Rigorous tenure model working in
Mountain View- Los Altos
High standards for granting tenure that are as rigorous as those to remove a tenured teacher for cause ensures that every MVLA student has a quality teacher every period of every day .
32 Leadership
California school districts currently face a rising demand for teachers and a declining supply , especially in science , math and special education . To complicate matters for local districts , they are expected to 1 ) decrease the achievement gap between Caucasian / Asian-American and Latino / African-American students , while 2 ) increasing the achievement of both groups of students .
Given the confluence of these factors , there is the danger that school districts will repeat the mistakes of the past and grant tenure to marginal teachers on the grounds that the replacements will be even worse . This practice has already proven to be detrimental to the achievement of minority students ( Bridges , 1984 ).
To assist school districts in avoiding the questionable practices of the past and to successfully meet the dual achievement challenge , I will discuss how the Mountain View Los Altos High School District ( MVLA ), over an eight-year period , narrowed the achievement gap between Caucasian and Latino students and raised the performance of both groups ( see graphic ).
MVLA managed to reduce the achievement gap and raise the performance of its students by using a coherent approach to institutional change . One of the most significant parts of the approach was a comprehensive personnel evaluation system that included high standards for granting tenure .
Most of these efforts are outlined in the book “ Managing the Incompetent Teacher ,” which was written more than 40 years ago , authored by Stanford University Professor Edwin M . Bridges with ACSA Educational Services Director Barry Groves . The book can be accessed free online at https :// goo . gl / GyYcen .
Interestingly , the materials in this book are as relevant today as they were when the monograph was first published . The authors argue that the process to receive tenure should be as rigorous as removing a tenured teacher for cause .
Over the last decade , MVLA granted
By Barry R . Groves