Teacher survey shows immediate need for greater preparation for new evaluation systems and Common Core

Survey findings included:

 

• 72% of teachers do not feel adequately prepared for the new evaluation systems that will be implemented statewide during the 2013-14 school year.
• 26% of teachers report receiving no professional development on their county’s new evaluation system, including 56% in Baltimore County.
• 85% of teachers believe that significant challenges remain to understanding and implementing new evaluation systems in their school.

Common Core

• 64% of teachers do not feel adequately prepared to implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) that will be in effect statewide during the 2013-14 school year.
• 15% of teachers report receiving no professional development on Common Core, including 28% in Prince George’s County.
• 82% of teachers believe that significant challenges remain to understanding and implementing Common Core in their school.

“If teachers don’t receive the support they need to implement these changes successfully, it will have a direct, negative impact on students,” said MSEA President Betty Weller. “We can’t close our eyes and hope for the best. This survey should be a wake-up call for more focus, more professional development, and more consideration of how to implement these changes successfully.”

The survey respondents’ calls for more time and focused support echoes similar feedback from local school systems as well as the Maryland Teacher and Principal Evaluation Field Test Report submitted in late April, which can be viewed by clicking here.

This online survey of MSEA members was conducted by MSEA during May 1-5. Full survey results can be viewed by clicking here. MSEA members were not surveyed in Frederick or Montgomery counties, where local school systems maintain that they are not bound by the same evaluation criteria as the state’s remaining jurisdictions, which are participants in Maryland’s Race to the Top grant.