There’s been a lot of back and forth of late between The Washington Teachers’ Union and DCPS about a policy commonly called a 90-day plan. Some within the union have accused Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee of using 90-day plans as a means of targeting older teachers for dismissal. The Washington Post’s Bill Turque reported that Rhee spokesperson Dena Iverson denies any age discrimination, arguing that the average age of DCPS teachers who Rhee has placed on 90-day probations is similar to the average age of the total teaching corps (Turque puts that age in the mid-40s.)
Unfortunately, the actual nature of 90-day plans have been misrepresented somewhat in recent media coverage. The 90-day probation policy is not new to DCPS, but an existing, little-used method of putting low-performing teachers on a schedule of probation and mentoring, based on their annual performance evaluations. Teachers are currently evaluated by the PPEP (Professional Performance Evaluation Process), a paperwork-rich, WTU-approved measure of assessment. (Read the whole thing [PDF]. Perhaps D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson should also take a look!)
The reason 90-day plans have traditionally been little-used is because they include 23 different steps and levels of documentation before a teacher can be terminated. Some teachers have protested that they were terminated or placed on probation without proper notification or documentation provided by their principals, which has fueled the accusations of unfair targeting. DCPS has refused to release the names of teachers placed on 90-day plans without the consent of the teachers themselves.
On Monday, Rhee told DCist that there were plans to address administrator accountability in implementing the 90 day plans correctly, and called the current situation “problematic.” She also described a new teacher assessment system that is being designed to launch next fall. “We’ve had really positive feedback from teachers that are involved in the planning process,” Rhee said, also noting that in a departure from the PPEP, the new system will include different assessment measures for different subjects and grade levels.
Schools Notes: It looks like Rhee and Sacramento Mayor/former NBA player Kevin Johnson are definitely a couple…The new DC Teacher Chic takes issue with Obama’s language on DCPS… Props to the WTU on their new, much-improved web site…The last of the Chancellor’s community forums on proposed changes to student discipline will be held next Wednesday, January 28 from 6-8 p.m. at Sousa Middle School (3650 Ely Place SE). Copies of the proposed changes can be found here.
