Response: How Peer Assistance Can Improve Teacher Practice

Learning doesn’t stop when we graduate from high school or college. Teachers want and need to be lifelong learners and grow throughout their careers. And who better to guide that growth than experienced, expert teachers? It’s even more important these days with budget cuts to professional development programs and the uneven and flawed rollout of revamped teacher evaluation policies. That’s why the American Federation of Teachers has long supported peer assistance and review (PAR) programs, which have been shown to be a highly effective way to foster ongoing professional improvement and growth for teachers.

Peer assistance and review helps new teachers escape the “sink-or-swim” approach that too often mars entry into our profession. It provides guidance and support from accomplished colleagues when teachers struggle to master this highly complex endeavor. It identifies and counsels out those who are not suited to the teaching profession. Following high-quality mentoring, it calls for teachers who fail to meet performance standards to be non-renewed or terminated. And it can help retain teachers who otherwise might be driven out by frustration or isolation.

Peer review can have positive effects on school culture and teacher professionalism. Teachers have a vehicle by which to improve their practice, and to support their colleagues. They own the quality of our profession rather than being told what to do by people who often have no classroom experience, which both hampers quality and breeds resentment. And this highly collaborative process can lead to further cooperation between teachers and school administrators.

Polls of AFT members reveal resounding support for making the quality of what we do top union priorities. The collective bargaining process provides an ideal vehicle for the union and management to put in place the elements of an effective PAR program. The key to strengthening teaching and learning, as we say in the AFT, is implementing reforms “with us, not to us.”

In the United States, half of all teachers leave in the first five years because they lack support or have become frustrated. The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future found that teacher turnover costs the nation $7.34 billion each year through the endless cycle of recruiting, hiring and training new teachers. Implementing PAR programs--with adequate financial support guaranteed through the regular district budget--might seem like a nonstarter in these times of fiscal austerity. But that is penny-wise and pound foolish. The reality is that school systems have a responsibility to invest in high-quality teaching; they can’t afford not to address the educational and economic costs of rampant teacher turnover.

In 1983, then-president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers (CFT) Tom Mooney proposed a peer assistance and review (PAR) program for the district. He saw the model used successfully in Toledo, and he was able to get Cincinnati teachers on board and develop a strong relationship with then-Superintendent Lee Etta Powell. After the program was approved in 1985, support grew from teachers and administration, as well as the public and media.

Cincinnati’s system has been successful and thriving for many years, in part due to its connection with the district’s Teacher Evaluation System (TES). Cincinnati implemented TES in 1997, and it now is a foundation for the PAEP program (peer review system). Both TES and PAEP have been true collaborative efforts between the union and the district. The long-term and jointly supported efforts have been highlights of the district’s work in improving teacher practice and student achievement.

PAEP in Cincinnati utilizes the district’s expert teachers to mentor and evaluate their peers. Consulting Teachers (CTs) and Teacher Evaluators (TEs) in Cincinnati serve three-year terms, typically leaving the classroom to work in a full-time position and returning to the classroom when their term has ended. CTs undergo rigorous and continuous training to provide new teachers and struggling tenured teachers with assistance to help them meet standards and improve their practice.

Throughout the school year, CTs offer teachers intensive support to help them meet the district’s standards. These standards are based on the Charlotte Danielson model and are highlighted in “The Placemat,” a chart that includes strong teaching standards and the rubrics of TES. CTs support their teachers using this rubric, and the alignment between the two systems allows for a great deal of consistency throughout their career in Cincinnati. The CTs prepare evaluative summaries based on their work with teachers to present to a Peer Review Panel with recommendations. The Panel, comprised of union and district administration representatives, uses those recommendations to make employment decisions for participating teachers.

Over the years the Cincinnati PAEP program has been tested, revised, and proven to be an effective process for improving teacher practice. Even with changes in union or district leadership, the systems have continued to move forward and grow. This is a research-based system, and it continues to be a subject of studies to understand how peer assistance can help improve teacher practice. A recent study from Harvard University showed that teachers who perform well in the system have higher rates of student achievement. Residual growth for students is also apparent from this system, with students who have high-performing teachers showing growth over the following five years.

Unfortunately, despite the ongoing collaboration between the union and district that have helped these evaluation systems thrive, outside factors are threatening their success. Ohio SB 316 was signed into state law in June 2012, affecting how teacher evaluations are conducted in the state. The district school board passed a policy requiring student growth measures to account for 50% of teacher evaluations, forcing Cincinnati to restructure its flourishing, successful system. The district has also cut budgets this year on the PAEP program, cutting the number of full-time CTs down to only 4 full-time and 23 teachers in part-time roles trying to fill the entire caseload. Many new hires will not be able to receive assistance by a CT during their first year in a classroom.

Despite the ongoing collaborative efforts between the union and the district, and the research showing that those efforts have made a positive impact on teaching and learning, Cincinnati’s PAEP program and teacher evaluation system are being torn apart. I believe that it is heartbreaking that the district has allowed our proven system (where students learned more in the years after our teachers received a comprehensive evaluation) to be decimated and replaced with a system that does not promote supporting teacher development. These policy changes in the district seem to ignore the research and could greatly impede the improvements that PAEP and TES have made for teachers and students.

The Rochester City School District in collaboration with the Rochester Teachers Association(local union) has had a PAR program in place for 26 years. The Career in Teaching (CIT) Program, is overseen by a joint labor-management governing board with six members selected by the Superintendent and six members selected by the Union President. The goal of the program has always been to retain effective teachers.

Since the program began, the district has had an 88% average retention rate of new teachers. To accomplish this goal, Mentors (Peer Reviewers) receive extensive monthly professional development in peer coaching skills in order to provide effective assessment and feedback of their colleagues. Mentors evaluate their peers using evidence gathered from informal and formal observations. They use the New York State approved Danielson Teachscape Rubric, which includes clear elements on which teachers are evaluated in the following four domains: Planning/Preparation, Classroom Environment, Instruction and Professional Responsibilities. During their forums, through the use of video tapes of colleagues, they practice and discuss their assessments.

The board members review status reports written by the mentors, conduct observations of the mentors, and provide feedback. The relationship with administrators is considered important. Mentors maintain a positive relationship with and a professional distance from Administrators. They balance the administrator’s interest in the teacher’s progress with their obligation to maintain confidentiality. The board reviews the administrator evaluations and the mentor assessment reports. At the end of the year the following data is collected to measure the effectiveness of the program: quantitative data re: the one year and five year retention rate of teachers and qualitative survey data is collected from teachers and administrators re: the effectiveness of the Mentors. Additionally, Mentors complete a self-reflection based on a Rubric of Mentor Skills Traits. More information about the RCSD/RTA PAR program can be found here.