Pam Benigno Challenges Political Agenda in Denver Teacher Evaluations
On Wednesday, August 29, Education Policy Center director Pam Benigno told Denver 9News education reporter Nelson Garcia that it’s an “abuse of power” for Denver Public Schools (DPS) to rate teachers in a way that can “promote a political agenda.” Click the image below to read the story and watch the video.
According to DPS’ newly-revised pilot evaluation framework for effective instruction, all district teachers will receive the highest rating for encouraging students to “challenge and question the dominant culture” and “take social action to change/ improve society or work for social justice.” Students are expected to “appear comfortable challenging the dominant culture in respectful ways.”
“What does this mean?” Benigno said on 9News regarding the evaluation criteria. “Does this mean that a teacher should take 4th graders out on a field trip to Occupy Denver?”
The 9News story including Pam’s comments also were featured in a September 3 Daily Caller column by Eric Owens.
On September 11, Pam appeared as a guest on the Mike Rosen Show to discuss the DPS teacher evaluations. You can listen to a replay of the hour, compliments of AM 850 KOA.
In a September 19 story titled “Denver Teacher Evaluations Promote Student Activism,” School Reform News writer Ashley Bateman reported Pam’s comment: “This is a green light for the liberal teachers in DPS to go ahead and promote their liberal views.”
[...] Perhaps now you can understand what would upset my Education Policy Center friends so much: [...]
[...] clip from the August 30 Amy Oliver Show, Education Policy Center director Pam Benigno discusses controversial new language in Denver Public Schools’ evaluation framework that gives the highest rating to teachers who encourage students to “challenge and question [...]
[...] apply to all teachers K-12. As my Independence Institute colleague Pam Benigno put it: “Does this mean that a teacher should take fourth-graders out on a field trip to Occupy Denver… It's not strictly a left-right issue. A creative teacher on the opposite side of the [...]
[...] the change. As the school year began, the district’s updated evaluation framework offered teachers the highest rating for encouraging students to “challenge and question the dominant culture” and [...]
[...] the school year began, the district’s updated evaluation framework offered teachers the highest rating for encouraging students to “challenge and question the dominant culture” and “take social [...]
[...] Oppressed? Is it any wonder that Denver Public Schools could find room in teacher evaluations for encouraging pro-social justice activism? How well do DPS students understand — and how well can they use — the different parts [...]
[...] Read more about the previous coverage of this story. Posted by ben on Oct 9th, 2012 and filed under In The News, Latest on K-12 issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response by filling following comment form or trackback to this entry from your site [...]