CLASS DISMISSED: Teacher auditions demand performance

By: Jasmyn Elliott /  Columnist

When “classroom performance” is discussed, society often puts students at center stage. Some public school districts now think it is time to put teachers in the spotlight.

The Washington D.C. school system is implementing an audition component in its search for teachers.

A potential hire must teach a lesson while a 360-degree camera records the reactions of a group of students under their watch.

 

According to The Washington Post, this is part of an initiative funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that hopes to “define ‘measures of effective teaching’” and has since been adopted by the Tampa, Pittsburgh and New York public school systems.

Some critics of this practice argue that this is flawed and fear that good teachers could be thrown out because of “bad” students or subjectivity.

Even though the research on the effectiveness of this component has yet to be seen, I do think that adding teacher auditions to the hiring process is a step in the right direction in improving teacher quality, especially in Miami where low-performing urban schools continue to decline.

In the hiring process for teachers without an audition, the quality of the teacher can only be determined by what is on their résumé, their references and their interviewing skills.

However, by placing a teacher in classroom conditions and watching how, or even if, they are able to effectively engage their students, the hiring officials get a better read of their style.

This, in turn, will ensure teachers are hired based on their actual teaching skills rather than the complimentary praise of their peers.

I also think that requiring teachers to audition would weed out the bad apples. In my experience, I have encountered teachers, new and experienced, that would have never made it past the audition phase due to their apathy toward their job and the lack of professionalism made evident by their incomplete lesson plans and lack of enthusiasm.

By watching a potential hire who may be in it for the money or lack the true ability to teach, school districts will avoid putting duds in the classroom.

I would even suggest that districts place the camera in the classroom at random periods during the school year so principals can consistently evaluate teachers’ performance throughout their career and help them improve when necessary or terminate teachers who only decline in their classroom performance.

Student performance is directly linked to the teacher. Sure, there are a handful of students who may be careless toward their studies on their own. However, we have a right to hold teachers accountable when they are unqualified for their jobs due to poor teaching skills.

We also have a responsibility to do everything in our power to ensure that it is the quality teachers that make it to the front of the classroom.

By mandating that teachers audition for their jobs, we prompt them to step up their game by providing solid lesson plans and dynamic teaching styles that keep students engaged and learning to the best of their ability.

“Class Dismissed” is a biweekly column critiquing education in America. Email: jasmyn.elliott@fiusm.com