It is just me?

[emdav]

I was at ds's second grade class the other day. While the children were with another teacher, ds's teacher was called to the principal and placed on an improvement plan which means the likelihood of the teacher having a job in 60 days is slim.

When we returned to the classroom, the teacher was in tears. I find this totally understandable. Is is just me or was this a horrible thing to do to the teacher? Why would they present such upsetting information in the middle of the school day? I feel like the administration doesn't care about the children or the teacher. If feel that if they cared about the children, they would not provide information which would potentially place the teacher in an emotionally fragile state during the middle of the school day. Obviously, a crying teacher is not an effective teacher.

Your thoughts??

 

[FireDancer]

If I were putting an employee on an improvement plan it would be a "shape up or ship out" situation. In that case only if she doesn't plan on the former does she have to worry about the later.

Also, regardless of what the person does, I would expect them to still be professional. I have had many a bad meeting during the day and I was still expected to do my job professionally for the rest of it, including manage people. If she is unable to do that perhaps that is part of the issue with needing an improvement plan.

At least this is how I interpret the situation from the OP.

 

[Mermaid02]

I was at ds's second grade class the other day. While the children were with another teacher, ds's teacher was called to the principal and placed on an improvement plan which means the likelihood of the teacher having a job in 60 days is slim.

When we returned to the classroom, the teacher was in tears. I find this totally understandable. Is is just me or was this a horrible thing to do to the teacher? Why would they present such upsetting information in the middle of the school day? I feel like the administration doesn't care about the children or the teacher. If feel that if they cared about the children, they would not provide information which would potentially place the teacher in an emotionally fragile state during the middle of the school day. Obviously, a crying teacher is not an effective teacher.

Your thoughts??

Seems to me like maybe the thing to do last thing on Friday afternoon. Unless of course they REALLY want her out and were maybe hoping she would just pick up her desk and leave, for good.

 

[SaraJayne]

If I were putting an employee on an improvement plan it would be a "shape up or ship out" situation. In that case only if she doesn't plan on the former does she have to worry about the later.

Also, regardless of what the person does, I would expect them to still be professional. I have had many a bad meeting during the day and I was still expected to do my job professionally for the rest of it, including manage people. If she is unable to do that perhaps that is part of the issue with needing an improvement plan.

At least this is how I interpret the situation from the OP.

You do realize that many teachers are losing jobs due to budget cuts, right? Not because of anything they've done.

OP, yes, I find that really unprofessional on the admininstrator's part...but it doesn't surprise me.

 

[Ceila]

Our district has been hit quite hard by the budget issue, and many teachers have been RIFed or have been told that they will be in a different position next year. All of them were told after school hours, so they would not have to return to their classrooms after being given such bad news.

Your administration handled this in a very unprofessional manner. Luckily, my experience has been that most administrators care about the staff and the students and would not have done what happened to your child's teacher. I'm sorry that happened to that teacher.

 

[Allison]

You do realize that many teachers are losing jobs due to budget cuts, right? Not because of anything they've done.

OP, yes, I find that really unprofessional on the admininstrator's part...but it doesn't surprise me.

But the OP said this was about improvement not budget.

It should have been done at a better time but I don't think it means they don't care about the kids.

 

[FireDancer]

You do realize that many teachers are losing jobs due to budget cuts, right? Not because of anything they've done.

Of course, but it wouldn't be an "improvement plan" then. I would never put anyone on an improvement plan if what needed improving was out of their control.

Lots of people are losing jobs in this economy, and until they are actually let go they need to do their job professionally. I could have no job tomorrow but I am doing it well today.

I want bad news the second it is known, not at 5:00 on Friday. I never bought into that line of thinking and don't' employ it here.

 

[DawnCt1]

If I were putting an employee on an improvement plan it would be a "shape up or ship out" situation. In that case only if she doesn't plan on the former does she have to worry about the later.

Also, regardless of what the person does, I would expect them to still be professional. I have had many a bad meeting during the day and I was still expected to do my job professionally for the rest of it, including manage people. If she is unable to do that perhaps that is part of the issue with needing an improvement plan.

At least this is how I interpret the situation from the OP.

I think that when you remove a teacher from a second grade classroom, in the middle of the day, it is not only disruptive at the time, but disrupts the rest of the day. Even IF she is the best actress in the world, her focus isn't going to be on the children in her charge. It is distracting at best, although i am going for "cruel and poor timing". Just out of curiosity, I wonder if the administrator put himself on the 'shape up or ship out' list. His abilities in dealing with people and using good judgement seem lacking.

 

[emdav]

I think that when you remove a teacher from a second grade classroom, in the middle of the day, it is not only disruptive at the time, but disrupts the rest of the day. Even IF she is the best actress in the world, her focus isn't going to be on the children in her charge. It is distracting at best, although i am going for "cruel and poor timing". Just out of curiosity, I wonder if the administrator put himself on the 'shape up or ship out' list. His abilities in dealing with people and using good judgement seem lacking.

I like "cruel and poor timing." That's exactly how I feel. There is a lot of political back story on why this happened. My son's class is a special needs class which is new to this school and many parents feel the administration doesn't want the program at their school. I'm afraid the teacher is being treated unfairly in the administration's hope that the program be relocated.

 

[MrsPete]

Also, regardless of what the person does, I would expect them to still be professional. I have had many a bad meeting during the day and I was still expected to do my job professionally for the rest of it, including manage people. If she is unable to do that perhaps that is part of the issue with needing an improvement plan.

I hear what you're saying, and you're not entirely wrong. For example, I had an issue today during 1st period with a student who was extremely rude and disrespectful. After a nasty confrontation, I was a bit "on edge" emotionally at the end of that class, yet 2nd period rolled around anyway, and I had to put on a smiling face and teach that group of students. This doesn't happen to me often, but it does happen.

But that -- your equivalent of a bad meeting -- wasn't personal to me. The student was just being a jerk. I know I didn't do anything wrong, and I didn't feel badly about myself. 17 year old boys do things like that, especially six weeks before graduation when they think they have the world by the tail and they don't have to listen to that stupid old teacher anymore.

What happened to this teacher is HIGHLY PERSONAL. She was told that she, personally, isn't good enough for this job, and she's got to shape up and do better. She's also just faced the idea that she could be without a paycheck very soon. It's one thing to know that many people are losing their jobs and are hurting; it's quite another to be told that soon it may very well be YOU.

Also, I think this was poor timing because there's little the teacher can do to improve mid-day. Her lesson plans are already in place for today -- hopefully for a few days. As much as she may WANT to do better, right now, right this minute, all she can do is continue with the lesson she's already prepared. The lesson she was just told is crap. If you want her to do better, don't put her in that position -- not when an alternative exists.

A good administrator would've brought this teacher in after school, explained exactly what she needed to improve, provided her with help to improve it . . . and then told her to go home and work on making tomorrow's lesson something outstanding (because obviously, she'd be observed). I'm not saying that the administrator should cushion her shortcomings or that he should walk on eggshells around her mistakes . . . rather, he should just stop to think about the timing of his message.

Makes me think about something waaaaay back when I was a first-year teacher and was still struggling to find my way: My principal, a wonderful man who'd been a teacher in my subject area, was standing at my door chatting with me between classes . . . and a student whom we both knew was failing my class approached. The principal began talking to the student about the value of the material I was teaching in class, and I realized mid-way through that this carefully-crafted discussion wasn't spontaneous, nor was it for the STUDENT'S benefit. I was a bit embarassed to realize that the principal was politely showing ME how to motivate a student -- he realized that, being young and inexperienced, I needed this lesson. I understood and learned from it. If he'd brought me into his office and reamed me out, told me to do better, etc., I would've been upset. His gentle example was much better.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

Poor timing. Some people (me!) aren't cut out for teaching, and I think the poor girl knows this. Did the do the wrong thing by putting her on an improvement plan? Absolutely not. Did they choose the wrong time of day? Definitely. There are 20-some children relying on her, and the administration should have known better. It's not something that needed to be handled immediately-- it's not like she was escorted out in handcuffs.

 

[Sparx]

My first impulse was that they fully realized what they were doing and are trying to make her quit before they can fire her.

 

[crusoe2]

This sounded a little fishy to me cause it's awfully late in the year to put someone on an improvement plan. There isn't much time left to revamp the way you teach and prove that you can do better. Now that the op has explained the back story, it makes more sense. I tend to agree that this may be the admin's way of getting the program out of his school.

As for the teacher needing to handle the situation more professionally, well that's easier said than done. She is possibly facing not only the loss of a paycheck and having to find another job in a really tough economy, but the thought of no longer seeing and being involved with children to whom she may have gotten emotionally attached. And then there is all the time and effort that most teachers put into setting up their classroom, establishing a rapport with their students, and learning the ins and outs of how things work on their campus. Even if she finds another job she has to face doing all of that all over again. I suppose if you've never taught school maybe that doesn't sound like such a big deal. But if you've ever poured your heart and soul into a teaching job, you know what I'm talking about.

 

[FireDancer]

But that -- your equivalent of a bad meeting -- wasn't personal to me.

Some of those bad meetings were "just so you know, we may not have a company tomorrow", so they were very personal.

Perhaps not the best idea but not really wrong. I would like to know what I was doing wrong immediately so I could correct it, not later. Just my opinion, not saying it is the only valid one. I could understand both sides.

 

[DisTeacher07]

I agree that it was wrong time for the teacher to be informed about her need for improvement status, but I don't think that her termination is set in stone. In our district non-tenured teachers are required to have two observations during the course of the school year. Our principals have just gotten to the second (spring) observation because of state testing. The report that goes to our administration office specifies whether the teacher did a satisfactory job, unsatisfactory job (the worst!) or a satisfactory, needs improvement.

If I were the teacher I'd be upset and crying too, however, I think that by putting her on a plan at this point administration is trying to better her skills so that her odds of keeping her job, should there be layoffs, would be better.

 

[DawnCt1]

Some of those bad meetings were "just so you know, we may not have a company tomorrow", so they were very personal.

Perhaps not the best idea but not really wrong. I would like to know what I was doing wrong immediately so I could correct it, not later. Just my opinion, not saying it is the only valid one. I could understand both sides.

"Just so you know, we might not have a company tomorrow" affects you personally, but it doesn't say, "You are a bad teacher, you may not have a job tomorrow because of it".

 

[barkley]

when i supervised union staff (which i presume most teachers are in the public schools) depending on the basis for being formaly placed on "improvement needed" it might have to be done within a certain time frame (if something severe had occured to create the situation it had to be done within a very tight time frame so i might not be able to wait even a couple of hours later within a given day), or it could be that the union required that they be present-in which case depending on weather it was an in house union rep or one from offsite, had to be worked around THEIR schedual (and if they were a school employee-their supervisor's schedual to be able to release them).

it was VERY rare that an employee was blindsided by a formal "improvement needed". except for a MAJOR infraction it took multiple coaching and counseling sessions (which had to be documented), and they had to have been noticed that they were deficient in at least 2 areas so long in advance to give them the opportunity to correct. formal 'on improvement' was months in the making.

 

[FireDancer]

"Just so you know, we might not have a company tomorrow" affects you personally, but it doesn't say, "You are a bad teacher, you may not have a job tomorrow because of it".

You are absolutely correct.

The first is saying whether or not you have a job is out of your control while the second is saying it is entirely within your control. Now, if the second is not within their control it is implying they have no way of doing their job satisfactory and, in that case, should be let go.

it was VERY rare that an employee was blindsided by a formal "improvement needed". except for a MAJOR infraction it took multiple coaching and counseling sessions (which had to be documented), and they had to have been noticed that they were deficient in at least 2 areas so long in advance to give them the opportunity to correct. formal 'on improvement' was months in the making.

I don't know of anyone that was put on formal notice for something insignificant unless it was repeated so often it became significant.

Now, if the notice is for something like stapling the paper on the right instead of left side one time, then it is overkill. We would need more details to determine if the formal notice is required, but at face value I am assuming it was.

 

[Liberty Belle]

If I were putting an employee on an improvement plan it would be a "shape up or ship out" situation. In that case only if she doesn't plan on the former does she have to worry about the later.

Also, regardless of what the person does, I would expect them to still be professional. I have had many a bad meeting during the day and I was still expected to do my job professionally for the rest of it, including manage people. If she is unable to do that perhaps that is part of the issue with needing an improvement plan.

At least this is how I interpret the situation from the OP.

Look, you obviously have incredible self-control and I'm sure wouldn't be in the situation of having an improvement plan placed upon you. Most people, however, would be upset with it and it's best these kind of meetings take place at the end of the day, when the person can have time to let it sink in and cool off a bit before they have to deal with children or the public.

Besides, I'd be shocked if you, and others with your personality, would be an elementary school teacher. Most teachers I know would be quite upset with this and most likely would be in tears.

 

[Liberty Belle]

when i supervised union staff (which i presume most teachers are in the public schools) depending on the basis for being formaly placed on "improvement needed" it might have to be done within a certain time frame (if something severe had occured to create the situation it had to be done within a very tight time frame so i might not be able to wait even a couple of hours later within a given day), or it could be that the union required that they be present-in which case depending on weather it was an in house union rep or one from offsite, had to be worked around THEIR schedual (and if they were a school employee-their supervisor's schedual to be able to release them).

it was VERY rare that an employee was blindsided by a formal "improvement needed". except for a MAJOR infraction it took multiple coaching and counseling sessions (which had to be documented), and they had to have been noticed that they were deficient in at least 2 areas so long in advance to give them the opportunity to correct. formal 'on improvement' was months in the making.

I don't know what it's like in most schools, but that's not how it works in our school. Para educators are given one evaluation at the end of the year and at that time they're told if their contract will be renewed or not. Teachers are given several evaluations, but they may or may not prepare them for news at the end of the year.

One teacher last year was pink-slipped because the principal "didn't feel her heart was in it in the last couple months." Many teachers in our school have been blindsided in April of every year.