Baldwin High School Teachers Meet with U.S. Secretary of Education

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan met with a group of eight American teachers, including two from , in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 17.

BHS' Keith Harrison and Nicky Kenline Lewis, according to this article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, have been involved with a number of colleagues from around the country in making recommendations for improving education in the United States.

Harrison and Lewis' meeting with Duncan came as the result of a Voices, Idea, Vision and Action initiative, or VIVA. The federal initiative is designed to allow teachers to have direct contact with the secretary.

Harrison, Lewis and the other teachers in attendance were chosen based on their teaching experience and their participation in an online VIVA forum.

According to the VIVA website, Harrison and Lewis are the only teachers on the VIVA National Task Force to represent the same state, let alone the same city area, same school district and same school. That task force is six members large and also includes teachers from The Bronx, N.Y.; Marshall, Mich.; Chicago; and Enumclaw, Wash.

Harrison has taught high-school English for 17 years, including the past decade at BHS. Lewis also teaches English. She has 10 years of classroom experience.

According to a blog post on the U.S. Department of Education website, Harrison and Lewis helped present the VIVA Project's "Voices from the Classroom" report.

Lewis speaks in that post about the impact having such an authority figure ask for teachers' input.

"It was knowing that someone was going to listen to what we had to say," Lewis says. "[It was] inspirational … I haven't been motivated like this in a really long time."

In a separate interview with the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch, Lewis said, "It was amazing to meet with Secretary Duncan. He's very down-to-Earth and approachable.

"The trip was extremely successful in that we were able to have a genuine conversation about issues that impact teachers on a daily basis."

Harrison also spoke to the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch.

"I would say that I was very satisfied that we had what I would consider to be a very authentic conversation," he said. "This was not one of those meetings where a bunch of report summaries are simply read aloud, and the response is a cursory, 'Thanks, that's interesting.'

"Secretary Duncan immediately engaged us in conversation about the recommendations we made."

Harrison says that one of "the most significant" parts of the conversation with Duncan had to do with "performance-based compensation" for teachers.

"We were able to tell the secretary that, while the teachers who posted comments on the VIVA Project website are open to dialogue on performance-based compensation, we had very serious concerns that would have to be addressed before we could sign on to any such system.

"Most importantly, we absolutely must see independent research showing that performance-based compensation actually does increase student achievement at both the elementary- and high-school levels. To date, most of the research data has not shown this at all. As classroom teachers, we are rightly expected to be able to back up our instruction with data; it is essential that our national education policies also be backed up by data.

"Additionally, we would have to ensure that any performance-based compensation system would be fair to all teachers, particularly in relation to how standardized test scores may be used to determine pay. With only a small percentage of teachers actually teaching in courses that administer standardized tests, we absolutely would have to find a way to fairly evaluate and pay those teachers, as well as the majority who do not administer those exams.

"Also, we would have to find a way to fairly evaluate both teachers who teach advanced classes and teachers who teach struggling learners, where growth is much more difficult to achieve."

Overall, both Lewis and Harrison came away with positive feelings about the meeting.

"I believe Secretary Duncan heard and understood our concerns," Harrison said. "I am very proud that Baldwin High School had two of the six teachers nationwide who were selected to participate."

"It was truly an honor to be a part of this process," Lewis said.