Gentry to participate in early stage of new teacher evaluation system

System reflects major change in teaching methodology

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

— The Gentry Public School District will be participating in Phase One of a new Arkansas Teacher Evaluation System, enabling the district to become acquainted with the new system before it becomes mandatory on July 1, 2012.

The district was notified of its acceptance into the early phase of the program in an April 11 letter from the Northwest Arkansas Education Service Cooperative. The school district’s participation in the program also meets one of the goals set by the school board for Gentry School District superintendent Randy Barrett.

The letter points out that the new model accepted by the Arkansas Department of Education and soon to be required of all Arkansas schools is based upon “Framework for Teaching” by Charlotte Danielson. Additional information on Danielson’s theories for education can be found at www.danielsongroup.org.

According to Barrett, the teacher evaluation system is a part of a shift in the methodology of education itself. He called it a shift from a traditional classroom to a constructivist classroom.

Based on constructivist theory that learning builds on knowledge a student has already acquired, constructivists propose that learning is more effective when a student is actively engaged in the learning process rather than attempting to receive knowledge passively. Hence, teaching methods are often more in the form of guided discovery rather than directly imparting knowledge and facts. Instead of presenting the knowledge directly, teachers attempt to lead their students through questions and activities to discover, discuss, appreciate and put into words the new information and knowledge.

“There’s too much information out there to just learn things,” Barrett said of the philosophy behind the new shift in teaching methods. “We need to learn to think if we are going to learn anything.”

Barrett explained that students will be taught to form answers rather than just give answers.

The new teaching method will place much emphasis on lesson planning to facilitate discussion, interaction and learning.

As a result, the teacher evaluation program will also shift in emphasis to evaluate teachers’ abilities and skills in facilitating learning.

Of concern to Barrett and school board members is that the current state-required standardized tests are still based on the traditional teaching methodology in which students areexpected to know certain information at specific grade levels. Until testing is also changed in upcoming years, the new teaching methodology could possibly affect test scores negatively, Barrett said.

Of concern is that schools would be rated as poorer performing schools because of lower test scores until testing is developed to conform to the new teaching methodology.

News, Pages 1 on 05/04/2011