DISD has been rating teachers with something called a CEI (Classroom Effectiveness Index) for a decade and are thinking about using this index to determine how to distribute $22 million worth of employee bonus money. How original. There are a lot of people that seem to be confused about how a teacher's CEI is determined, but it seems to be some magic formula based on student test scores and fairy dust.
Through a complex statistical analysis, the evaluators say, they can convert student test scores into a number, 1 through 100, that measures a teacher's effectiveness. The district's plan would give bonuses of up to $10,000 to teachers with the best "Classroom Effectiveness Index" ratings, or CEI for short.
"CEIs are sticky wickets," said Aimee Bolender, president of the teachers' group Alliance/AFT. "Neither teachers nor principals understand and can explain CEIs. Teachers cannot independently verify the accuracy of their CEIs. Teachers are ultimately expected to trust their CEIs."
Several years ago, my best friend and I followed our sixth graders to a middle school setting. We left a school that was exemplary every year and moved to a struggling school. Suddenly, the way we viewed success changed. Getting students to smile, turn in assignments, and feel good about themselves became just as important as teaching our subjects. When a student is so depressed that he is unable to communicate, just getting him to say a few words means everything. There were times when I tried all phone numbers available and still couldn't contact parents. We realized that kind words from us might be the only kind words some kids heard all day. Sure, there were students that worked hard, wanted to learn, and topped the charts on test scores. These students were now the exception for us rather than the norm.
Another part to this picture is how students view the state tests. They hate them. I have watched many students fly through the tests, turn them in without checking over their answers, and put their heads down while others continued to work. They just didn't care. Some had even been told by their parents that the teachers were the ones that were being evaluated by the tests, not the students.
The difficult part about something called a CEI is that it is impossible to measure what teachers do all day. Attaching money to test scores? Yuck.