WE0Nl:SDAY, MAY 12, 2Dl0 · STA?. TRIBUNE • OPihTION • All

COUNTERPOINT

Just fire tl1e bad teacl1ers? Sin1plistic.

. {f. In my eA'}Jeliencc:, it's not 2. soh.J.tion (if poor tes~cl~1g is ev·e:;:t j1e proble~--rL).

By :2.03ERT SLOTTEP~_A..CK:

ome believe that public education acJ.:i .stud~nt. performfu""l,ce '"0.;-ill ~p~ove greatly rf poor teacners are ellr"&lat­

ed./\ lengthy article in this paper ("State's bad teachers r2rely get fJYed," I\i2y 9) seemed to conclude that an h"1ability to eli-nic:;ate teach-. ers (either caused bv contractual issues or bv ili.e fa_ct ths_t adu~-ris~ators do I!C)t act) is a b;­rier to better stu.de21t perform2...:.1ce.

I dis2.gree thc.t elil:-'.inatL~g poor teachers Vi~Jl dra.:.-r1a:dcally hL1prove st:J.dent perfor­mance, that lviinnesota is coinpa.ratiYelyweak­er because it has too mac-zy poor teachers and that districts do not confront poor teacl:'..L.1g.

1':1.ere is no doubt that excellent teachers are one of Ihe 1-mporta:J.t factors LTJ. student -oerfor­macJ.ce. But ;_y 37 years in educatio; in si.>-;: school districts across tl-uee states, ac1d my ex­perience 2..!.J.alyzi.1g :test data, con\..:illce me that the notion that beL.1g able to e li0i~ate teachers ~.~:ill h2.ve a huge L11pact on stude:J.t le2.1..'Tl:."'1g is a sb1plistic and politic:' 11y sotivated idea, rlot one based on good research.

Compa..'ing student performar1ce is it-:-J.pos­sible v;ithout a valid assessment. ComparL.1g student perfoimance state to state v;'i.L'1 assess­ments desiped for rile federal 'l\To Child Left 3ehi.nd" law is certainly not valid. It's like com­pac"ii:tg the speed of motor boats in one state Viith race czrs in anoL'ler. LJ.lv'fir-.c1.J.esota, more th2..:,_"-1 hclf of schools are "in need of improve­ment." ln \f\TiscomL.J., the nu.~.-r1ber is a fraction of !l-D.s, From t.'lis you v;rould conclude t.'lat v,r 15-

consb fzr outperforms r,r.irmesota

Districts hire carefully~ and they use the first three years to identify any substandard teachers thev do hi:re. ,.. .

Not so. Tne ACT is one of only two tru­ly co:;.r,.pa.rable :national tests. Tl:1e M.i...JDesota state average on L,_e ACT for 2009 was 22.7-highest ill the nation. Over 68 percent ofJv'iin­nesota's seniors took this test. \Visconsin's av­erage ·was 22.4 - third rjghest. Over 67 per­cent ofVvisconsin's seniors took this test. Us­ing frD.s data we see that IVilr.wesotaacJ.d.Wis­consin perform at nearly the sa.c-ne level.

Tb.e average ACT score for graduating se­:;:-Jors in 2009 in Mequon, vlrlS., Vi'as 25.1- re­markably high. T.t1e average ACT· score for graduates in Ricl-Jield, Ivilnc."1., last year was 21.3. (The natio!lala.Ye::age vi·as 21.1.) The Mequon school district \;;·as in t.,_e 97th percenf.le of 211 distrins in the nation. Richfield 1;;·as in. -c:.'1e 5lst perce:::,:ile. U si..ng the logic of S'.Dday's ar::icle, you ;;;rould conclude that lvfeq·uon teachers f21· outperform P-ichfield teachers. I have carefill­lv ar1d person.2lly obse1ved bmb. tb.ese distric:s. There-is no doU:bt t..~at Richfield has eveq bit as good of a teaching staff. There are no more superior teacl.1ers ir.Ll¥1:equon u~an Li.Richfield. P...nd ::.~e:-e 2..re v;:;ry feV\~ if 211y} teache:s i.:.1 eiLfler district who should be fired.

IfRictaleld does L"1deed hc..ve 2. prufession-21, bi~~y dedicated md knc'.;7"ledieable s:2..:_Lf~ \;;:-hy do students perfor:n at a lovi:7er level? };..:Jd

corrversel}~ if teachers iLL t.L'"!e tVilO districts are equa2.ly compe~e:J.t, sho'cld11't students per­form about the same?

P:.:re teacl1ers L'D lv'lill...'tJ.esot~ as a -~\7hol~ iliat much better than. teachers i.c1 Mississippi -·where the state ACT average was 18.9? If we should efur.i'late 5 or 10 percent of our teacl1-ers, should Mississippi e1iminate 30 or 40 per­cent?

School districts inl\fusesota 2lready"V\reed out" m2.l:y lov\~-perforr::ll::ig teache:-s. The Star Tribllile~s article stressed hov\r fe";l\i teachers are frred. It did not calculate ho,.'"'V n2y teach­ers are let go in tJ:-1e first tbree years of their contracts. Districts h Ivtinnesota (and \Vis­consLn) hire careblly. And they use t.~e frrst u'rree vears to identify the verv few substan­dard t~acher.s they do hire. If a district is doh1g a good job (andi can attest to the fact Richfield and Ni:equon are), it vi'ill very seldom have to frre a teacher 2.1."1:er fo.ree years.

I believe that people mal:li1g statements a~out el1n-illlating poor teachers 2.1.1d t)rl:lg this to student performac1ce are actu2lly tzrgeting teachers ur.J.ons. ·v,re do confront certain bar­gait-lli1g realities that, if changed, could help us .. \7/hat orgarization that l1as collecthre bar­gainh1g does !1ot feel certc.in rules are too con­strictive? But even if our contract in Richfield did look like the one your p2.per discussed md there were a few more teachers v,re could fire, I can tell you v.ith certainty that ·would mo.ke very little difference in our st-udent perfor­mance.

Robert Slotterback is s~perintendent of the Richfield pub­

lic schoo!s.