In anticipation of our court date Tuesday, RPS has sent me some teacher retention data.
What did I get, what didn't I get, and what does it mean? A thread:
What did I get, what didn't I get, and what does it mean? A thread:
In March of this year I took RPS to court over their refusal to fulfill a FOIA request for district retention rates. That data is part of the assessments for our strategic plan; I had requested it twice in 2019 to no avail. RPS didn't show in court.
Due to COVID-19, my court date wad deferred to this coming Tuesday, 3 months later. On Friday, RPS responded. Here's a snapshot of what they sent me:
Superintendent Kamras has maintained that RPS retention remains flat, at 79%. Sort of.
I also submitted a FOIA to Virginia's Dept of Education. They also responded (thank you VDOE!), showing a 3% drop in teacher retention for 2019. Here's how that graphic should actually look:
I also submitted a FOIA to Virginia's Dept of Education. They also responded (thank you VDOE!), showing a 3% drop in teacher retention for 2019. Here's how that graphic should actually look:
We don't have comprehensive details on data about teacher turnover in RPS (i.e. demographics, schools), but there's every reason to worry that it 1. produces a less experienced workforce and 2. particularly affects Black teachers and teachers of color throughout the district.
Nationally corporate ed reform has led to high teacher turnover and loss of long-term Black educators from the workforce. It was true in New Orleans—the flagship corporate reform site—and it was true in DC, where Jason Kamras was "chief of human capital" for the district.
This week an anonymous Instagram account has emerged identifying targeted pushout of Black educators in Richmond Public Schools: instagram.com/blackatrps/
In some cases the accounts address gentrification and the proposed rezoning strategy from last year.
It's no surprise to see Black educators creating anonymous spaces to talk about the impact of racism on retention of Black teachers and educators of color. Concern about pushout and retaliation prompted much of the last 3 years of teacher organizing.
richmond.com/news/local/ric…
richmond.com/news/local/ric…
Why did teachers fight to have retention added to the strategic plan & for a free speech resolution? Because the Rhee administration in DC gutted teacher workforce and Jason Kamras led the teacher evaluation system (IMPACT) that facilitated that process.
c-span.org/video/?c471602…
c-span.org/video/?c471602…
Rhee advocated explicitly for workforce erosion and elimination of democratic control:
*elimination of an elected school board
*conversion of workers to at-will employees
*silencing of teachers unions
These changes have a direct impact on Black voters and Black workers.
*elimination of an elected school board
*conversion of workers to at-will employees
*silencing of teachers unions
These changes have a direct impact on Black voters and Black workers.
DCPS has long pushed the idea that turnover is good as long as it affects the "least effective" teachers (where DCPS alone determines the mechanism to rate efficacy). That has also been pushed by scholars at UVA—the institution RPS has designated to calculate our retention rates.
A number of people have asked why RPS retention rates reporting was delayed so long, and why UVA processing has become a bottleneck for that data. It's unclear when VDOE has the data accessible, allowing us to identify trends as they emerge.
A quick answer is that UVA has a history of hedging the downside of teacher turnover with metrics that are deeply embedded in high-stakes standardized testing.
We need regular reporting of this data, and we need it to come without UVA as a processing filter.
We need regular reporting of this data, and we need it to come without UVA as a processing filter.
Felicia Cosby was right in our last school board meeting. With one large public university and two HBCUs in Richmond's direct vicinity, why does UVA get sole review of our data? Why so much reluctance around a core assessment protocol for our strategic plan?
This level of coyness with an assessment metric would *never* stand for the tests our students are subjected to every year. It's time for a comprehensive review of our workforce retention, and a dedicated in-depth review of our recruitment and retention of Black teachers in RPS.
P.S. This is, btw, one of @kenyaRVA's core demands for racial justice in the district.
medium.com/@kenya.gibson/…
medium.com/@kenya.gibson/…
Just realized I didn't link above to the research area at UVA where they're making the argument teacher turnover helps student achievement. DCPS and Kamras's IMPACT program there is their focus site for study: curry.virginia.edu/faculty-resear…
