Cameras in Classrooms and the Myth of Video Evaluation
By Justin Baeder on January 27, 2011 12:44 AM
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The Wyoming legislature has proposed a pilot project to video-record teachers without warning for their evaluations, with the teacher, the principal, a parent, and an instructional coach all watching the video and using it as the basis of the teacher's evaluation. Since teachers would not know when the 60-minute video would be taken, and since multiple evaluators would rate the lesson, the rationale is that evaluations would be more reliable and accurate.

Lawmakers seem to be expressing a frustration in principals' current effectiveness in evaluating teachers:

"The system we have now is not working," (Republican state senator and sponsor of the bill L. Ray Peterson) said.

State union head Kathryn Valido feels otherwise, and puts the ball squarely in principals' court, while acknowledging the need for principals to do better:

"No one wants good accountability more than teachers," Valido said. ??If there's a cure-all, it is robust, effective evaluations by people who know how to do them well, she added.?? "The bill would create more problems than it would solve," she said.?

Peterson's proposal is obviously intended to fix a problem with teacher evaluation and performance, but this problem isn't defined. Is it that principals are incapable of observing a lesson and accurately rating its quality? Is it that too many clearly incompetent teachers are rated "satisfactory" year after year? Is it that the dog-and-pony show of prearranged observations doesn't reflect typical instruction?

Regardless, this proposal suffers from the misconception that teaching can be effectively evaluated from a videotape of a single lesson. I agree completely that only observing instruction during prearranged visits doesn't give evaluators a clear picture of typical teaching, but I'm not convinced that video is any better.

It's not clear from the news story how many 60-minute videos would serve as the basis for a teacher's evaluation in a given year, but even if it's dozens, it wouldn't matter. Teaching is a profession that requires both the exercise of skill and the fulfillment of myriad responsibilities, many of which are not evident in a video of a lesson. Communicating with parents, using assessment to inform instruction, contributing to a culture of professional learning and collegiality, and adjusting instruction as a unit unfolds are all parts of good teaching that can't be captured on video.

At worst, the Wyoming proposal would create a system of spycams and evaluations by poorly trained observers using out-of-context footage of lessons. Even at best, though, it reduces excellence in teaching to excellence in presenting material and standing in front of a camera.

I'm among the voices calling for improvement in the evaluation process, but I find nothing in the Wyoming proposal that either clearly identifies or intelligently addresses the problems we currently face.

Pilot program would use cameras in classrooms to evaluate teachers
By Becky Orr
borr@wyomingnews.com
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CHEYENNE -- Cameras would record what goes on in classrooms if lawmakers approve a proposed bill for a teacher evaluation system.

The tapes would be used to evaluate teachers.

The Senate Education Committee voted 4 to 1 Monday to approve Senate File 114 on the first step of the legislative process.

Lawmakers voted along party lines with Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, voting no. Sens. Hank Coe, R-Cody; Kit Jennings, R-Casper; Bill Landen, R-Casper; and Paul Bernard, R-Evanston, supported the proposal.

The bill would become law in July if approved by the Senate and House and is signed by Gov. Matt Mead.

The proposal would set up a pilot program for a statewide enhanced teacher evaluation system.

The current evaluation process occurs between a principal and a teacher, said Sen. L. Ray Peterson, R-Cowley, the bill's sponsor. His bill would add parents and instructional coaches as evaluators.

The measure is one of several education reform bills before the Legislature this session.

Coe said lawmakers are spending an incredible amount of money on education and are not getting results.

The state Department of Education would get about $200,000 from the state's operating account to implement the pilot program.

The state superintendent of public instruction would pick three districts to take part. Those would have to conduct at least one evaluation per semester per teacher.

Crews would install cameras inside glass or plastic bubbles on classroom ceilings to record activities in the classrooms. Teachers would not know when the one-hour recording would occur for their evaluations.

The school's principal, a member of the school's parent group, an instructional coach and the teacher would watch the recording.

The coach, parent and principal would complete an evaluation review form. Officials would use the form to recommend ways teachers could improve and to set goals.

Each district in the pilot would tell the state superintendent about their views of the system.

"This bill hits the bulls-eye," Peterson said.

The system would reward good teachers and weed out poor teachers, he added.

"The system we have now is not working," he said.

The use of the camera is not a "big brother" situation, Peterson said.

But that's what bothers Rothfuss. He questioned whether taping children violates their rights.

"We're dismantling completely any rights of the children," he said.

The bill would open districts for lawsuits, he added.

But others attending the hearing said districts now use videotapes for security purposes in school buses and at schools.

The cameras also could help teachers monitor bullying and cheating or capture problem students, said Sen. Bill Landen, R-Casper.

They could show a mother that her child's behavior is different at school than at home, added Sen. Steve Harshman, R-Casper.

If that's so, the proposal should be called a security bill, not a teacher evaluation measure, said Kathryn Valido, president of the Wyoming Education Association. The WEA is the teachers' union.

The state is updating its Chapter 29 rules for teacher evaluations, she said.

"It mandates the use of student achievement" in those evaluations, Valido said. The Senate bill would be like dropping a bomb in the middle of the rule-making process, she said.

Unannounced visits by principals happen all the time, she said.

"The more a principal visits, the more sense it makes," Valido added.

She objects to having four people involved in evaluations. Instructional coaches and parents aren't trained to evaluate, she said.

Valido also had concerns about the restrictions of the federal privacy act.

"No one wants good accountability more than teachers," Valido said.

If there's a cure-all, it is robust, effective evaluations by people who know how to do them well, she added.

"The bill would create more problems than it would solve," she said.

Harshman, the bill's co-sponsor, said the measure is an effort to tie student achievement to good teaching. It's impossible to do that now because evaluation systems are so subjective, he said.

The proposed bill puts a great deal of focus on teachers, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill said.

She called for a focus on holding principals and superintendents accountable. She said it is a great bill but added the bigger picture is a need to focus on leadership.