You misunderstood whom I was calling bozos:
Gary Stark, of the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching, gave a presentation on a Teacher Advancement Program at the invitation of Superintendent of Public Instruction Suellen Reed.
At one point Stark mentioned that principals are trained to evaluate teacher instruction under the program and said, “one of the disrespectful things that we do in our profession is we send a lot of bozos in classrooms that don't know anything about instruction.”
When the presentation was finished, roundtable member Daniel Tanoos said he didn't appreciate the bozo comment, noting schools do their best to hire qualified teachers.
Stark corrected Tanoos by saying, “I was referring to principals as bozos” and went on to say they have limited knowledge of instruction and make themselves look silly trying to evaluate teachers.
Oh. That's very different. Never mind. Keep your clowns straight.
Everybody is upset with this guy, and he probably could have put things more tactfully. But if you have a principal who has never taught evaluating how teachers teach, that seems like a valid point to raise.
Comments
Coming from a large family of teachers (not administrators) I can sympathize with his rationale. All too often administration is totally clueless in the classroom.