It is no secret that most school districts do a poor job of providing meaningful feedback to teachers on their strengths and weaknesses, supporting new and struggling teachers, and dismissing chronically ineffective teachers.
Peer Assistance and Review, or PAR, programs are attempting to address many of these shortcomings in a number of districts throughout the country. The programs are jointly developed and administered by school districts and teachers unions. They typically provide expert teachers to mentor and evaluate novice teachers and veterans who are struggling. The programs also offer a clear and efficient route to dismissal for those teachers who don’t improve after receiving support. Moreover, the programs provide expert teachers with career advancement opportunities while leveraging their skills to improve instruction in other classrooms.
Yet at present the PAR programs operate in few districts, and the programs don’t serve many teachers in the districts in which they do operate. Should more districts adopt Peer Review and Assistance programs? How can existing programs better meet their intended goals? Join us for a conversation to address these questions and others. We will talk with researchers who are studying these programs as well as practitioners who have designed and implemented them.
Featured Speakers:
Susan Moore Johnson, Jerome T. Murphy Professor in Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Rhonda Johnson, President, Columbus (OH) Education Association
Susan F. Marks, Associate Superintendent for Human Resources, Montgomery County Public Schools
John P. Papay, Advanced Doctoral Student, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Moderated by:
Robin Chait, Associate Director for Teacher Quality, Center for American Progress