RIF Criteria
Here are the top 11 suggestions submitted by members, listed in alphabetical order. Please RANK them in the order you would like to see them used on a RIF Rubric. If you have time, please add other notations, assign a point value, or provide some thoughts on how to rank your top criteria, for example, should each criterion hold equal value? MDCTA values your input, after all, this will ultimately affect YOU! Remember, nothing is set in stone at this time. Dialogue is critical.
1. Attendance - not counting those days in policy that are exempt. religious days (2), bereavement, jury duty, FMLA. All teachers should be following the policy on page 20 of the Certified Handbook that states "The employee should request FMLA or leave of absence following three days of continued absence due to illness."
2. District Service -committee work at the district level, coaching; writing curriculum;
3. Data/Academic Growth of students - should we use Math benchmarks? Dibels? Pre/Post Unit tests? AIMS? Terra Nova? All of these? None of these... What others?
4. Education / Certification /Endorsements- Degrees such as Master's; Doctorate; National Board Certification; ELD; Gifted; Middle School; Reading Intervention; etc.
5. Educators on a teacher contract who work with students on a part-time/as needed basis - In other words the teacher does not have full time student contact
6. Evaluations - please respond with your clarification of whether they should be summative (one year) or an average of two or even more years. It should only be the MSD evaluation tool, not one from another district.
7. Professional Attributes - following district policies; showing up to duty on time; attending faculty meetings; TCT attendance; professional dress; leadership roles on site; volunteering for after school festivals, ceremonies
8. Retirees- those who have retired from any district including Madison.
9. Site recommendation - principal - peers (the focus of the data we get from our peers needs to be on professionalism, collegial behavior, generosity, cooperation, and responsibility to a group (the faculty, the grade level, a content area, etc.). - parent surveys (Again, tools like focus groups, comment cards, and online feedback invitations might be more useful that just asking another question on the existing survey. These people are the only ones who can tell us what they think of our communication styles and tools we use to keep in touch. We need to get their feedback., site based council)
10. Teachers on Improvement plans
11. Total Years of Teaching Experience - We can no longer use seniority in the district, but the law doesn't preclude using total years of experience as a criterion.
1. Attendance - not counting those days in policy that are exempt. religious days (2), bereavement, jury duty, FMLA. All teachers should be following the policy on page 20 of the Certified Handbook that states "The employee should request FMLA or leave of absence following three days of continued absence due to illness."
2. District Service -committee work at the district level, coaching; writing curriculum;
3. Data/Academic Growth of students - should we use Math benchmarks? Dibels? Pre/Post Unit tests? AIMS? Terra Nova? All of these? None of these... What others?
4. Education / Certification /Endorsements- Degrees such as Master's; Doctorate; National Board Certification; ELD; Gifted; Middle School; Reading Intervention; etc.
5. Educators on a teacher contract who work with students on a part-time/as needed basis - In other words the teacher does not have full time student contact
6. Evaluations - please respond with your clarification of whether they should be summative (one year) or an average of two or even more years. It should only be the MSD evaluation tool, not one from another district.
7. Professional Attributes - following district policies; showing up to duty on time; attending faculty meetings; TCT attendance; professional dress; leadership roles on site; volunteering for after school festivals, ceremonies
8. Retirees- those who have retired from any district including Madison.
9. Site recommendation - principal - peers (the focus of the data we get from our peers needs to be on professionalism, collegial behavior, generosity, cooperation, and responsibility to a group (the faculty, the grade level, a content area, etc.). - parent surveys (Again, tools like focus groups, comment cards, and online feedback invitations might be more useful that just asking another question on the existing survey. These people are the only ones who can tell us what they think of our communication styles and tools we use to keep in touch. We need to get their feedback., site based council)
10. Teachers on Improvement plans
11. Total Years of Teaching Experience - We can no longer use seniority in the district, but the law doesn't preclude using total years of experience as a criterion.
I think that we need to consider removing the positions, not the teachers, in situations where teacher-student contact is limited.
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I agree with Chris. If the position is to be eliminated it shouldn't mean the teacher is eliminated. If that teacher is qualified, has more experience, etc. that teacher should stay and someone else 'more deserving' should go.
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Here is the deal... if the position is eliminated, then the person in that position is eliminated. That doesn't prevent that person from applying for another position, it just doesn't guarantee them one any longer.
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Look what our esteemed elected leaders have done to us. They are forcing districts to determine who gets a job and who doesn't based on who knows what criteria. I appreciate MDCTA's attempt to get feedback from the membership. Hopefully our Superintendent and Governing Board will listen to what WE have to say.
I hate this because it takes away the black and white of seniority in the district. The task is a difficult one indeed.
So now what? This is a call to you as a member to voice your opinion and not sit back and take a wait and see attitude. The time is here... Voice your opinion so that a solid, objective RIFF procedure can be built not just for this year, but for years to come if the law is not appealed. Make it fair. Life changes, jobs change, so don't just put down the things that will save YOUR job, but the things that will benefit the greater good of education for children in Madison.
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Ranking:
10. Teachers on improvement plans.
11. Total years of experience - This must count for something.
4. Education/certification/endorsements
7. Professional attributes
1. Attendance
9. Site recommendation
6. Evaluations
2. District service
5. Educators with part-time student contact
3. Data - our data is supposed to be formative. I do not believe it is a reliable indicator of teacher efficacy.
8. Retirees - As valuable as these teachers are to us... They are taking a job from a teacher who is not drawing retirement from the state.
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We see the legislature’s dirty work as an opportunity for the MDCTA. One of our core values is teaching as an esteemed profession. If we are truly professionals then shouldn’t we use a new RIF policy to promote our profession? Reduction in force needs to be based on a meritocracy included should be:
1. The Madison District evaluation with an inter-rater reliability that is tight, say ±5%, and a method in place for insuring the validity of the inter-rater reliability as stated in a written district policy that is renormed each year.
2. A checkmark system in place of at least 10 drop-in visits by the principals over the school year. Items to be checked should be:
a. active teaching
b. written, visible outcome and assessments
c. students on task
3. Total years of experience, education, certification, and endorsements.
These three criteria are positive and productive and are a measurement of added value. We would like to see the district develop some input from the students for use as a mitigating factor.
Obviously, teacher qualifications need to be matched with district needs so that we don’t end up with 40 highly qualified language arts teachers and only 6 positions for them.
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What can we do to avoid this situation before it happens?
I won't even go to the fact that this is truly unfair.
Some dedicated and loyal teachers could lose jobs.
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