Donna Altes was selected to be a "consulting teacher" for the Napa Valley Unified School District's Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) program, but she wasn't sure what that would entail.
"We want to carry out the program to the letter of the law, but everything is open to interpretation," says Altes, a member of the Napa Valley Educators Association (NVEA). "Everyone involved with the program has been trying to figure out what to do."
After completing CTA's Consulting Teacher/Panel Member Training in Fairfield, Altes, her three fellow consulting teachers, and the panel members who will oversee the program in her district now have a clear idea of what their roles are. The training in Fairfield was one of eight two-day trainings CTA sponsored throughout the state in September.
Created by CTA's Negotiations and Organizational Development (NOD) Department, in cooperation with CTA's Human Rights Department and its Instruction and Professional Development Department, the training helps schools comply with Assembly Bill 1X, part of Governor Davis' accountability legislation enacted last year. The PAR program, which school districts must not only negotiate with local bargaining chapters, but also implement in conjunction with the chapters, replaces the mentor teacher program next July. Districts that fail to implement a PAR program will lose out on substantial funding and staff development days. While the legislation calls for the development of PAR programs, it leaves the specifics up to individual districts.
As a consulting teacher, Altes will use her expertise in the classroom to work with teachers who have received unsatisfactory evaluations as well as teachers who have volunteered for the program. Altes will offer support and assistance on a confidential basis to help a teacher improve his or her teaching and classroom management skills.
"We learned that one of the most important components of a successful PAR program is respect," says Altes. "The first thing a consulting teacher has to do is establish rapport and mutual respect with a participating teacher. I have to let them know I'm here to help. I don't want to make them feel threatened. Without a bond of trust and mutual respect, teachers won't be open to receiving the help that's being offered."
"I'm not there to be an evaluator or a judge," she adds. "I'm not the enemy."
The Napa contingency made great progress during the training. The consulting teachers, NVEA President Joel Mellinger, and the PAR panel of nine NVEA members and three administrators joined forces to hammer out details of their budding program. "We worked out a lot of the structure and a budget," says Altes. We decided that we want staff development to help those teachers with unsatisfactory evaluations. We spent a lot of time sharing ideas on what this staff development should be."
Joe Tolman, who will serve as a consulting teacher for the Brittan Elementary School District, says the CTA training he took in Folsom helped clarify all the legal aspects of the program, but also improved his communications skills.
"The biggest benefit to me was having various scenarios acted out," the Brittan Education Association member recalls. "It was really helpful to put yourself in a situation and see how you would handle it. We had one scenario where a teacher came in voluntarily to ask for help. In another scenario, a teacher was referred for not having enough direct contact with students. The person playing that part was defensive, and the consulting teacher was supposed to put that person at ease and relax things a bit. We learned how to handle situations diplomatically."
According to the law, local PAR programs must include a joint teacher and administrator peer review panel. The majority of the panel must be composed of certificated classroom teachers, chosen to serve on the panel by other teachers. The remainder of the panel must be composed of school administrators chosen to serve on the panel by the school district. The duties of the panel include:
- Selecting consulting teachers, based in part on classroom observations;
- Reviewing peer reports prepared by consulting teachers;
- Making recommendations to the governing board of a school district regarding participants in the program, including forwarding names of individuals who, after sustained assistance, are not able to demonstrate satisfactory improvement.
Richard Cawthron, a member of the Sweetwater Education Association, attended a training in Newport Beach with five fellow panel members. "It was very valuable," says Cawthron. "Before going, I was completely uninformed. Now that we, as a panel, understand our role, we are moving to the next step. We are figuring out how to choose our consulting teachers and what their responsibilities should be. We are trying to lay the groundwork and do a thorough job, but also be flexible."
He was glad that there was time to talk with people from other districts. "We shared lots of suggestions for making this work."
To date, CTA has trained 1,200 panel members - approximately half teachers and half administrators - and 200 consulting teachers, says NOD specialist Susan Popovich. "Very few districts have chosen their consulting teachers yet, so we expect that we will be training lots of them in the future. There will continue to be a huge demand for this training; we have just scratched the surface."
So far participants have given "rave reviews" to the training, which continues to evolve, says Popovich. "Participants like it because it is very hands-on. They are eager to put the information they learn into practice."
"I am very excited about helping other teachers. I can hardly wait to get started," says Altes.
