Episode 22: Assignment, Transfer, and Vacancy

Krista and Jeri continue the conversation on assignment, transfer, and vacancy with emphasis on itinerants. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Hello, welcome to REA Union Voices. I'm Krista and I'm Jeremy. And we're the president and vice president of the Richland Education Association. Well, I guess that they can know. We're recording these back to back at the same time, but the first one I was excited because I would have been at my training. And hopefully when everybody listens to this, my flights all went well and I have returned home.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

I think this one will come out the day after President's Day.

SPEAKER_00 0:36

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

So people, maybe everybody will be nice and relaxed from the when they'll listen to it.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

From the weekend. From the three-day weekend.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Yeah, from the three-day weekend. That was always nice. So yeah, you know, one thing I do have to say, Jerry, is I'm sad that you're no longer on the teachers' bowling league.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

I I'm really sad I'm no longer on the teachers bowling league. But let me tell you having kiddos in sports is a whole new experience for me. And I don't think I could put one more thing on my plate.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

I know, I know. I think about that too. Last week I didn't bowl because we have four people on our team. Oh, so you can bowl. So yeah, so we're kind of rotating through. And so um Jim, my husband, who's now retired, he went and pre-bowled so we could go up to Spokane to see the Lion King. Right. I've that's my third time seeing it. That was great. But I'm excited I get to bowl tomorrow, but then I will have missed, I will miss the one next week, which would have been last Friday before this weekend. It's weird. It's you know, that's the Oh yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

I need to come down though just to hang out. But yeah. I know I miss everybody and yeah, you left.

SPEAKER_01 1:45

Oh, I know. Yeah. Oh, that's right. Yeah, that's right. Okay.

unknown 1:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

It's not their fault. Well, yeah, no, I just I wanted to bring that up. So yeah, Teachers Bowling League on Fridays. I probably shouldn't say it so we can get you back. We don't want you to have to compete with another team. But yeah, it's that's a lot of fun. It's a nice way to spend a Friday. Yeah. But let's go ahead and get into this. I think we were talking about um Article 5, which is evaluation and probation for TPEP. And remember, that's the teacher-principal evaluation program with the eight state criteria that teachers have to be evaluated on. Um so if you're a classroom teacher or a teacher who sees students on a regular basis and is educating them and assessing. You get to be on TPEP.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

Yes. And I like how you say you get to be on TPAP. Yeah. It's such a pleasure.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

It is a pleasure. It's, you know, it's evaluation is always so much fun. Yeah. You know, so um, but yeah, but in any case, I know last week we kind of talked about some of the um, I think procedural, well, not the procedural components, but just that your evaluator needs to be qualified.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

Um the dates when you need to know like whether you're on focused or comprehensive.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Yeah. September 15th is the date that you um are made aware of who your evaluator is and what um whether you're on focused or comprehensive. Um yeah. And so, and then we also talked about how when you're on comprehensive, you are scored on the eight state evaluation criteria, and then you also get a student growth goal score that come together to um to become your summative or whatever they call it, your final TPEP. And whatever score you get, whether it be, well, hopefully it's distinguished or proficient, because later on we'll get to what happens if you're basic or unsatisfactory. But remember, when you are on comprehensive, if you get a distinguished or proficient, that score then follows you for the next five years while you're on your focused TPEP, where you only have to choose one goal and work towards meeting that goal. Um and if you were scored proficient, you can increase your score to distinguished, but you can't drop down.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

Right, which is kind of nice. But like you said before, that way you're you're feeling safe to set really high goals and work to achieve those.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

And I remember one year, I mean it was a kind of a weird story. Our my grade level team got kind of upset because we would always pick whatever number eight is, state criteria eight, which is the collaborative and collegial practices. Okay, so yeah, working with RPLC. And I remember our administrators were going over TPEP and everything, and they're like, This year we would like to see teachers move away from picking eight. It seems like everybody always picks eight. And our team looked at each other and went, What? And so this was around the time that some schools were piloting the new student growth goals.

SPEAKER_00 5:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

And so somehow we all researched that, figured out a goal for eight. We did not pick a different criterion. We picked eight still, but we really did set our goal to try to meet the new standards for student growth. And we wrote it in such a way that there was no way our principal could. We just went around. Well, we've been doing research on the OSPI website, and we chose this goal because of this and this, and the purpose of it is to for us to set a high-caliber goal and we think we have one, and they're just like, okay. And then our team went and and did your thing. We did fine, you know. But yeah. So uh this time around, we were gonna get started. It's on page 27, which are essentially the procedural components. So the big one, September 15th, you get notified whether you're on focused or comprehensive. But then what happens on the first Friday in December, Jerry? Um, you need to have your student growth goal. So, yeah, you set a student growth goal. Um, and Jerry was talking about it. And if you didn't listen to the last um episode, that like through WEA they have TPEP classes and how to set student growth goals. But yeah, you set your goal, you turn in your goal to your principal by Friday, um, the first Friday in December. Um, and that doesn't mean that your principal isn't necessarily gonna come in and start observing you before that, because there's a lot of things that they can certain can um observe even if you don't have a goal set yet. But you do get a little bit more time now to actually set your goal. And one thing we'll get into probably in here is um the the purpose is to pick a unit of study. It doesn't have to be a unit, oh yeah, but most of the time you're gonna pick a unit. And so if you pick one during the first semester or first trimester, um, and it doesn't go well. We also have language in the contract whereby I think the first Friday in February you can submit an additional, a different growth goal.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

Yeah, so you have an opportunity for a do-over, which really does show that you're working to yeah, or you can keep the same goal and just use a different unit if you're like, oh, this one didn't work, this would be better.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

Which yeah, and I know, you know, with with regard to the unit, um, I can see though, with maybe a kindergarten or a first grade teacher, if you're setting fluency as a goal, you don't really teach fluency through a unit. I mean, it might still be, you know, you it might not be an actual unit. So I can see circumstances where what you're working on with students doesn't lend itself to a specific unit of study.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

It might just be a time frame.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

Yeah. For the next three months, I'm gonna really be working on fluency and this, these are the things I'm gonna do, and I want the students to you know demonstrate their growth. Right. Um, we talked about the artifact and and evidence, and it does say it will be the responsibility of the evaluator to collect artifacts and evidence, but you you can submit that yourself as well.

SPEAKER_00 8:32

It just says, yeah, the evidence provided by the teacher will be utilized in determining the final evaluation score. So when you will have those conversations and your principal's like, oh, I didn't see this or that, you can be like, Oh, I got it, here it is, and you know, share that with them.

SPEAKER_01 8:45

Yeah, and then one thing that's really important where it talks about record keeping, um, it does say the district will adhere to the following. So they'll keep a copy of the final um framework rubric, your own written comments if you provide them, and forms will be included in the teacher's personnel file. So your evaluation does go into your personnel file, your final evaluation, not necessarily every single thing you submit. Um it does talk about evaluators will share any collected evidence with the teacher within five contract days and allow teachers to add comments or additional evidence. So things shouldn't be going into your TPEP or your evaluation without you knowing it. Right. There shouldn't be any surprises. Um, teachers will not be required to share self-assessment information. Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

Because sometimes admin will send that out just for your own information or for you to use, but it's yeah, you don't have to, it has nothing to do with it.

SPEAKER_01 9:50

We've had some situations, yeah. An admin has it's it's one thing for an admin to give you a tool. And if it's given to you, it's like, hey, if you want to use this just for your yourself, yeah, I'm not gonna ask you about it. You know, you're welcome to share it with me if you want. I don't really care. You know, they can send you tools, but they can't require you, hey, fill this out before your evaluation meeting. Right. Because it's not required. Give me a break. Um, any and all data kept for evaluation will be considered confidential and not the subject to public disclosure except to the extent required by law. So, really, if a parent asks for your, hey, I would like uh copies of the teacher's evaluation, they don't have to provide that. I assume where it says the extent required by law. I don't want to scare people because I don't think this has ever happened. If there was some sort of a legal proceedings happening in the district, then I would think that that might be what that's talking about. But essentially, your evaluation is for you, your administrator, and HR. Yeah. Other people don't need to. And I even believe, too, when they send out information to principals, like where when HR sends, um, for example, hey, here's where everybody is in their TPEP, whether they're focused or distinguished. Um, I don't believe they send, they don't send copies of like the evaluation.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

No, it's just a list.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

Yeah, your principal doesn't get to go, oh, Jerry Morrow's coming to my school. I want to go look at those to see, did I get a lemon or did I get a diamond?

SPEAKER_00 11:34

Maybe a diamond in the rough.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

There you go. That's what they would get. Um this next one is super important too. In the event electronic means are used for record keeping, teachers will have access to the electronic record system at such time as it is agreed to by the parties. Um, the necessary equipment needed to use any adopted electronic system will be provided by the district for each affected employee. So your principal can't come in and video record or audio record. Now you and your principal can decide that you know you'd like to do that. Um I don't know if a lot of people do. I do know, I mean, this was long before TPEP, but the one year when I was doing my national board certification and I had I had my little 15-minute video, and I decided I wanted to kill two birds with one stone. And I said, Hey, can I just come in? I said, You're welcome to come and observe my class at any time, but for my evaluation, can I submit my video and we can watch it together and you can provide me with feedback so I could have that feedback to actually use in my um my write-up on it. So there might be times where a teacher might go, Yeah, hey, I do want to record a video. And that can be very powerful, but they can't do it without your knowledge. Your knowledge or your permission. Yeah. Um, yeah, and it does get into electronic monitoring too. All observations will be conducted openly, mechanical or electronic devices will not be used to listen or to record the procedures for any class without the prior knowledge and consent of the teacher.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

So I know like when they do their um take their notes on the iPads or whatever, then we get a copy of it. Yeah. Yeah, just I mean, like boom, when they leave.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

Like it's like in your now it's probably just being emailed out. Yeah. But yeah, I used to go and I'd always run down to get my check my mail. Um, and then it also talks about having an additional alternate observer. Um, sometimes we do have teachers who come forward and they're like, I don't trust my principal or I don't think they like me. I want an alternate, alternate observer. You know, I don't, I would like a different evaluator. And the district does not have to honor that. Right. Um, but if there is a reasonable belief by the employee that they cannot receive a fair, unbiased evaluation with their assigned evaluator, a second observer mutually agreed to by the association and the district will be assigned, assigned. But again, it doesn't mean that just because just because you think they don't like you that you get to pick somebody else.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

That doesn't happen.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

Yeah. Yeah. And then we get into um yeah, the comprehensive evaluation process. You submit your goals, you have a pre-observation conference where you're really kind of talking about those goals and setting. Yeah, now you just had an observation, didn't you, Jerry? I did. Yeah, so how'd that go? I think it went, I think it went well. And now when you have your like when you have your observation, did the principal just pop in or did you know?

SPEAKER_00 14:49

No, they she said, you know, when it'd be a good time, what class period, and then what's what small group am I working with? Um so yeah, she came in and just was there for the whole period. So 55 minutes.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

And every principal I've had has always done that. Uh you know, I I think that's the best way. I think for me it's because I'm in the portable.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

They don't they don't pop in very often up there.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

Yeah, and so um what does it say here? So for a formal observation, you'll have at least one pre-arranged formal observation conducted within the first 90 contract days unless there's extenuating circumstances. The total annual observation time cannot be less than 60 minutes. Um you can have at least one formal observation of no less than 30 minutes, and then the remainder of the 60 minutes can be comprised of drop-in observations, but they should not be less than 10 minutes. Right.

SPEAKER_00 15:48

And why why is that, Jerry? Just so they don't walk in in the middle of a transition and be like, oh, this class is out of control or you have no classroom management. You know, gives them a chance to see some teaching going on.

SPEAKER_01 15:59

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

Because we transition.

SPEAKER_01 16:03

And and remember too, this is if when you're on comprehensive. You're still evaluated when you're on focused.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

But um it's and and when you get and we get to the focused, I mean, we probably won't even really go into it that much because when it talks about the focused evaluation, I know it does talk about how you follow the same procedures. It's just the whole way your evaluation in the end is um summarized or whatever scores that you're getting. Right. You know, the it's always I I feel every time I'm evaluated, it's stressful.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

This is my 30th year and it is still stressful. Like you don't sleep the night before, you know, you're thinking about like, oh, what can I do? What could I do? Even though you know what you're gonna do. And then it happens and you're sweating, it just is, and then it's done, and you're like, all right, it's over and I'm fine.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

Well, and you know, and you know, I mean, in in most uh circumstances, I think you know that your principal knows that you're a a good teacher. Yeah, they have confidence in you. I it's like it's like you're living the before school dreams. Yes. That you know, something is gonna go wrong, and like my like Jerry said, I've been teaching for 30 years, I've always done really well, but somehow this is gonna be the moment where my principal finds out that I'm no good.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

Well, no, last year I had a link that was supposed to be my kids are supposed to be using, and the link no longer worked. I had just used it the day before and then it like disappeared. Oh my god. So I had to like completely switch keywords. And then you're like, hold on a second. Yeah, it was bad.

SPEAKER_01 17:37

Well, and sometimes that too can just show what a great teacher you are, the flexibility. Oh yeah, being able to like, okay, now we're doing it this way. Oh, that link didn't work, so okay, but I'm ready to go. Right.

SPEAKER_00 17:48

But it doesn't make you feel any better.

SPEAKER_01 17:50

No. No. Um, what does this say? An employee in the third year will be observed at least three times in the performance of his or her duty. So when you're in your three years of provision provisional status, you are gonna be observed more often and more times.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

Which is actually really helpful when you're new when you're a newer teacher.

SPEAKER_01 18:13

Yeah, you're supposed to be notified at least 48 hours prior to a formal observation. And it shouldn't take place the first week of the school year. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 18:23

Could you imagine?

SPEAKER_01 18:24

Yeah, you know, um, it talks about the evaluator will document the formal observation using the negotiated form. Um, that would be the TPEP forms. That's why Jerry said that her principal um our assistant principal codes right on the actual TPEP form. Um and yeah, teachers are provided opportunities to submit additional evidence. And I know we talked about this with the non-TPEP people, and it's the same with TPEP. Any criteria of concern on an initial observation report will become a focus for subsequent observations. And if you agree, you and your principal can put together a plan of support, which is different than when we get to probation.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

Yes, this is ways they can support you in bettering whatever that concern was.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

Exactly. Like, okay, this didn't go so well. Maybe it's something that has to do with classroom management, or maybe I think And it might just be going to watch another teacher and the way they do something.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

I mean, it doesn't have to be a big deal, but and your principal should support you and help you to get maybe release time or you know, set up a time for somebody else to come in and observe you. Right. You know, it shouldn't be all about you. And that's okay. You know, Joe, uh it's it is all about you, but not in the sense that, you know, hey, you're not doing so well, go figure it out. It's like, well, if I if I could figure it out, it's not all on you. Exactly. They're there to support you. There you go, that's probably. And um and again, if there's any adverse comments that are made, um, you have the right to be able to know what those comments are. Um, you have the right to be able to write a rebuttal, or if you really think they are without basis, then you can reach out to your building rep, or you can reach out to Jerry or me, and we can, you know, help address that. Doesn't always mean that you're going to be right. Your principal may have plenty of evidence to support the comment, um, but they also might not. Right. You know.

SPEAKER_00 20:35

And it it's a learning process for some, you know, for a lot of them, it's just a learning process.

SPEAKER_01 20:40

Yeah. Your evaluator is responsible for observing you in a variety of circumstances. Um, it should be direct observation, not what somebody else is saying.

SPEAKER_00 20:50

I love that. That's really important. It can't be, I heard this and it's gonna go on your evaluation. It has to be I observed it.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

Yeah, now if yeah, if somebody complains about you and that maybe prompts the principal to come down a little bit more, right? You know, uh, and then they see it for their own eyes. Right, you know, but yeah, it can't be like, you know, I don't get to go down there and tell your principal, Jerry, oh, I wasn't, I was in Mrs. Morrow's room and I saw her do this. And then, well, Miss Calvin said that you're not you're not posting your learning targets, Jerry.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

Or it just shows up on my evaluation. Yeah. That, oh, I don't post my learning targets. And I'm like, wait a minute, you were in my room, I had my learning target. Where'd you hear that?

SPEAKER_01 21:33

The other, yeah, another thing that's like really important also is that it is recognized that various factors not directly related to instructional skill may influence the certificated employee's effectiveness, such as workload. If you have a severely overloaded class and adequacy of supplies and equipment. So, yeah, you're supposed to be teaching a computer science class and they don't give you, they give you computers that are 20 years old.

SPEAKER_00 22:01

Or not enough. So kids are sharing and that's just creating a different dynamic.

SPEAKER_01 22:05

I mean, seriously, like you're like what you said with the technology. You had a link, you checked the link the day before, and now all of a sudden the link doesn't work. Right. That's not because you were because I'm a bad teacher. Negligent. Yeah. Or the internet's down that day. Oh my gosh. Yeah. You know, physical facilities. We have plenty of people who may not have adequate space. Um, preparation time for the employee, administrative support, um, responsibility for exceptional pupils, and then unique situations. So, I mean, your principal probably shouldn't be coming in on, you know, if you're well, probably any any grade level, Valentine's Day, or assemblies, or pep rally days, or any of those.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

Yeah, the day before the break. First day of snow.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

Yeah. All those things that and so um, yeah, and following your observation, you should get an observation report within five contract days documenting, you know, what your administrator saw. Um, they will schedule a post-observation conference also within five contract days. It does say that electronic communication satisfies this meeting. Um, if you are on comprehensive though, I would encourage you to actually go and meet so you can have the conversation with your principal just because they can get a lot more for all of the eight criteria.

SPEAKER_00 23:34

Yeah, talking to you.

SPEAKER_01 23:35

Um, you know, if you're on focused, then it's probably not as big of a deal.

SPEAKER_00 23:40

Yeah, I don't think I've ever just done an email one or online. I've always had at least a quick follow-up.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

I've always, yeah, I never have either. I've never really had principals who've who've tried that. I didn't really know, yeah. Yeah, what but pick a time and come meet with me. Yeah. You know, but I do know I've heard of some people who, oh yeah, my principal never meets with me, and I just get my evaluation at the end of the year. And I guess if every, you know.

SPEAKER_00 24:04

As long as everything's good, that's yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

And if it's not good, then your principal actually is that compliance, it's on them. But if they did send you, um, you know, if they are sending you an email saying, hey, um, did you want to meet? You know, we're supposed to meet in five days, this can serve as the record, or um, you can and and you ignore it and don't look at it, and something was written on that report. Right. And the principal, if the principal can show that, hey, I asked them, I told them that they needed to I sent them a copy of it, but they didn't, yeah, yeah, then that that might be a concern. Yeah. So yeah, and then just informal observations, you know, can consist of drop-ins, walkthroughs. With TPEP, the cool thing is, um what I would say that an actual drop-in observation should be no less than the 10 minutes. But a principal may see something that is less than 10 minutes that's really cool. And they can go, you know, if it's in your favor, then I don't think we're gonna argue.

SPEAKER_00 25:13

No. They weren't in there for 10 minutes. I got a really good evaluation.

SPEAKER_01 25:16

Yeah. And then you have your final summative evaluation conference. Um, you'll receive your summative score. If it's projected to be less than proficient, the evaluator and teacher will meet to discuss the teacher's final projected summative score no later than May 15th. But again, that is only saying if it's projected to be less than proficient. If it's proficient or distinguished, I mean I've had my evaluation meeting on the last day of school. Yeah. Or the day before. The last week of school, you're like, ah. Yeah. Um scores are supposed to be objectively based on evidence. Um the association will be notified for people who get scores below proficient. And you basically you sign two copies of it. One for me and one for the principal. Yeah. And, you know, in the next section, we're not gonna go too deep into it because it does basically say for focused, that's when you choose one goal. And the important thing to remember, if you're looking at the cell 5D, um, I think it's whatever, criterion three.

SPEAKER_00 26:27

Three, six, and eight.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

Three, six, and eight. Three recognizing individual student learning needs and developing strategies to address those needs. Um, six was using multiple data elements to modify instruction and improve student learning. And then eight is um your ELC. Yeah, collaborative and collegial practices. You have to choose one of those goals. You can choose a different goal, but if you choose like number one, centering instruction on high expectations, that's fine. But you're also gonna have to choose three, six, or eight. Yes. So you might as well just choose three, six, or eight. Right. So you still choose a goal, you set your goal. It does say the focused evaluation um is used after the the teacher has received the comprehensive evaluation. Um, I know it does say in here that it just follows the same.

SPEAKER_00 27:23

Yeah, it's basically the same.

SPEAKER_01 27:24

Yeah, it's just it follows the same process.

SPEAKER_00 27:27

They're gonna come in, they're gonna observe, they're gonna write stuff up. You do you do the pre-comprehensive?

SPEAKER_01 27:36

Yeah, I'm trying to find where it says that. I know it does. I'm positive it says it in here, but I don't want to waste everybody's time.

SPEAKER_00 27:43

Um follow the process set forth in section S procedural components evaluation evaluation and section G, comprehensive evaluation process.

SPEAKER_01 27:52

So yeah, so the way they come and observe and do all of that is the same. Um now, if at the beginning of the year, before November 15th, if your principal comes in and they start observing you or they see something that may be of concern, um, your principal or you, if you want to do this, I don't know why you would, but if you have moved from comprehensive to focus and your principal feels that uh, you know, maybe I need to put you back on comprehensive. I want to go a little bit deeper into this, they can they can move you back to comprehensive, but they have to notify you by November 15th. It does say it needs to be in writing, um, and they need to provide the reason. But unless the reason we did have uh a situation where principals were moving people back to comprehensive for um to make life a little easier for the principal, that we were able to mitigate that, but essentially your principal can move you back if they which didn't make sense if they said we're moving them back to make it easier when they moved him back to comprehensive.

SPEAKER_00 29:06

Exactly. Wait a minute, the person was on focus. That would have been the easier. But they can do that if there's a legitimate, if they can share a legitimate concern or something they like to focus on.

SPEAKER_01 29:18

And yeah, and that's part of the law as well. The principal has the right to look at an employee and decide, you know, I I really just need to get a better look.

SPEAKER_00 29:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:30

And, you know, move through the the whole process. And I think we're gonna go ahead and stop right there. When we um come back, we will finish up with talking about provisional employees and probation. The good news is we are definitely past the February 1st date. So um nobody should be put on probation right now. Yeah, yeah. But now we just have to make it through to the May 15th date without people being marked less than provision. So keep going. You can do it. Yay. Um, but yeah, well, I hope everybody has a great week. And we'll we'll be back next week. We will. Oh, in union there is strength.