Note: The observation report you were handed was untimely if you received it more than 45 school days after your supervisor’s visit. In that you case, you should be reading about how to file a grievance (citing articles 2, 8 and 20) for removal of the material from your file.
Let’s think about the reasons for writing a rebuttal. You may be hoping a strong appeal to your principal will result in getting an observation report removed. This is certainly something to aim for, but generally an unlikely outcome.
The placement of such material in your file can be challenged on procedural grounds like timeliness. (See the sidebar to look for other factors.) Your ability to show factual errors, unwarranted opinions or a malicious intent is not a sufficient basis for elevating the appeal beyond a school-level complaint. The appeal will be over once the principal denies it, or as is typical, declines to respond at all.
However, there is more to consider besides the odds for success. You are likely to experience an unfair observation as a personal attack, and rightly so. You may even be of a mind to deny yourself any rest until you have refuted every sketchy claim and malicious conclusion in the report and more power to you. However, given your lack of leverage in the matter, you consider writing the rebuttal as an affirmation of your teaching as well as a reaction to detractors.
Take a few minutes to write down from your perspective what you were doing as a teacher. Describe in detail the activities you initiated on the day of the visit. Explain your approach, your decisions and underlying beliefs, and how the students responded. When your rebuttal is a thoughtful account of your teaching, and only secondarily a response to any criticism you are helping to strengthen our profession.
Deciding what to do with what you have written brings us to some strategic considerations. Much depends on how how you see the situation. If you read the unfair observation report as merely a lapse on the part of an otherwise competent and supportive administrator your response can serve to improve their practice, and should be appreciated as such. There’s also the tendency of administators to overreact to statements in writing or to frame your corrective as antagonistic.
That’s not necesarially a reason to hold back but sensitivities involved always be sure to use a professional tone in any written rebuttal. You should be aware that an angry response may stay in your file as evidence of potentially unprofessional conduct even in the event that the report itself is removed.
A common form for submitted to the school secretary in the form of a business letter with the date of observation report you are responding to in the subject line. Have the school secretary initial and date your copy so you have proof you submitted it.
On the other hand, whatever your instincts as a trained professional, you are under no obligation to presume good will on the part of an administrator. In that regard, let’s consider some of the common uses and misuses of written evaluations.
Teachers typically work in isolation without co-teachers or paraprofessionals present. The visit of an observer could be a useful form of feedback and support. There is much that lies outside a teacher’s immediate perception which an attentive observer can catch. So let’s grant that under optimal conditions an observation could be a useful way for teachers to view their practice through the eyes of somebody else.
Supervisors could be suggestive rather than prescriptive in drawing on their knowledge and experience, or as one official publication describes it, encouraging you to think over “a broad range of teaching and learning strategies to meet students’ needs.” (Teaching for the 21st Century, NYC Board of Ed. circa 1993).
Unfortunately, observation reports are often meant to serve a purpose that is not in the teachers’ or the students’ interests. They might be caused by an craving for control over a teachers’ practice, or a wish to enforce conformity and override your best professional judgment. A supervisor might enter your class solely to check on your implementation of a mandated strategy. For example, they may want to see how well you are using scripted protocols to have students simulate a seminar-style discussion.
Worse than that, an observation may have the purpose of inflicting fear and humiliation. Anyone should be able to understand why a weak or incompetent administrator might want to put teachers on the defensive. A supervisor may be singling out a teacher out for retaliation, to target them for their outspokenness or union activism, and inflict a bad rating and even effect their removal.
You are the one to judge how your situation might involve what kind of motivation. It’s not paranoia to fear the worst and prepare for an extremely antagonistic situation by saying as little as is necessary, and only submitting your rebuttal at the end of the school year. There is no deadline but you will want to have the rebuttal attached to the report in your file before you face a 3020a hearing.
You could of course make a good argument that the Danielson rubric should not be used to evaluate your teaching. However, thinking strategically a rebuttal of this sort would be tantamount to saying you should not be observed at all, since Danielson is a requirement for your supervisors. A better strategy might be to point out flaws in the report with an operative assumption that Danielson is not about to be thrown out anytime soon.
Some common mistakes made by supervisors using the Danielson framework are as follows.
- Misalignment of the rating and the evidence offered in the report.
- Lack of specific feedback for a problem found in the lesson
- Lack of focus on specific components
- Lack of the required provision of professional development to address problems noted in the report
This use of Danielson standards to point out the flaws of a specific observation does not amount to an endorsement of the Danielson frameworks. Rather it could serve to show that an administrator in their haste to find fault with your lesson was not careful enough to use the rubric properly. This is not an uncommon occurrence and the possibity of showing that, especially at a termination hearing, should not be ignored.
Likewise if your classroom included English language learners or students with disabilities it is likely that your supervisor did not take account of the specific considerations although all supervisors are required to be familiar with them under New York State’s educational law 3012-d. For example, a supervisor who advises in the report that student should be prevented form using their native language during the lesson is likely unfamiliar with the special guidelines. These documents can be found in the sidebar.
This article covers
- reasons for writing a rebuttal
- considerations about the content and timing of a rebuttal
- the uses and misuses of observation reports
- common mistakes to look for in an observation report
- resources to help you name defects and cite authorities
Resources
Procedural defects in observation reports can be found by looking over the requirements in Bargaining Agreement with the city for teachers (article 8).
Fact sheets from the UFT include
- Rules Regarding Teacher Evaluations, New York Teacher (09-05-24)
- UFT Guide
- UFT Q&A
An observation report for ATR teachers or others under the S/U rating system may be found defective if there was no pre-observation conference according to this arbitrator’s ruling.
Authorities given as guidelines to modify the Danielson rubric include:
Specific Considerations of Teachers of Students with Disabilities
Specific Considerations of Teachers of English Language Learners
Nothing in this article should be taken as legal advice. Send an email to SolidarityUFTResearch@gmail.com for info about legal referrals.