Intimidation or evaluation?

CEO describes teacher evaluations, others say it’s a ‘full out attack’ on teachers

Lorain City Schools teachers have seen more schoolhouse leaders in their classrooms this year, according to the administration.

The observations aim to improve student performance as school turnaround principals and deans give coaching and support to teachers, according to the administration in the February issue of the Titan Touchpoints monthly newsletter.

In the 2018-19 school year, building atmosphere has come up for discussion as some claim administrators are visiting classrooms frequently to intimidate teachers.

In the Jan. 28 Lorain City Schools board of education meeting, board Vice President Tony Dimacchia said the district’s educators do an excellent job.

“This administration has put out a full-out attack on our teachers, the way they’re evaluating them,” Dimacchia said.

The Titan Touchpoints monthly newsletter describes the practice of “instructional rounds.”

It did not mention the school board discussions directly.

But the Titan Touchpoints question-and-answer section includes the query: “Why are teachers being observed several times a day?”

The answer is a two-page

write-up with photos taken by administrators during their classroom visits.

In accordance with The Lorain Promise academic turnaround plan, “the district has implemented a comprehensive professional development initiative aimed at increasing our understanding of what is working in classrooms and providing support and feedback to teachers known as instructional rounds.”

“Last year, 56 percent of Lorain teachers reported that they received regular

feedback and coaching, and we know that this is not enough,” said Chief of Schools LaKimbre Brown.

“We worked to put in specific structures to help teachers feel that they could have access to ongoing coaching and development,” she said in the newsletter. “The purpose of the rounds is to celebrate what is working by highlighting points of pride and support continued growth.”

The administrators engage in “instructional rounds,” making informal

observations “done of a classroom with the goal of collecting evidence on what scholars are learning at any given period,” according to the newsletter.

The newsletter description stated “school leaders look for many things including:”

• What is being taught • What the students are doing

• What the teacher is doing

• At what grade level is the lesson being taught

“The intended result is open communication among colleagues in a constructive way that improves school-wide instruction and student achievement,” the newsletter said.

The article also described how once a month, all turnaround principals and deans of academics meet to discuss instruction.

“The monthly sessions provide guidance and inspiration for leaders to take back to their buildings and apply to their instructional rounds,” the newsletter said.

It included quotations from deans and teachers talking about the effects of instructional rounds.

On Jan. 28, Dimacchia spoke at length about the atmosphere in the school buildings and the experiences of himself and his children with Lorain Schools teachers.

One teacher was visited 10 times in a single day by a dean or administrator, he said.

“If that’s not bullying, I don’t know what bullying is,” Dimacchia said. “There’s a problem here.”