That's Just the Way DOE Works

Friday, 16 September 2005

When I first moved to Hawai'i to look for a teaching job a few months ago, everyone told me, "Oh...you'll see how backwards Hawai'i is." or "You'll be frustrated with the DOE (Department of Education)." After seeking out my own job for a month (since I wasn't getting any response from the recruiting office after my initial interview), bringing resumes to neighborhood schools, and starting my new position as an ESL teacher without any sort of orientation, training, or "Welcome to the DOE" packet, I've begun to realize people's statements ringing true. Over the past two weeks, I've had ESL district training workshops. One was on administering assessments, which by the time we had the workshop, I already had to figure out myself because you have to assess all new students within the first twenty days of school. The workshop just confirmed what I already knew and caused me more stress. Could they not have had this training BEFORE the school year started?

Then, yesterday and today, we had all day workshops (mind you, I am only a half-time teacher, as are most ESL teachers in the district - I've been told I can take off a day in the future as compensation) on assessment, teaching strategies, etc. All good stuff, especially for my assistant teacher who does not come from an education background, but taught in the JET program for three years in Japan. After two days of teaching jargon and "stuff", she said to me, "Wow, I wish I had learned all of this before I went to Japan. It would have been really useful. I had to teach these professional development sessions to Japanese teachers, and I had no idea what to teach them." The stuff we're learning is good for these new assistants, who don't have to be certified to teach, even though they are responsible for teaching and tracking students' reading comprehension progress in ESL. Lots of responsiblity for someone that has no education background?!

I seem to be like an experienced veteran of sorts when it comes to discussing things like leveling books, standards, and curriculum maps.....all new things to teachers here in Hawai'i. I've been asked if I'm going to be an administrator one day....No, but I guess here I probably could be! In the newspaper, they're introducing the new standards-based report card schools will be using across the state this year for the first time. Up until now, they've been using the same report card since I was a student in the DOE here! So, instead of E's, S's, and N's, the students will now receive new letters...ME (Meets with Excellence), MP (Meets Proficiency), N (Approaches), and U (Well Below). WHAT?!? How confusing is that? And how did they get "N" and "U" from those words?! The spokesperson for the standards-based report card committee said how a lot of training of staff is needed to understand these report cards, but "additional training is being handled at the individual school level and there are no plans for a statewide effort." WHAT?! The administrator at my school doesn't even know what a standard is, let alone can he lead a meeting without his monotone voice and indecisiveness. The teachers are so confused, they don't even know how to grade and approach this!

Oh, and did I also mention that I have a New Teacher Orientation coming up? It's two weeks from now. Most schools will already be ending their first quarter of instruction, and here they will be having a welcome to the DOE, here's how you get fingerprinted (Gee, I hope they've figured out if there are criminals or not teaching with the students by now), welcome to Hawai'i (if you haven't already figured out that's where you are), and here are some classroom management tips on starting the first few weeks of school (Of course, now you'll have to use them next school year, since those first few crucial weeks have already passed). Why don't they have these things in the summer BEFORE school starts?!

Well, at least I'm on my way to getting my Hawai'i teaching license. I just got the last of my Praxis test results, and I've passed all six of the grueling tests (It's like taking your boards to see if you can practice law) ...So nearly $1000 in test fees and licensing fees later, I will be licensed to teach here. Does it give me a salary increase? Oh no. (Neither did all my hundreds of dollars of professional development credits I took in Seattle over the past five years....they don't accept those in Hawai'i anymore. They only accept credits taken in Hawai'i above and beyond your Master's. ...Grrrrr!) My license just gives me job security, so no one can take my job away. (Since 2/3 of Hawai'i teachers are teaching without their license anyway, since they can't pass the tests.)

Okay, enough said. If you're not already sensing the frustration in my voice, I've already learned in a month working for the DOE...That's just the way the DOE works.