TeacherFit or A Fit Teacher?

Last week it was revealed that The Chicago Public Education Fund gave the company, General ASP   $130,000 to develop a personality test to screen whether a candidate for a teaching position at Chicago Public Schools (CPS) teacher would be good teacher or not.   The main function of General ASP is in “providing affordable and intuitive human resources software solutions to school districts and other public and private sector agencies throughout the United States, Canada, and Japan.”  General ASP has a division called Polaris Selection, that provides research-based assessments of job applicants.

To create the best evaluation system to determine whether a teacher has good skills, the company interviewed individuals and held focus groups with about 200 high-performing and award winning Chicago Public School (CPS) teachers and principals, with the purpose of defining the characteristics of a great educator.  The results of these meetings produced a screening questionnaire developed specifically for CPS, called TeacherFit. (Yes, that is a grammatically incorrect one word name.)

The teachers’ union went crazy about the questionnaire/test that is supposed to gauge prospective teachers’ planning abilities, how they relate to their students, persistence, initiative, etc.  Prospective teachers who fall outside the parameters of what a good teacher’s score should be, will be excluded from being hired. The Chicago Teachers’ Union asked CPS to dump the test completely. “It’s unacceptable,’’ said CTU President, Karen Lewis. “Any test can [be helpful and informative,] but it shouldn’t drive [the process].’’

The Catalyst Chicago,  an independent reporting source on urban education, had some of the test questions on their blog.   I have provided a few below.

Sample questions from the Chicago TeacherFit screening

(Respondents were told to choose one answer.)

(1) “How long do you persist on problems [sic] when you feel lost or confused?

Very long period of time? Long period of time? About average period of time? Short period of time? Very short period of time?

(2) How do you feel about a job that would require you to regularly work after hours? Very inconvenient. Would refuse such a job. Inconvenient. Somewhat inconvenient Not inconvenient. Would prefer such a job.

(3) In the last period of time [sic], how much has anxiety interfered with your interaction with your team mates? None. Mild; some interactions have been strained, but no serious problems. Moderate, we have complained or accused each other of minor insults or work slipups. Severe, I am concerned that anxiety has made it difficult to work effectively as a team. Extreme, I am concerned that my anxiety makes it impossible to work with others on this team.

(4) You have a reputation as an effective teacher. As a result, the principal has recently assigned several students to your class who have had difficulties with behavior in other classrooms. You now feel that the addition of these students has created a much larger workload and that the children are also disruptive. Indicate how likely it is that you would take one of the following actions. Incorporate the students as best you can into your classroom this year, but refuse to take any transfers in the future. Request additional help from the principal in managing these students’ behavior. Request that some of the children be moved to a different classroom Do your best to manage the students’ behavior on your own and say nothing to anyone else.(Answers for each statement: Extremely likely, Very likely, Likely, Neither, Unlikely, Very unlikely, Extremely unlikely)”

 

Once the story came out about the test, CPS officials backed down and said the test could be considered by a principal when making a decision to hire a potential teacher, but it would not be a requirement.

In a story in the Sun Times, applicants said “They had no idea from CPS’s online instructions for the multiple-choice survey that TeacherFit represented a do-or-die test.”  They said they followed the form’s instructions to be excruciatingly honest  because their responses “might be verified at a later stage” and “applicants whose responses are found to be inaccurate or dishonest will be disqualified from further consideration.’’

The Sun Times also reported that Mia Lawrence, a candidate who flunked the test said, “Now, I feel like I should have lied.” Lawrence pointed to one TeacherFit questions that asked “How do you feel about a job that would require you to regularly work after hours?” She said she probably selected ”inconvenient” but may have chosen “not inconvenient” if she thought a job depended on it.

So a potential teacher for CPS admits that she would have cheated on the test if she “knew it counted.”  A teacher, or, even a potential teacher, should know that all tests count, but this one admits that she would have cheated just to get a job.  That to me is the real story here.