ASSIGNMENT 2.

2 NC Teacher Working Conditions Survey Drill Down GONZALO MIGUEL PITPIT, NELA Part One: 2008 and 2010 Comparisons of Bertie Middle Schools Teacher Working Conditions Survey Results A. Comparisons of Results: 2008 vs. 2010 School Years Bertie Middle School Bertie Middle School opens its doors to Bertie County Schools on school year 2007-2008. It came as two middle schools in the district closed on school year 2006-2007. Because of this, Bertie Middle School has only done the NC Teacher Working Conditions Survey in 2008 and 2010. This school year 2010-2011 is only BMS 5th year.
B ertie Middle S chool 2007-2008 & 2009 -2010 C parison of T om eacher W orkingC onditions
100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30 2007-2008 2009-2010

20

10

0 Time 2007-2008 2009-2010 58.38 70 Facilitiesand Resources 70.11 90.36

Managing Student Conduct 48.33 83.73

Teacher Leadership 58.93 84.98

School Leadership 61.99 86.5

Professional Development 65.18 81.66

Overall/Good Place 56.9 83.7

Total/Average 59.98 82.99

Based on the results above, all teachers rate Bertie Middle School 83.7% in 20102011 as a good place to work and learn. This indicates a great improvement from 56.9% in

2007-2008. They believe that teachers are given much importance and consulted effectively especially about issues concerning instructional practices and solving problems. Though 70% of the teachers believe that the management of time still needs some improvement, they believe that BMS is a good place to work and learn. Overall, 82.99% of the teachers in 2010-2011 school year are satisfied with all conditions indicated in the chart above. The chart below shows the differences between school year 2007-2008 and 20102011 teacher working conditions.

The chart above indicates that the teachers at Bertie Middle School are very much satisfied with the way the administration manages student conduct. This condition shows the highest difference between the results on the first year of the school and last school
2

year. They also believe that the administration makes sure that expectations are implemented consistently throughout the school year. 11.62%, which is the lowest difference, shows that teachers believe that something has to be done with utilization of time at the school particularly on efforts to minimize the amount of time they spend on routine paperwork that they are required to do. With a rating difference of 16.48%, teachers have seen a great effort by the administration to improve on professional development (PD) of all staff. In my interview with some members of the faculty, they said that the implementation of professional development programs has also been very consistent, even if it means that they themselves would facilitate PD sessions. Overall, Bertie Middle School is one force to reckon with. With teamwork between the administration and the staff, the school will become one of the best middle schools in the region. B. Comparisons of Results: 2008 vs. 2010 School Years District vs. State The chart below shows the summary of the Teacher Working Conditions at Bertie Middle School compared with the states results:

The results above show that Bertie County exceeded the states average in all areas of the Teacher Working Conditions Survey except Community Support and Involvement with a marginal difference of 3.34%. This maybe attributed to lack of Parent Teacher Association (PTA) or any other organized organization involving the communities. Managing time at BMS and at the state level that includes time available to meet with individual students, collaborate with colleagues, non-instructional time for teachers, time to complete paperwork, time to meet the individual needs of every student, and protected time for teachers had a difference of 12.82% in favor of the district. Bertie County has a middle school that was built in 2007. With amazing custodial staff, teachers and students, Bertie Middle School had maintained its cleanliness and orderliness. Facilities and Resources rating by the district was 4.96% higher than the

states average. Managing student conduct, which included students understanding of the expectations for their conduct, following school rules, policies and procedures about student conduct were clearly understood by staff, and teachers enforcing rules for student conduct, was rated 84.94% which was also higher than the state average of 81.11%. Overall, the districts survey results on the Teacher Working Conditions showed that it surpassed the states averages in all areas but one. Part Two: Reflecting and Selecting Which Constructs do I Examine Further? Read through the following prompts and reflect on the school data you just received.

B rtieM d S h o T a h r W rk g e id le c o l e c e o in C n itio sS rv yR s lts o d n u e eu

2007 -2008 Tim e Facilities and Resources Managing Student Conduct T eacher Leadership School Leadership Professional Developm ent Overall/Good Place T otal/Average 58.38 70.11 48.33 58.93 61.99 65.18 56.9 59.98 2009 -2010 70 90.36 83.73 84.98 86.5 81.66 83.7 82.99 Difference 11.62 20.25 35.4 26.05 24.51 16.48 26.8 23.01

1. In which constructs did your school have the most positive working conditions? What are some possible reasons for this? The construct with the most positive working condition is Managing Student Conduct. Based on my conversations with the principal, interviews with teachers, and

observations as an intern at Bertie Middle School, the administration supports teachers and students in their desire to create and keep an environment that is safe and nurturing for everyone. The administration believes that teachers should be able to do their job, which is to teach and students should be able achieve the reason why they are at school, which is to learn. If there are students who distract and disrupt the teaching and learning process, then they need to face the consequences. Another reason for this outcome is because everyone believes and trusts on the districts and schools policies and procedures. What is the reason for establishing policies and procedures if they are not enforced? 2. In which constructs did your school have the least positive working conditions? What are some possible reasons for this? Time this construct has the least positive working condition. Planning time is embedded in the daily schedules. But, how can be used for its sole purpose if it is used for attending meetings? How can teachers plan their lessons effectively if they spend most of their time doing some paperwork? 3. Are there any constructs or focus areas in which your schools results are significantly different than the district or level? Look for both positives and negatives. Positives should be acknowledged, and can be illuminating when thinking through areas of concern.

Q e tio us n

B rtie e M d id le Sh o col 55 .1

B rtie e C u ty on

D r ne iffe e c

E ffortsare m to m iz the am ade inim e ount of routine paperwork teachers are required to do.

66.0

10.9(+for the dis trict)

T chers ha e sufficient access to a broad rang of ea v e professional support personnel. This school m aintains clear, two -wa com unica y m tion with the com unity m . The facultyhas an effectiv process for m e akingg roup decisions to solv problem e s. The school leadership m es asus ak tained e ffort to address teacher concerns about: Leadership issues

76 .5

66.9

9.6(+for the school) 13.3(+for the school) 11.6(+for the school) 15.7(+for the school)

89 .8

76.5

83 .3

71.7

87 .0

71.3

Are any of the areas surprisingly negative? Are those areas of dissatisfaction unique to your school or is this an area of concern for all schools within the district? Are there multiple areas of dissatisfaction that may be related to each other? If so, can you identify the root causes that may be driving dissatisfaction across multiple areas? The district has a positive working condition on minimizing the amount of routine paperwork for teachers. The districts outcome is 66% while the schools outcome is 55.1% with a 10.9% difference. Through the Schools Leadership Team, the school has addressed this issue and has identified the factors that affected this construct. On the other hand, the school has earned a great leap and a positive impact when it comes to sustaining to address teachers concerns about leadership issues. The administration is an advocate of teacher empowerment. In fact the principals mission is for teachers to come and work at Bertie Middle School to learn how to teach, and the end goal

of this mission is to develop school leaders. Other than the amount of routine paperwork that teachers rated the lowest, I could not identify anything else that is considered an area of dissatisfaction unique to the school. 4. Do you have a personal interest in examining a particular area more carefully? Community Support and Involvement is an area that I would like to examine more carefully. The school rated this construct 60.4% while overall, the districts rating is only 56.1%. Parental and community involvement is a big concern not only in this school and district but also throughout the state. It is essential to strengthen this area in every school as research indicates that where there are great parents, there are great schools. 5. Is there an area your school has already targeted for reflection and reform? The school has already targeted Community Support and Involvement. This year, a new Community Liaison was employed, and part of her job is to encourage parents and the community to be more involved with school events and in supporting their childs education.