Case Study: Data-Driven Teacher Contract Renewal Recommendation

This case study examines a sixth-grade teacher's performance over three years, focusing on data related to student achievement, classroom management, and pedagogical skills. The assignment requires an analysis of the provided data, including student growth, time on task, questioning levels, an...Read More

Running head: DISCUSSION 1
Discussion
Name
Institution

DISCUSSION 2
Discussion
Teaching is a challenging undertaking that requires lots of professionalism,
commitments, and dedication. A good teacher is the one who leaves a positive mark on the lives
of children in as far as knowledge-acquisition is concerned. In this discussion, I would like to
give my objective opinion about the teacher. I would like also like to state candidly the verdict
that I would like to recommend regarding the future stay of this teacher in this institution.
Personally, I agree that the teacher should not renew his contrast. The contract should be
terminated because the teacher does not deserve any renewal at all.
Despite the efforts made by the teacher, the unfortunate thing is that he has produced bad
results. I have no doubt that the teacher is less productive and incompetent. The first reason why
I support the teacher’s termination is because he does not teach well. The teacher does not have
excellent classroom management skills. A thorough analysis of the records reveals that the
learners have been performing dismally (Hallinger, Heck & Murphy, 2014). The student
achievement growth profile shows that there are some laxities in the teaching style. The student
achievements in the Language, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences are not
encouraging at all. Although student achievement should be over 10 points, it was bad because in
math, it was +9, +6, and +6. In the social sciences, it was +9, +7, and +4. This is quite bad. The
same trend was also noticed in the time on task records which is also quite discouraging (Wei,
Lenz & Blackorby, 2012). Time on task was at 0% for S21 and 20% for S24. Although the
teacher is aware that the time spent on useful content should be high, he has proved otherwise.
Al these indicate that the teacher has not been doing much to meet the expected standards.

DISCUSSION 3
The other reason why I recommend the termination of this teacher’s contract is that he
does not possess excellent pedagogical skills. As an instructor, the teacher should be responsible
for the teaching of the learners as well as the modification of their conducts to ensure that they
grow up and become sociable persons. However, from the records, it is no doubt that the teacher
has not been doing this (Murphy, Hallinger & Heck, 2013). The records indicate that the
pedagogical interaction is dismal. For example, student to teacher interaction stood at a paltry
5%. In fact, the pedagogical interactions for teacher to student, teacher to individual student, and
teacher to group were 5%, 15%, 42%, and 42% respectively. This is a trend that should not be
condoned whatsoever. Apart from this, the teacher has demonstrated that he lacks fundamental
teaching skills such as the use of the questioning, auditory reinforcement, and proximity
strategies. These are strategies that should be employed in the teaching and learning process
especially for this category of learners. The questioning level, for instance, was bad as it did not
incorporate a blend of low, mid and high level thinking queries (Glickman, Gordon & Ross-
Gordon, 2018). The teacher appeared to concentrate on the knowledge recall questions at the
expense of other modalities like synthesis, analysis, and evaluation which he never used at all.
This is disheartening.
Based on these findings, I would like to point out that the teacher should be sacked. The
contract should be terminated because the teacher is not productive. This kind of performance
should not be entertained because it is disastrous and can interfere with the learners. Education is
a life-changing process that must be taken seriously at all costs. My verdict is: No contract
renewal!

DISCUSSION 4
References
Glickman, C.D, Gordon, S.P., & Ross-Gordon, J.M. (2018). Supervision and instructional
leadership: A developmental approach (10th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
Hallinger, P., Heck, R.H., & Murphy, J. (2014). Teacher evaluation and school improvement: An
analysis of the evidence. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 26(1),
5-28. doi: 10.1007/s11092-013-9179-5
Murphy, J., Hallinger, P., & Heck, R.H. (2013). Leading via teacher evaluation: The case of the
missing clothes? Educational Researcher, 42(6), 349-354. doi:
10.3102/0013189X13499625
Virginia Department of Education (2011-2015). Guidelines for uniform performance standards
and evaluation criteria for teachers. Retrieved from
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching/performance_evaluation/guidelines_ups_eval_crite
ria_teachers.pdf
Wei, X., Lenz, K.B., & Blackorby, J. (2012). Math growth trajectories of students with
disabilities: Disability category, gender, racial, and socioeconomic status differences
from ages 7 to 17. Remedial and Special Education, 34(3), 154-165. doi:
10.1177/0741932512448253