EDITOR’S NOTE: With school set to resume soon across North Carolina with thousands of teaching positions still vacant1 and a new pay plan being floated for K-12 teachers, Don Martin, retired superintendent of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, shares his views about the plan.
WINSTON-SALEM (August 10, 2022) – In 2020, the Forsyth County Commissioners asked Forsyth County voters to approve a quarter-cent sales tax that the Commission agreed to dedicate to local teacher pay supplements.
Two years later, the average teacher is receiving approximately $4,000 more in local supplement. As I used to tell new teachers in Forsyth County every year, the preservation of democracy in America depends on the success of teachers.
Teaching has always been challenging work. But today, the effects of poverty, the pandemic, and the current political environment make it even more challenging. I believe teachers must not only be paid more, but be valued.
I’ve reviewed a presentation to the State Board of Education in April on the new NC Pathways to Excellence for Teaching Professionals2 that is being studied by the Professional Educator Preparation and Standards Commission, or PEPSC.
The presentation described the requirements for teachers to achieve each of the seven levels or pathways for teachers. The pathways begin with an apprentice level, move to four license levels, and then conclude with two advanced teaching levels. Teacher compensation improves as teachers move to higher pathways.
I like the big picture, but realize that, as in most complex plans, the devil is always in the details.
In particular, I’m pleased with the recommendation to include student surveys along with principal and teacher observations and EVAAS scores. SAS EVAAS is a tool designed to help educators improve student learning and assess their own effectiveness. It examines the impact of teachers, schools and districts on student learning in specific courses, grades and subjects.
I’m certain these recommendations were based in part on the Measuring Effective Teaching (MET) Study that was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation over 10 years ago.
Independent research teams used data collected from 3,000 teacher volunteers from seven large school districts across the country, one of which was Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
The researchers examined how well student surveys, principal observations and value-added scores (like EVAAS) predicted student performance. The study was completed over three years and final results were released in 2013. The MET study only used data for students enrolled in math and English language arts in grades 4 through 8, Algebra I at the high-school level, biology or its equivalent at the high-school level and English in grade 9.
The finding that surprised me most was that student survey data was more predictive of student performance than either value-added scores or principal observations. Value-added scores were the next most highly predictive, and principals’ observations were the least predictive of the three.
But the best prediction of student performance was the combination of all three measures. Using the three measures generated teacher ratings that were NOT subject to large annual fluctuations like value-added scores can be. In the second year of the study, students were randomly assigned to teachers and results were still very consistent with the first year. It was a very powerful study.3
The Pathways for Excellence plan does not replicate combining EVAAS results, observation data and student surveys together. Typically, at each license level, teachers must meet growth using EVAAS scores. Or they must achieve the observation ratings by the principal and a Level IV+ teacher, and they must meet student survey benchmarks.
This blend gives teachers two options to remain at the same pathway level.
I understand the concerns some legislators and the NC Association of Educators have with the Pathways to Excellence plan.4 If I were a teacher, I would want to examine the student surveys that would be used – particularly any survey proposed for children in grades K-3.
The plan also calls for the development of a second option for teachers in subject areas not evaluated using EVAAS. Teachers in each content area without an EVAAS score must be convinced that the second option represents a fair assessment of their work. Without seeing that instrument or process in action, it is hard to be supportive.
I would also want to see the results of a no-penalty trial run of the Pathways plan (not including the micro-credential portion of each pathway) in a sampling of NC school districts. The trial run would indicate how many teachers in each of the sampled districts met the requirements of each of the pathway levels.
Finally, I think the overall pay plan needs to incorporate annual cost-of-living adjustments so that once implemented, teachers on a particular pathway would receive some additional annual compensation if they remained at that level.
Overall, I’m pleased this conversation is taking place at the state level. I would encourage the State Board and the General Assembly to support early experimentation and data collection.
Armed with preliminary results, questions being raised today can be answered. If the results are good, the plan could begin a phased implementation that would allow for adjustments when unexpected consequences arise, and the cost of the plan would increase more gradually.
Don Martin, retired superintendent of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, has served as a professor in High Point University’s Education Leadership Department and has served as a Forsyth County commissioner for eight years.
1 https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article264342211.html; https://www.wral.com/wake-schools-works-to-fill-teacher-vacancies-with-pay-raises-recruiting-from-within/20389237/; https://journalnow.com/news/local/education/superintendent-not-in-panic-mode-over-staffing-shortage-likely-to-start-school-year-with-98/article_ad4477c4-1843-11ed-8d8d-a3b68281f726.html.
2 North Carolina Pathways to Excellence for Teaching Professionals, Thomas Tomberlin and Andrew Sioberg, NC Department of Public Instruction, April 6, 2022.Full research reports are available at the Measuring Effective Teaching website www.metproject.org.
3 Full research reports are available at the Measuring Effective Teaching website www.metproject.org.
4 https://www.wral.com/ncae-clashes-with-proposed-overhaul-of-teacher-licensure-calls-for-necessary-support-and-resources/20410167/; https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article264325106.html.
Annie Robinson says
WS/FC Schools were re-segregated under Martin’s tenure. I fail too understand how a new teacher placed in a low performing school where 98% of the students are students of color or educably challenged could likely have a performance evaluation comparable to a teacher in a high per capita income majority white student school. Where does the teacher evaluation model account for intellectual capability of students?
D. James says
This is a link to a teac court case that concluded that EEVAS was a “black box” that no one know how it works. The algorithm is secret and proprietary. One incorrect score can throw off the score of an entire district and require thousands of dollars to recalculate. In one case a Huston teacher was rated as one of the very best teachers in the district the next one of the worst.
EEVAS should not be used in teacher ealuations
Jerome says
Interesting.