Don’t overrate student feedback

The proposal to gather student opinions about their teachers in the course of job evaluations could produce some valuable information, but not data that should factor directly into calculations of their pay and position.

The Hawaii State Teachers Association seems to have drawn the same conclusion and has sounded an alarm about the use of student surveys, among other issues, in the revamped teacher evaluations now being piloted.

Officials with the state Department of Education say they’ve not yet determined how the student surveys would be weighted in the evaluations, which are linked to salary, tenure and other key decisions about a teacher’s status.

That’s good, because it means there’s still time before the rollout of student surveys next school year to see that they are used only on an advisory basis, as cues signaling the potential need for follow-up by an administrator.

The DOE is rightfully driving toward full deployment of new, more potent teacher evaluations that hold faculty members accountable, at least in part, for the academic performance of their students, as measured in various tests.

Adopting the new evaluations, which make a connection between test scores and teacher pay and advancement, is being driven by the Race to the Top education reform process, underwritten by a $75 million competitive federal grant awarded to the DOE.

The HSTA has voiced concerns about how that link is drawn, too, because some school complexes are beset by greater socioeconomic challenges than others and produce wide variations in academic performance, meaning that the teachers are not playing on a level field.

However, in the final form of the evaluation, there ought to be a way to account for school differences.

The DOE has enough data to draw comparisons among student test scores within a complex, in which student achievement can show relative growth, an indication of good teacher performance.

The use of student surveys is far more problematic.

According to the plan, students starting with the 2013-2014 academic year will be given one of various tests designed for a range of age groups. Among the more helpful of the questions for grades 3-5:

» Students behave so badly in this class that it slows down our learning.

» I understand what I’m supposed to be learning in class.

» My teacher asks questions to be sure we are following along when he/she is teaching.

» Students speak up and share their ideas about class work.

» My teacher takes the time to summarize what we learn each day.

All of these provide a child with the opportunity to give feedback on some important classroom practices.

Repeated negative comments would tip off the administration that there could be chronic communication problems or a failure to encourage student engagement.

The principal could follow up with a classroom visit or consultation with the teacher to learn more and provide advice for improvement.

In the aggregate, all of that is a valuable informational resource. But it’s also highly subjective and needs further investigation.

HSTA President Wil Okabe said the questions may not be culturally sensitive.

He could be right there; at least, cultural and social constraints in some communities might shade the comments that some students provide.

In any case, they constitute fairly raw feedback.

The emphasis in teacher evaluations should be on other factors, more concrete indicators of drive and success.

Results count, and that’s what should get the heavier weight in any professional evaluation.