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These are the major topics that we will look at this week. We will look at how a supervisor should approach and deal with an incompetent or marginal teacher.
What constitutes incompetence? Courts have not been inclined to specify standards for evaluating teacher competence. They have, however, defined four broad areas in which unsatisfactory performance might be grounds for dismissal: subject matter, teaching methods, effects on pupils, and personal attitudes. Most dismissal cases of tenured teachers involve multiple sources of failure in addition to other legal grounds for dismissal, such as
Dismissal rarely stems from a single egregious error; rather, termination is most often based on a persistent pattern of mistakes and failures. The key to successfully dismissing a teacher is to provide thorough documentation of the teacher's shortcomings. Principals should put everything in writing: full, detailed records of a teacher's performance; evidence of the specific times and dates of key incidents; and direct, eyewitness reports from outside observers. But is it that easy? According to the Sept. 21, 1998 Investors Business Daily, estimates of the number of incompetent teachers range from a low of 5% to as many as 18% of the 2.6 million total, or between 135,000 and 468,000 bad teachers. New York state Assemblywoman Debra Mazzarelli (http://www.eagleforum.org/educate/1998/dec98/teachers.html) told Investors Business Daily: "Our tenure laws protect ineffective and unmotivated teachers and administrators. Removing a tenured employee from his or her position is so difficult, expensive and time-consuming that, for all intents, it is impossible." How expensive is it? A 1994 study by the New York State School Boards Association found that dismissing a tenured teacher in that state takes an average of 455 days and costs $177,000. If the teacher appeals, costs can approach twice that amount. Preparations for the required due process hearings take as long as six months, during which time suspended teachers in states such as Connecticut receive full salary. In addition, there are costs for substitute teachers and costs for the hearings. The process often ends with the school district either paying off or transferring the bad. But there is another side to dealing with incompetent teachers. Here are the thoughts of American Federation of Teachers President Albert Shanker, "As for hiring and retaining mediocre or incompetent teachers, the principals and the school boards are the main culprits here. The union acts as a kind of defense attorney when a tenured teacher is in trouble--that is its legal responsibility. However, the problems start much earlier. When working conditions or pay are poor, administrators may have to hire people they know are marginal. At the end of the probationary period, which is three years on average, a large majority of probationary teachers end up getting tenure, whether or not they deserve it. Sometimes administrators don't think they can find replacements who'll be any better; sometimes it's just that they hate to fire anybody. Administrators are also the ones who let incompetent teachers with tenure hang on without either trying to help them, or, if it is clear that they will never improve, easing them out or making the case for firing them. Probably the biggest reason administrators don't get rid of poor teachers is that firing someone is an unpleasant thing to do. In the southern states where teachers are not protected by tenure, administrators could fire them much more freely, but there is no evidence that they do. And it doesn't happen much in businesses, either, which is why you find marginal employees who draw their paychecks year after year. Briefly skim these articles:
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