC)
- Virtual PLCs
- Curriculum Guides
- Teamwork Matrix
The principal survey included all of the above items except High Yield Instructional Strategies and it also included the following items.
- Budgeting Process
- Hiring Process
- Response to Intervention
- Teacher Evaluation System
- Corrective Reading
- Read 180
- Positive Behavior Support
- The ISS Triangle Models: Raising Achievement and Closing the Gaps & Effective and Efficient Operations
- School Improvement Plan Coaching
- Leadership Academy Week
- Quality Fair/RACG Day
- Leadership Academy for Novice Principals
- Leveled Principal’s Meetings
- Mid and End of Year Review
- Instructional Facilitator/Principal Meetings
- Boot Camps
- Curriculum Review Week
- Assistant Principal Meetings
- Quarterly Principal Coaching Sessions
- Whole Group Principal Meeting
Granted, some of these additional items on the principal’s survey such as Assistant Principal Meetings and Whole Group Principal Meeting do not apply directly to teachers and would not need to be included on the teacher survey. However, a number of them do apply directly to teachers. For example, Teacher Evaluation System, Response to Intervention, The ISS Triangle Models, and Corrective Reading all have direct teacher involvement. Teachers should have been given the opportunity to rate these items as well.
I think that Mr. Johnson needs to have Pam Schiffman restructure the survey or at least give a valid explanation of why these items were not included on the teacher’s survey and why teachers were not given the direct opportunity to mark any items as needing to be abandoned.
