And of everything in our daily classroom lives which indeed has changed so drastically over the years, that one basic notion always has seemed most immutable and most surely beyond the sweeping changes that commonly alter the landscape of our profession. Not so anymore. They cleared away old resolution language that created a barrier to wider implementation of innovative, optional arrangements based on the successful experiences of local NEA and AFT affiliates in Columbus and Toledo, Ohio, Rochester and New York City, New York, Lake Washington, Washington, and others. According to available objective data, peer assistance and peer review programs have been working very well in some locations for more than a decade.
Nothing is compelled or coerced by the long, powerful arm of our national organization.
It is not the only way, but simply one way to ensure high quality teaching in our schools and provision for timely, effective professional help. Keep in mind that no one advocates placing our individual or collective professional fates in the hands of colleagues who could be prone to favoritism, poor judgment, or lack of training. Firstly, the peer assistance and peer review options presume use of local collective bargaining to develop a jointly-defined, explicit, formalized process. However, it frequently lacked sufficient acknowledgment of the prior sustained assistance to be provided by an outstanding teacher to a colleague who is experiencing difficulty in the classroom. In our school lives, peer evaluations only can make sense when they are preceded by professionally reasonable, rigorous, and extensive assistance delivered in an appropriate timeframe to help a teacher reach the necessary standard of proficiency.