Recognizing all that teachers do

Recognizing all that teachers do

David Uminski
Principal, Oakmont Regional High School

To some people, they unfairly try to disparage teachers with talk of summers off, six-and-a-half hour workdays, etc. 

The truth is that teachers have an extremely challenging job, a job that warrants our respect and appreciation. I have been out of the classroom for nearly nine years, and I know that teaching today is a far more complicated, demanding, and challenging profession than it was years ago. 

At Oakmont Regional High School, teachers are inundated with the demands of local, state and federal requirements. 

This year alone, our teachers are preparing for our decennial accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, which is rightly very rigorous and time consuming. Teachers are required to document evidence that we meet seven standards that are characteristics of excellent schools. The standards cover the areas of Core Values and Learner Expectations, Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment, Culture and Leadership, School Resources and Community Resources. 


Our self-study process began two years ago and will culminate with an accreditation visit by a NEASC team of educators in November of 2014. 

We owe it to our students, families, and communities to attain the highest level of accreditation possible, but it will take many hours of hard work over and above the requirements of teaching classes every day.

The teacher evaluation system has also changed in Massachusetts. The responsibility of evaluation has placed a greater burden on each teacher. Teachers are now required to self-assess their teaching practices and the academic growth of their students.  

Each educator must develop measureable goals that address areas of concern and then collect evidence to support the accomplishment of their goals. In addition, teachers must gather evidence that meets four different standards that contain 16 indicators and 33 elements.

The Standards include Curriculum, Planning, and Assessment; Teaching All Students; Family and Community Engagement; and Professional Culture. The evaluation still includes classroom observations, but more emphasis and time is now required by teachers to demonstrate proficiency in the standards, elements, and indicators.

Additionally, the Department of Secondary and Elementary Education has adopted the Common Core Curriculum. The Common Core varies in some ways from the previous Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. Many school districts employ Curriculum Coordinators to help institute and monitor curricula changes, we do not in our district.  Our teachers are solely responsible for modifying and implementing these new curriculum requirements.

The federal Department of Education has also directed the DESE to require all teachers to complete 45 hours of training to teach English Language Learner  students, whose primary language is not English. 

As a district, all of our teachers devote a vast number of hours to further their professional practice both during the school year and summer. The Ashburnham-Westminster Teachers Association recently polled its members. Eighty-one of our teachers, kindergarten through high school, responded. They reported 4,087 hours of attendance at professional development workshops, graduate courses, Common Core curriculum alignment, creating new curriculum, and curriculum mapping. This past summer Oakmont teachers participated in a number of professional development workshops, conferences and graduate courses in all areas of our content curriculum areas.

Then there is the constant concern of school safety. It seems that every week, there is a news story of violence in schools, airports, malls and other public places. The most important responsibility of our teachers is to make our students safe. 

New school initiatives give more decision-making and responsibility to our teachers to protect our students. We are seeing a steady increase in reports of students with unique social and emotional needs. Teachers are not only responsible for meeting the mental health needs of those students, but they are also responsible for meeting their academic needs.

There is no doubt that the NEASC process, the new teacher evaluation, the adoption of Common Core, and the new ELL initiatives have value that will result in improved teaching and learning in our school. However, they are all happening at the same time. 

All the while, we still expect our teachers, on a daily basis, to plan and teach lessons that will prepare our students for their role in a global economy, to develop the 21stcentury skills of creativity, collaboration and problem-solving. We also expect our teachers to support, guide, and encourage young adults, which we know they do very well each day. 

Being a teacher can be a rewarding professional experience. But it is not easy. As the saying goes, “If the mountain was smooth, no one could climb it.” It takes a special person to be a teacher. However, we must still recognize and appreciate the demands required of the profession. We are fortunate to have this group of professionals serving our children and community, but we must also understand that our teachers need support to continue to excel at the important work with which they’re tasked. The future of our young people, our communities, and our nation depend on it.

(David Uminski is the principal at Oakmont Regional High School in Ashburnham.)