Only half of Hawaii’s third-, fourth- and fifth-grade public school teachers got high marks from students for maintaining control in their classrooms last semester, one of seven areas students now score teachers on as part of the state Department of Education’s new performance-based evaluation system.

The surveys — developed by the Tripod Project, a partnership between Cambridge Education and Ronald Ferguson of Harvard University — ask students about such things as classroom management and whether they’re challenged and engaged.

Preliminary survey results released this week show more than 80 percent of upper elementary teachers scored favorably for clarifying lessons, while 70 percent of middle and high school teachers rated well for challenging their students.

About 171,200 students completed anonymous surveys for some 9,660 teachers. Results for upper elementary (grades 3 to 5) and secondary (middle and high school) teachers were shared this week with the Board of Education’s Human Resources Committee and provide the first statewide snapshot of students’ views. Results for kindergarten, first- and second-grade teachers are not yet available.

Overall, Hawaii’s secondary teachers exceeded national averages in all seven of the scoring areas, while upper elementary teachers exceeded national averages in four of the seven.

The student surveys have arguably been the most controversial piece of the new evaluation system known as the Educator Effectiveness System. Personnel consequences — including pay raises, tenure and termination — will be tied to the evaluations starting next fall.

Many teachers object to students having a say in high-stakes personnel decisions, but the four-year contract teachers ratified last spring included the evaluations — one of several reforms in the state’s application for its federal Race to the Top grant.

Under the contract, half of a teacher’s annual evaluation will be based on student learning and growth, measured in part by student test scores. The other half will be based on teaching practices and will be rated through classroom observations and student surveys. At least two semesters’ worth of survey results will make up 10 percent of a classroom teacher’s evaluation.

The DOE says the surveys are designed to generate information on how students experience teaching practices and learning conditions in the classroom, as well as information about how students assess their engagement.

Kendra Ito-Mizota, government relations specialist for the 13,500-member Hawaii State Teachers Association, told Board of Education members that teachers believe the survey has serious flaws, especially around students’ understanding of the questions.

Students are asked questions aimed at scoring a teacher on the so-called 7 C’s of effective teaching: care, challenge, captivate, confer, consolidate, control and clarify.

Questions are tailored for elementary, upper elementary and secondary students. Students in kindergarten through second grade get a proctored, simplified survey and are asked to weigh in with a "yes," "no" or "maybe" on statements like, "I like the way my teacher treats me when I need help" and "Our class stays busy and does not waste time."

Older students are asked to indicate on a five-point scale — from totally untrue to totally true — whether they agree with statements such as, "Everybody knows what they should be doing and learning in this class" and "My teacher has several good ways to explain each topic that we cover in this class."

Ito-Mizota said HSTA members were recently polled about the surveys, and 87 percent of respondents (1,170 teachers) said they don’t think students understand the questions.

BOE Human Resources Committee Chairman Jim Williams said the generally positive scores in the initial results seem to counter HSTA’s argument.

"You hear grumblings from teachers that students don’t understand the questions, that somehow the language that is used in questions for mainland students isn’t appropriate for Hawaii students," Williams said. "Frankly, I don’t subscribe to that. When I look at these results, I don’t see evidence that there’s gross misunderstanding."

DOE Deputy Superintendent Ronn Nozoe added, "I think one of the ways to dispel some of the angst around this is for the teachers to actually see how the comparisons shake up. In general, Hawaii kids seem to think that there are good things going on to a greater extent than their mainland counterparts."

HSTA’s poll also showed 84 percent of teachers disagree with the surveys being used in evaluations. Teachers cited concerns that there’s no training to support what teachers should do with survey results to improve; Hawaiian language translations for immersion students are inaccurate; and there’s no foreign language help for English Language Learner students, among other issues.

Nozoe said the DOE plans to collect survey data for a full year before deciding whether to adjust the program.

"If we see unintended harm, we’ll definitely take action," he said.

A provision in the HSTA contract calls for the DOE and union to form a joint committee to review the design, validity and reliability of the overall performance evaluation system and make recommendations to the BOE and superintendent. The committee sent out a survey to teachers this week to gather feedback.