A little background: This is my second year of working in a Catholic school, but I'm not Catholic. I came in to replace a teacher that got sick, so I came in a little late at the beginning of last year. I had no issues at all last year with the admin, got excellent reviews, etc.
This year, the VP has moved up to be the principal and we have a new VP. I got a decent eval from the new VP about a month ago. It was unannounced (even though they said they would let us know in advance). Not a big deal; the main negative thing was a concern over extra credit in my class (I gave a Problem of the Week type assignment each week worth 5 points of extra credit (each week had about 35-50 points during a non-test week).
Then the new ISTEP scores came out, and a week or so later, I get called to the Principal's office like a bad little teacher (he actual sent another teacher to get me who said "Mr. X wants you in his office NOW". Eep! So, I go and get the blame for lower test scores (I won't even go into the issues about the new test and comparing them...) and he tells me my grades are inflated and I need to do something about the extra credit. Oh, and I also need to make an excel spreadsheet categorizing my student's grades, how much extra credit they got and whether they passes the ISTEP or not and I need to work on curriculum articulation.
So I make the changes, and do all the other stuff I'm supposed to do, letting Mr. X know about my progress. The problem is that he keeps "checking in" and continually asks about the stuff I've been doing since last year (Like if I'm making sure to teach to the standards and that sort of thing). He keeps checking my room (he does little 3 minute walkthroughs now and again, but this is WAY more than it ever was last year).
And then today I get yet another unannounced formal evaluation. I really don't get it, because I got an excellent evaluation from him last year. Most parents during P/T conferences said I'm doing great. My kids are even saying that they think I'm a good teacher.
I don't understand how I can go from getting great evals to feeling like they need to constantly check up on me on to make sure I'm doing my job.
I've always been a bit of an outsider, but I never once feared for my job security last year. This year I'm truly concerned. I don't know - maybe I'm reading too much in to this.
That could be the case, since the parents tend to be pretty vocal at this school. But it still stinks that I'm getting the blame here and they are still checking up on me... I really feel like a contender for the worst teacher of the year award
I'm sorry to hear of this...a similar situation happened to me a few years ago - targeted by a vp because I was doing my job and she had to take heat from the parents because I wouldn't "give" grades that weren't earned, and I actually have the high expectations that my school is always talking about. I managed to survive it by first thoroughly examining what I do and why I do it to make sure I was doing the right things for kids, backed up by as much research as I could find, and making sure I clearly state in my class procedures, and then document, absolutely everything I do. Then I decided to focus on kids and learning, basically "put my head down and teach," and do everything I could to ignore the bad feelings I got for being a target, because I knew it wasn't deserved. It wasn't - and isn't easy, but it worked. I eventually got supported because frankly I'm good at what I do and it showed over time to others in the administration who now have indicated that they think that vp is an idiot. I had also decided that if I did lose my job, then it wasn't because of anything I did, but because others over me were weak and not professional, and that a better situation would show up. And I got a lot of support here at this forum.
I really feel for you. You can get through this if you continue to be the professional that you are. It's hard to try to ignore the bad feelings you have from being treated that way - I still haven't gotten over it yet, and never will, completely - it shatters your confidence and your sense of fair play - but I try to get exercise and find ways to relax out of school - and I stay away from that vp like she has the plague. Just because she is unprofessional doesn't mean that I have to be.
Last edited by CindyBlue; 11-03-2009 at 01:27 PM.
Reason: typo!
I think the concern is the disparity between the standardized test scores and your classroom grades. It sounds as though the two don't match, and that's causing concern.
As a mom, I've got to tell you, I don't let my kids stress over standardized tests. Of course I tell them to get rest and do their best, as they would for any test. But I don't buy into the "this test is SO IMPORTANT" nonsense that comes home.
Their classroom grades are good. I figure that if they don't match the standardized test scores, either the school isn't teaching the right material or the teacher has some answering to do.
I agree that you should cut the extra credit, and look into why there seems to be a disparity between the standardized testing results and your classroom grades. Is the same thing happening in other classes in the same grade?
Protect yourself by documenting as much as you can. Any concern he expresses write down with the date and what you did to address those concerns. Maybe even send him a memo so you also are showing how proactive you are. If he is concerned with standards make sure you can prove how you are meeting them. I am sure you are doing a good job, sometimes you have to wave a flag in front of their faces to get their attention about it. If they are concerned about extra credit, that would be a battle not worth fighting in my opinion.
In this situation, I would definitely, "play the game" at least until things settle down a bit. It's humbling and you may have to bite your tongue at times, but in my experience, life will be so much easier if you do exactly what they want. When it seems the P is happy with you again, you can start to relax a little.
