Undue Process: Why Bad Teachers in Twenty-Five Diverse Districts Rarely Get Fired
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| Title: | Undue Process: Why Bad Teachers in Twenty-Five Diverse Districts Rarely Get Fired |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Griffith, David, McDougald, Victoria, Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Thomas B. Fordham Foundation |
| Source: | Thomas B. Fordham Institute. 2016. |
| Availability: | Thomas B. Fordham Institute. 1701 K Street NW Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20006. Tel: 202-223-5452; Fax: 202-223-9226; e-mail: thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org; Web site: https://fordhaminstitute.org/ |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 56 |
| Publication Date: | 2016 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | Achelis and Bodman Foundations Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation |
| Document Type: | Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Teacher Dismissal, School Districts, Teacher Effectiveness, Tenure, Experienced Teachers, Public Schools, Public School Teachers, Difficulty Level, Barriers, Time |
| Geographic Terms: | Florida, Vermont, Arizona (Mesa), North Carolina (Charlotte), District of Columbia, Indiana (Indianapolis), Wisconsin (Milwaukee), New Mexico (Albuquerque), Ohio (Dayton), Virginia, Georgia, Texas (Houston), Tennessee, Colorado (Denver), Michigan (Detroit), Minnesota (Minneapolis), Maryland, Massachusetts (Boston), New Jersey (Newark), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), Nevada, New York (New York), Illinois (Chicago), California (Los Angeles), California (San Francisco) |
| Abstract: | This report seeks answers to a straightforward question: "How hard is it to dismiss an ineffective veteran teacher?" Toward that end, the authors constructed a ten-point metric based on three subquestions: (1) Does tenure protect veteran teachers from performance-based dismissal? (2) How long does it take to dismiss an ineffective veteran teacher? and (3) How vulnerable is an ineffective veteran teacher's dismissal to challenge? This framework was then used to gauge the difficulty of dismissing ineffective veteran teachers in twenty-five diverse districts, using data gleaned from the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ) teacher-contract database and the Education Commission of the States's (ECS) fifty-state comparison of teacher-tenure policies, supplemented by the authors' own independent analysis of state and district policies. The data suggest that significant barriers to dismissal remain in place in every district that was examined. Based on the results, three conclusions are drawn about the specific barriers to dismissal that are common across districts: (1) In most districts (and states), tenure continues to protect ineffective veteran teachers from performance-based dismissal; (2) In most districts, even the shortest possible timeline for dismissing an ineffective veteran teacher is unreasonably protracted; and (3) In most districts, an ineffective veteran teacher's dismissal is extremely vulnerable to challenge. [Foreword by Dara Zeehandelaar and Michael J. Petrilli. Additional support for this research was provided by Democrats for Education Reform.] |
| Abstractor: | ERIC |
| Entry Date: | 2019 |
| Accession Number: | ED598689 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | This report seeks answers to a straightforward question: "How hard is it to dismiss an ineffective veteran teacher?" Toward that end, the authors constructed a ten-point metric based on three subquestions: (1) Does tenure protect veteran teachers from performance-based dismissal? (2) How long does it take to dismiss an ineffective veteran teacher? and (3) How vulnerable is an ineffective veteran teacher's dismissal to challenge? This framework was then used to gauge the difficulty of dismissing ineffective veteran teachers in twenty-five diverse districts, using data gleaned from the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ) teacher-contract database and the Education Commission of the States's (ECS) fifty-state comparison of teacher-tenure policies, supplemented by the authors' own independent analysis of state and district policies. The data suggest that significant barriers to dismissal remain in place in every district that was examined. Based on the results, three conclusions are drawn about the specific barriers to dismissal that are common across districts: (1) In most districts (and states), tenure continues to protect ineffective veteran teachers from performance-based dismissal; (2) In most districts, even the shortest possible timeline for dismissing an ineffective veteran teacher is unreasonably protracted; and (3) In most districts, an ineffective veteran teacher's dismissal is extremely vulnerable to challenge. [Foreword by Dara Zeehandelaar and Michael J. Petrilli. Additional support for this research was provided by Democrats for Education Reform.] |
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