The Montclair School district has put out a Parent Satisfaction Survey, to allow parents to rate their child’s teacher.
Typically, at this time in the school year, teachers are being evaluated by administration, especially those who are in their first to third years of employment with the district before they are given tenure. It is also the time that parents can recommend teachers for Weston Award. By offering up an online survey, the district is making it easier on parents to voice their approval or disapproval of their child’s teacher this school year.
So here’s your chance Montclair school parents. Take the survey here before the deadline of April 1.
The district also wants to be clear that the comments will remain anonymous. “Generally, the comments themselves may be made known to the staff, but only Dr. Alvarez and Dr. Patterson will actually see the individual survey responses which will contain the name of the parent making the comment. Principals will also see the clusters of general comments about the staff and programs in their building. The comments are also not made part of an individual’s teacher’s permanent record with the district. They will be used to guide improvement efforts for staff and programs.”
However, if you are really concerned about anonymity, they advise, “It is best if the comments made did not automatically identify the student by a single issue or mention the student by name if anonymity is desired. We hope this guidance is helpful.”
I’m not typically one to hold back my opinion. However, I realized in responding to the survey that complete honesty could have unfortunate consequences for a small and inexperienced person.
This means that there’s less information for the school district to use in either helping a teacher than needs it or seeking to replace said teacher. Everyone loses.
There needs to be a better solution.
…Andrew