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Discussion in General Education started by Elizabeth09, May 14, 2016.
In Indiana evaluators have a time frame for which they are required to provide teachers with written feedback from their observations. (5days for long observations, 2 for short) Im wondering if theres any type of consequence if feedback is not provided within this time frame?
In my district, the evaluator, usually the P and AP, has 7 calendar days to have a post observation conference with the teacher. If they dont, the teacher can grieve the process and the score can be thrown out. If that happens, the teacher has to be observed again. It has happened in my building; the teacher involved waited to have a late post conference to see what the score was before deciding to file the grievance.
Thank you Tnkinder! I will have to see if my school has the same process. Is that something the teacher does through the school? Or through the DOE? It took over 2 months to get my written feedback and even longer for the post conference and I was not happy with the scores. I felt that with the low marks the principal shouldve met with me within days so I could correct those areas. This is the last week of schooo, so I doubt there will be time to have another observation, but I guess I can always try!
Ive gotten mine back on the last day of school when the observation was months earlier. There probably is a way to file a grievance though.
In Texas, which is not even a union state, the teacher can have the evaluation thrown out if the administrator does not follow the time line. Our teachers would start that process through our districts human resources office.
If administrators do not follow the timeframe outlined in your district policy, you have every right to grieve the process. You cant grieve scores, but the process was not followed so technically you have the right to have your evaluation thrown out and redone. But reality is different. Ask yourself if filing a grievance is going to give you the outcome you want, and if it is worth it. I completely believe that administrators need to be held accountable, especially with teacher evaluations.  The reality is that you will not likely be granted another observation this year. You will need to file a grievance through HR, a legal process will need to be followed, and there frankly isnt enough time in the school year for that to happen. The second issue is that this will most likely look bad for you. Yes, you are in the right and the principal was wrong. BUT....I see from your previous posts you are a first year teacher. Going over the principal and filing a grievance with HR is a big, big deal. I will be honest. I have worked in teacher evaluation for four years. If a first year teacher has an issue with their evaluation, it is usually looked at as the teacher is not open to feedback. I am NOT saying that is fair to you, because its not. If you are returning to the school next year, you are potentially setting yourself up for a bad situation.
If I were you, I would let it go for now. Have a conversation during your first observation next year. Stress the point that you really want feedback to grow and improve, and be really firm about getting feedback in a timely manner. It blows my mind that principals allow this to happen, knowing they have severe consequences for not following procedure. Its not fair to you, and its not right, but I dont think you will get the outcome you want if you take this issue further. Just my opinion and experience with evaluation. Sorry this happened to you!
Thank you Kat53. I have already put in my resignation and will not be returning to this school next year. Im worried I may have trouble finding a position somewhere else with the bad marks from this evaluation. Sadly, Im not the only teacher this happened to and its a shame the principals arent held more accountable.
It is a shame. And its a problem that is avoidable- just follow your district policies! A lot of the schools I work for really hold principals accountable for following HR policies, but I know thats not the way it is in most districts. Are you using your current principal as a reference? In my area, teachers generally do not have to divulge their previous evaluations as part of of the interview process, so this evaluation might not be a big deal (even though it feels crappy). Im not familiar with how it works in other parts of the country.
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