Wednesday, November 11, 2020

UFT SOLIDARITY WRITES LETTER TO MULGREW URGING OPPOSITION TO REMOTE DANIELSON

Dear Mr. Mulgrew:

It has come to our attention that principals across the NYC DOE have been distributing a new framework of Danielson for evaluation of pedagogues. Since IPCs have not been happening we find this very troubling. The Danielson Framework for teacher evaluation is part of State Education Law, the new framework which adds on additional components for evaluation is UNLAWFUL and INSIDIOUS.

We seek to demand that the UFT reject any framework or rubric that purports to measure teacher effectiveness in a remote setting. There is no sound basis in theory or practice for using one, and to say that there are known “best practices” for remote learning when it hasn’t been developed and practiced for a full year, and only under the extenuating circumstances of a pandemic, is inappropriate and needlessly adds to the stress and confusion that teachers are already under in these unprecedented times. Most building administrators have no experience in teaching or evaluating teaching in an online setting. Any framework or rubric that purports to accurately gauge teacher effectiveness in an online setting cannot possibly be based on pedagogical research because such research simply does not yet exist for this scenario.

Adding an arbitrary, untested framework/rubric to an already confusing mix of ever-changing DOE directives regarding online schooling,  will do nothing but cause confusion and add stress for all stakeholders. There is no sound pedagogical reason for doing so, and any idea that this absurd practice will in any way support or help teachers is completely misleading and disingenuous.

The UFT has been silent on this. We need you to take a firm stance in opposition to this unsound and damaging proposal.


Best,

The UFT Solidarity Caucus 

31 comments:

  1. The stupidity just doesn't end. Danielson studied classrooms for years. Did she study online remote learning for years too? Sense and the doe just don't mix.

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  2. Danielson was a dog and pony show in the building it will be a smoke and mirror illusion remotely. Who thinks these things up ?

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  3. Why are teachers taking these constant betrayals from their employees, the UFT. You wouldn’t allow a waiter, or anyone you are paying for a service, to treat you like this, so why the UFT? Hasn’t Mulgrew shit on your dinner plate enough to get you angry? Stop going in en masse. Tell Mulgrew he’s supposed to be working for you. Each school should get together as one unit and say no. The whole thing is a farce - open windows with more squirrels and pigeons than students, umbrellas to protect the computers and staff and students wrapped in blankets like the passengers of the Titanic waiting for rescue! Ridiculous! Teachers had better get used to standing up for themselves because nothing is going back to the way it was. If Mulgrew isn’t forced to do his job then prepare yourself for another career, no matter how many years you have in. Rainy weather tomorrow, don’t forget your ponchos as you walk inside your classroom.

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  4. How does a student get a 91 in her English class but is unable to write an essay in my class?

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  5. My admin are going around virtually seeing virtual rooms daily with the remote framework. Every mini meeting mentions another component. And when asked when the city and union agreed to this framework, we are told it doesn’t count, we are just giving feedback...

    I don’t know but feedback, implies that it’s being written down somewhere, and will count for something.

    Part of me thinks the aps of the doe have absolutely nothing to do, and are now looking for ways to justify their salary’s in a remote world.

    And fear not, the uft chapter leader is on board.

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  6. Until Danielson can come up with a Domain 5–‘Best Practices For Remote Learning’—then it’s useless under that setting—not to mention that the other 4 Domains were anything worthwhile in the first place.

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  7. The mayor is sending you into infected buildings because in person learning is crucial. That is why students can no show and pass. That is why the buildings are empty. That is why attendance is even awful in remote learning. Don't forget your mask, jacket, scarf and gloves today. Also, smile at the $62 being taken out of your check.

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  8. Here are some interesting articles on the topic of Danielson:

    https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2011/10/charlottes-web-beatdown-goes-on.html

    www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/03/25/helping-educators-overcome-initiative-fatigue.html

    https://tedmorrissey.wordpress.com/2014/03/23/fatal-flaws-of-the-danielson-framework

    https://tedmorrissey.wordpress.com/2016/04/27/danielson-framework-criticized-by-charlotte-danielson

    https://tedmorrissey.wordpress.com/2017/04/13/the-paradox-of-uniformity

    https://dianeravitch.net/2013/06/15/alan-singer-who-is-charlotte-danielson

    www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/who-is-charlotte-danielso_b_3415034.html

    www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/teachers-evaluate-their-e_b_4669443.html

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  9. Hahaha sheep accept being sent in to die and people still hold out hope that the same sheep will revolt over Danielson. Ain’t gonna happen. Teachers are Diblasio’s bitch. Accept it. You guys are screaming into the wind. We can’t have a “real” union because we don’t have real union members. We have scared sheep instead.

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  10. Mulgrew's stupidity is very, very great.

    He will absolutely agree to remote Danielson because that is what he does.
    which is different from the propaganda that he delivers on a regular basis.

    He want us to think "We are in this together!", which is complete bullshit to him.

    Mulgrew is in it for himself only. That is what he does!

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  11. Let me be clear. Most teachers in my school are not doing any live instruction. They are simply posting assignments on Google classroom, not having class during class time and are marking students present as long as they check in any time within a 24 hour period.

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  12. Good morning,

    Joe here,

    My high school principal called me and told me he wanted to retroactively make me valedictorian because I had good integrity and attendance.

    Anyway, just woke up, thinking about all the DOE fraud. Students decided to not attend my live class meeting so figured I could chat on here. I'm lonely.
    I cant wait for teachers to start posting pics on Twitter of rain coming into their classrooms because they need ventilation. Don't forget the hats, gloves, scarves, parkas, masks and that lesson plan. I wonder what the $300k uft president is doing today. What subway is he taking? What students will he be around? It is flu season. Watch out for those sneezes and runny noses.

    I heard they are gonna start observing us on the computer. Lol. I have stack of fraud I will immediately email the NY Post. I've out my ckmplaints in writing to my principal. She doesn't even respond.

    Remember, attendance doesn't matter but live instruction is everything. If you can figure out what that means, you are a better man than me.

    Boy, pretty wet out there, no golf today. Probably can't even take a walk. I guess I can take solace in the fact that I'm not contributing to a corrupt union. Remember, James wants you to keep paying so you can make a change. Let me know when that change is coming while I tawn. Oh, and as I watch the neverending complaints roll in on this blog by people who refuse to walk out, opt out or decertify. After a while, you will realize that your best weapon is to embarrass the DOE and your principal. Just keep copies of student work and show everyone in the media. "This is a high school graduate." Sad!

    Take care, stat safe, stat dry, stay warm....Mulgrew, Carranza and de Blasio are...covid is surging.

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  13. Doesn't the state have to come out with some guidelines first?

    Then the city and union agree to their own deal.

    Nerd

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  14. Joe again,

    BREAKING: Detroit schools halt face-to-face learning because of COVID-19

    Remember, the uft is endangering you and your family.

    Back to watching Skip and Shannon talk sports. They talk Tom Brady everyday.

    Market down today.

    Back to bed.

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  15. Dear
    @NYCMayor
    &
    @DOEChancellor
    , the staff in my #D75 school have gone thru random testing 2x. Our kids have yet to be tested. What gives???
    @MarkTreyger718

    @UFT

    @NYCSpeakerCoJo

    @d75council

    @TeacherArthurG

    @AGZimmerman

    @JumaaneWilliams

    @bradhoylman

    @CarolynBMaloney

    @MarkLevineNYC

    ReplyDelete
  16. Joe again,

    The mayor is now speaking about how bad covid is...While sending everybody to school.

    LOL.

    Thanks to the uft for the most robust testing and tracing program in the country.

    So we know we are safe.

    Keep paying dues.

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  17. They should just use the students' temperatures as grades. They'd all get 90s and maybe even 100s.

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  18. Why do students have my PE class remotely, twice? The same exact class with the same exact assignments...2 credits for doing the written work once then copying it into the other google classroom...No physical activities, they won't turn the camera on.

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  19. Joe here,

    I hope the uft president is watching...

    This is shocking. The spread is catastrophic.

    Governor Phil Murphy
    @GovMurphy
    The statewide positivity rate for all tests recorded on November 8th was 12.02%.

    The statewide rate of transmission is currently 1.3

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  20. To a man with a hammer everything looks like a nail. The Law of Instruments or the Law of the Hammer implies that we have a cognitive bias; humans tend to use familiar tools even when they are not appropriate or even useful for the action taken or the end in view.

    The rubric, Danielson's rubric or any other rubric, is a tool, that, like a hammer, is now the dominant tool in the assessment or evaluation toolbox. And it is being used to do work it was never engineered, designed, or fabricated to do, so that, like a hammer misused, say, to perform a delicate surgery on the brain, it is doing more harm than good.

    The Peter Principle states that, if one performs well in a job, she will be promoted to the next level and will continue to rise up the ladder until she reaches the point where she can no longer perform well.

    We all know that DOE promotes people to the level of incompetency. We also know that Admins are promoted by applying the Law of Instruments or the Law of the Hammer to everything and everyone. So not only do that abuse the Danielson Rubric, but train neophyte teachers to use and abuse rubrics and coerce seasoned teachers to use and abuse rubrics. Now, rubrics have a use and a place, and some nephrites, novices and master instructors may make excellent use of the rubric tool, but this isn't always because they know, especially the newbies what they are doing.

    What is a rubric and what is useful for? How should this tool be used?

    As we all know, the author and creator of the Danielson Rubric opposes its use and abuse for teacher evolutions.

    Why?

    Rubric means red. And the church used rubrics to form, as in formative assessment, its unseasoned clergy. The text, often at the top or in the margins is red because the novice priest or novitiate performing the holy rituals of the mass, speaking the words of the God, must be formed, shaped, guided by the text strictly and instructively, step by step, during the holy and sacred act of conducting a mass. It is not a summative tool, not an evaluative tool, but a guide for developing new members of the profession.

    In most classrooms, for students, a rubric is little more than numbers and grades. Even when students are involved in constructing rubrics they usually numbers with meaningless phrases that correspond with numbers. Notice, for example, how often a score of 5 is equated with a phrase that uses superlatives of words used in lower scores.

    For teachers, especially seasoned teachers, the rubric is a hammer, an abuse of a tool never designed or engineered or fabricated to do the work it is being used to do.

    We should oppose its use not only for remote learning evaluation but for grading, rating, evaluating teachers under any conditions.

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    Replies
    1. Awesome post ... very deep but in a nut shell I think it says F ——k Danielson . I am all for that !!

      Delete
  21. Oren, that is illegal. You cannot "double dip" in the same exact class. That can be reported. Where is the CL? PE, remotely, on a computer, at least change 1 teacher.

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  22. Joe here,

    Uft, the most powerful...SAD!

    LOL.

    BREAKING: An independent arbitrator has ruled that Chicago Teachers Union rank-and-file clerks, clerk assistants and technology coordinators can now work remotely at least four days a week.

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  23. A CDC showed that screening travelers using temperature and symptom-based screenings didn't help catch COVID19 cases.

    "The CDC said this was a resource-intensive program that had a low case detection rate. Between January 17 and September 13, the CDC screened more than 766,000 travelers. Nearly 300 met the criteria for public health assessment, 35 were tested for the coronavirus, and nine tested positive. That means the program identified about one case per 85,000 travelers screened, the CDC reported Thursday in the agency's weekly report."

    "This style of screening doesn't seem to work for a few reasons. Covid-19 has a wide range of nonspecific symptoms common to other infections, there are a high number of asymptomatic cases, travelers may deny symptoms or take steps to avoid detection and passenger data was limited."

    https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/cdc-study-symptom-screening-airport-covid-19-ineffective/index.html

    What does this say about health screenings at schools???



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  24. Do you think this Danielson outrage could possibly happen under President Biden. Of course it could and will. That’s just the point. The presidency has never mattered one bit as far as our professional lives are concerned. By the way I started teachingDuring Nixon’s second term

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    Replies
    1. Yes it could but the current administration hates NY State and any chance to screw us even more would be pounced upon

      Delete
  25. MY TWO CENTS ON THIS: As much as I love Solidarity, they should not have written this letter. Any remote learning rubric that admins are using CAN NOT be used for any formal or informal written observations. In other words, they are not worth jack shit and can't be used to mess with a tenured or untenured teacher. We should all just keep our heads down and mouths shut as there is currently no evaluation being used for us at this point. We should not "poke the bear" that is the NYC DOE. Best bet is to wait till Albany allows us to remain in the much loved S/U evaluation that we had last spring. By poking the DOE with the evaluation issue, there is a bigger chance of them actually trying to push Albany to allow this bullshit Danielson remote rubric. Oh yeah, I am not a Unity hack. I am just an old school NYC teacher who knows a thing or two.

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  26. No retro for us...

    Susan Edelman
    @SusanBEdelman
    At a cost of $890M for 5 years, the city has bailed out Reliant Transportation, a school bus company co-owned by Alex Lodde, a key donor to
    @nycmayor
    's scandalous 2014 effort to bankroll a Democratic majority in the state Senate.

    ReplyDelete
  27. No retro for us...

    Susan Edelman
    Besides the cost of running 800 bus routes, the DOE would not reveal what the city paid for the company. or whether NYC taxpayers are on the hook for the company's $142M in pension liabilities.

    ReplyDelete
  28. "I am asking all schools to be prepared for a brief time of fully remote learning, system-wide,"
    @DOEChancellor
    wrote to principals tonight

    ReplyDelete

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