Education leader lays out plans for reform
GLENFIELD — State Education Commissioner David M. Steiner on Wednesday laid out his plan to reform standardized tests, implement a comprehensive teacher accountability system and challenge —- even close — consistently low-performing schools.
"Very quickly, we need to change 140 years of practice," Mr. Steiner said. "We need an accountability system that isn't a gotcha system, but one that assists teachers in improving, and eventually removes those who shouldn't be in front of our children."
Mr. Steiner spoke to superintendents, school principals and teacher union leaders Wednesday morning at the Howard G. Sackett Technical Center.
Mr. Steiner was invited by state Sen. Joseph A. Griffo, R-Rome, and Jefferson-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services Superintendent Jack J. Boak Jr.
Teachers and school officials have viewed mandates handed down by the state with skepticism.
One of the most contentious changes is using student achievement more prominently to evaluate educators. The new system would make it easier for districts to fire ineffective teachers, but the change would have to be negotiated into union contracts first.
Indian River Superintendent James Kettrick asked about the potential conflict when school district leaders must negotiate with teacher unions to implement the new accountability system.
"There are so many things intertwined here," Mr. Kettrick said. "But is there a way this can be worked out so I'm not in an adversarial role to my union president?"
The state Education Department will provide support for getting through the negotiation and implementation process, but Mr. Steiner acknowledged that it isn't going to be easy to get officials and unions to agree on how the evaluations will change.
"It's not going to be smooth — it can't be," he said. "We're changing the fundamental working conditions for one of the biggest enterprises there is — education."
Some of the biggest issues facing education recently have been economic — many north country school districts faced a budget shortfall because of decreased state aid last year, and dozens of teaching jobs were cut. Educators have said they expect budget problems to continue in the near future.
But when there is a budget crisis, and cutting teaching jobs may result in more students per classroom, the essential teaching should still be getting done, Mr. Steiner said.
"Districts spend a lot of human time redesigning curriculum, and in doing more of this at the statewide level, we should be able to save districts a lot of time and money," he said. "And although we'd always prefer smaller class sizes, a highly effective teacher with a class of 28 students will still do better than an ineffective teacher with a class of 20 students."
In 2014, the "2.0" curriculum, as Mr. Steiner calls it, will be implemented. But in the meantime, the current assessments will be improved. The system will include tests that assess knowledge of the curriculum and don't encourage teaching students based on what teachers think will be on the test.
"We want assessments that don't become the curriculum but that assess the curriculum. My best message is to teach at a demanding level and to actively teach mathematics," Mr. Steiner said. "If you do that and not guess what's on a multiple choice test, my guess is that your students will do better."
State education officials will build curriculum and assessments with input from school districts, rather than entirely in Albany and expecting it to work in the classroom, Mr. Steiner said.
Teaching techniques must be stressed that require all students to answer questions, not just the couple students who are always raising their hands, Mr. Steiner said.
"Children are accustomed to teachers who move rapidly along to the student who always knows the answer when they call on another student who doesn't know it," he said. "When that happens the losing child really becomes the losing child forever. Education schools focus so much on education theory and philosophy but not on these nuts and bolts."
