Montclair parents want teacher surveys
posted by Loki on Feb.12.2010 at 11:28 am
|
February 11, 2010
BY GEORGE WIRT
The Montclair Times
Some parents of Montclair School District students would like to get their two cents in on their children’s teachers.
Concerned that many parents might be reluctant to speak out about problems their children encounter in the classroom, the parents have proposed that the district solicit input from them through a short questionnaire.
Parent Michael Laser suggested a survey could serve as an early warning to district administrators and help alert them to teachers who might be having problems reaching their students.
“We deeply appreciate the great teachers our kids have had,” Laser told members of the Board of Education during a presentation he made at their public meeting last week.
“We’ve written many Weston Award nominations, and have stayed friendly with a few of our favorites,” he said. “But the difference between the best and worst teachers is so extreme it’s not something parents should keep quiet about.”
Laser proposed that the district utilize a carefully worded survey that would encourage constructive responses from parents and could be used as a screening device.
“If five responses from one classroom say, ‘This teacher yelled at the class every day and made my kid miserable,’ then that’s something to look into.”
A longtime resident, Laser is the parent of two Montclair public school students. He told the board that his children have attended six of the district’s schools and had 45 teachers between them.
“Most of their teachers have been very good, especially in the early grades, but we were really unhappy with 10 of them,” Laser told the board.
“For whole years at a time, my kids and their classmates either didn’t learn the things they should have learned, or were stressed-out and confused,” he said.
Laser said he views his proposed surveys “as a solution where everyone wins, not just the students, but also teachers with fixable weaknesses.”
Meanwhile, parents who want to single out teachers who are doing an exemplary job with their students can cite them for special recognition.
Schools Superintendent Frank Alvarez said that nominations are currently being sought for the 2010 Judy and Josh Weston Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Created by the Westons, who are Montclair residents and supporters of local public schools, the Weston Award program bestows cash awards of $2,000 to as many as 15 teachers each spring.
Alvarez said a unique element of the Weston Awards is that only students, parents and guardians of children currently attending Montclair public schools can submit nominations.
Nomination forms are on the schools’ Websites and are also available in all the schools’ offices. The deadline for nominations is Wednesday, March 17. Award recipients will be announced in May.
A reception and awards presentation will be held during the public meeting of the Montclair Board of Education on Monday, June 7.
For more information, contact Wendy Sabin via wsabin@comcast.net.