No education issue has garnered so much reaction in my time here
at The Dispatch as the recent firing of Gilroy High School English
teacher Kristen Porter.
No education issue has garnered so much reaction in my time here at The Dispatch as the recent firing of Gilroy High School English teacher Kristen Porter.
In the weeks following that Friday morning when Porter was told to hand over her keys and leave the GHS campus, we have seen editorials, comments and reaction from an array of community interests.
Most are echoing the same sentiment, asking Gilroy Unified School District’s Board of Trustees to look into the process of evaluating teachers and to provide clear-cut reasons why teachers – even temporary ones – can be let go.
Several school board members have said they are ready and willing to look further into the matter. They took a first step during last Thursday’s board meeting, when Assistant Superintendent Linda Piceno provided trustees an overview of the district’s hiring process. Toward the end of her presentation, Piceno referred to one qualification that is perhaps the best indicator for whether or not a teacher will stick around after, say, three years on the job: A passion for teaching.
This common-sense notion that those who love to teach will do a better job and stay in the profession piqued my interest. It’s seemingly such a subjective concept.
How does one measure the passion of a novice or veteran teacher?
Apparently, with an objective tool called the Teacher Perceiver, created by the Gallup Organization.
The Teacher Perceiver is a screening interview that uses structured questions to identify the most successful teachers. Based on more than 30 years of research, Gallup created questions that teachers considered “outstanding” all answered similarly. It gauges thoughts and feelings about the profession to find candidates who will approach teaching the way an exceptional teacher does.
Districts across the country are employing it as one part of the hiring process.
Although implementation in the past has been sporadic, district officials say they are
re-committed to using the indicator.
That sounds like a good idea, although it is by no means the be-all, end-all of teacher hires.
Naturally, there may be worries that candidates would be turned away with the “not a good fit” reasoning, but with the perceiver, there is a paper trail that can be followed, adding some weight to the claim.
Gallup will now offer the perceiver electronically so even more subjectivity is removed from the process because the interview will not be conducted by district staff.
My hope is the perceiver will not be used as a flippant excuse to turn someone away, but will confirm that new hires possess the outstanding qualities students deserve in educators.
Students can tell when a teacher is passionate about his or her profession, just as they can tell when a teacher is lackadaisical.
That’s probably why, when Kristen Porter was fired and when Kim Lemos was laid off last year, they decided to speak up and let their administrators and school board trustees know how much they were touched by that passion.
