Measuring Teaching Excellence on a Ward Basis

When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates” — Thomas S. Monson

This quote was recently shared in my ward. I overheard one person whisper, “…because that’s when people start lying” to which another person responded, “…or when people start doing things just to avoid feeling shame.”

For my day of rest I might appreciate retreating to a community where I feel like I’m not being constantly measured.

I don’t have anything against measuring and being measured, it’s what people do, but all the measuring we do in the church makes it feel like an extension of the secular world of business. I don’t need more of that on my day away from the pressures.

a) Do you think it’s important for Wards to have measures in place to determine whether they are being effective in their teaching on Sunday?

b) If so, how might you implement a measurement system that isn’t offensive to good-hearted volunteers?

Maybe, but make it indirect measures like average class attendance. All it would probably take is a good teacher attending a class for a few weeks to offer up constructive criticism. Make it an opt-in program. Do you want feedback, yes? no?

Side note:

In one ward I belonged to there was a teacher that wasn’t doing it for me. I craftily asked other people without directly asking and found that many people in the class absolutely loved that particular teacher’s style. What works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another. It was about more than me. If I wanted a change in the instruction I was receiving I’d have to look inside to make those changes.

Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.

(I’m actually rather proud of the fact that I once shot that back at the “when performance is measured” quote once in HC meeting.)

I echo the fear of measuring. We already guilt and overuse free labor too much. No system put in will succeed. Yes the measurement might look good, but I keep reading your personal frustration with how you were treated when you were being measured. Your own personal burn out. A new system would do that for someone else.

I am a strong believer in modeling what I hope to see. And am equally a strong believer in lavish compliments bring better success.

I appreciate as a leader wanting a stellar organization. Whether I am a boss or a pastor. Stellar looks good to those around us. It has purpose. It also feeds ego.

Our church is hurting right now in the department of love. We spend very little time creating a measurement or real style for love. We don’t nurture, hug, honor, or rejoice in each other enough. In my experience people grow to their best when we love them as we wish we had been loved.

So pull a surprise. Bring flowers to a teacher. Homemade goodies with a kind note. Verbally talk about the good they do in public and private. Then watch it grow. Teach the Bishop to do the same. You may even have to lower your compliment to simple gratitude that Bro. So and So shows up every week. He maybe a lousy teacher, but he didn’t chose it. If all he does is sit in a room and read out of a manual be exceedingly generous in your public and private gratitude of his effort. As a bridge of confidence builds ask him one day what his favorite part of teaching is. Maybe he has none. If he says he hates it. Thank him for his efforts. In the long run that will change the classroom more than anything.

We all know the lessons. We have had them for 30 years. We get them in church, at seminary, in FHE, in Firesides. We do not lack for instruction. We lack for love. It is the first and great commandment.

This reminds me of a thread I posted a few years ago when I was trying to address the tremendous lack of commitment and frustration I felt with volunteerism in the church. With people I worked with over the years. I was recruiting volunteers in a non-profit and wanted to get ideas about possible interview questions I could use to heighten commitment and prevent the lack lustre results I was used to seeing in the church. Since we had all volunteered in the church at some point, your perspectives were valuable.

People were overwhelmingly negative about any kind of process that was meant to heighten commitment, weed out people who would agree to accept positions, but do very little (or worse yet, quit when you need them the most). In my view, there was a strong neglect of the leaders’ interests — to not have their time wasted orienting people, getting them resources, only to find the people never had an interest in the calling in the first place.

I eventually figured out a process that worked beautifully. StayLDS posters’ initial negativity toward expectations of any kind, and the process didn’t deter me from pressing forward, experimenting and eventually coming up with something. Something that respected the time and generosity of volunteers, while ensuring they actually performed. In other words, balancing the needs of volunteers and the needs of leaders for good use of their own time, as well as the achievement of organizational interests.

So, in spite of the fact people don’t like measurement, I want to try to duplicate that success previously, but making some measurement suggestions. In a way that is kind but also gives local Wards and teachers much needed feedback to help us improve the Sunday experience. Remember, all of us would be beneficiaries by having more interesting and spiritually uplifting lessons — if we can only figure out how to measure and improve teaching in a way that respects the goodheartedness of our teachers, while giving us feedback for improvement.

Could you tell me what you think of these ideas?

1. Do a Ward-wide survey that people do online, or on paper at church, and submit anonymously to a box in the lobby. This survey would ask them what kind of class they attend during Sunday School generally (adult, youth), the extent to which they look forward to their classes, whether they come away feeling spiritually uplifted, whether they would recommend the Sunday School experience to others in their age category. Not sure about primary at this point. I’m not sure if the primary kids would be good survey takers.

2. Encourage teachers to distribute a feedback sheet to their class if they want, for their use only, at the end of their classes. This could ask questions such as:

a) Which part of the lesson did you find most uplifting today?

b) Which part of the lesson (if any) was not uplifting for you?

c) What would you recommend I start doing?

d) What would you recommend I stop doing?

Give them a menu of possible questions to ask people at the end of the class, who submit it all to an anonymous box in the class. Teachers keep the data and it never goes to leaders, unless teachers want to share it with them. Teachers could also share the information anonymously with leaders. But with the understanding that the information is used to drive the facilitator’s preparation for Teacher Council Meetings

3. You could track total attendance in each class. If classes are growing, it can mean a number of things, one of which is good teaching. It can also mean shifting demographics in the Ward, too — so it’s hard to know whether a growing class is due to good teaching or not.

4. Use observations. Ask teachers if it’s OK for Sunday School teachers to attend their classes from time to time. Ask teachers if they want feedback from these visits or not. If not, the Sunday School can still do their own assessment of how the class went after the class is over, and aggregate the data. Use that data to find themes that can be used to drive agendas at the teacher council meetings and track progress over time.

They key is to do class-specific measurement that is shared with the teachers and leaders only if they give permission to do so. In the absence of permission, get the feedback on a global basis from the Ward, or use sources of data that are readily available through existing data collection.

Thoughts?

It would give the teacher positive feedback, and they may try to do better to get more positive feedback. Then even if they didn’t do as well, they won’t get negative feedback, but i’m sure they’ll notice the less positive feedback and may try better the next week.

That’s a great idea. One book I read on measurement said that an orchestra would judge its performance quality by the number of standing ovations they received on tour. So, this is a built-in way of getting that similar kind of measurement.

One problem in our church is that people are somewhat programmed to give positive reinforcement even when it’s not really due. We’ve all heard “good talk” even when the talk wasn’t all the great. I never know if the feedback is sincere or not. But I still think the ideas has legs.

I am looking for more feedback on the 4 options I gave and new options like AlwaysThinking provided. Thanks!

Bravo AP! Bravo. Love the idea.

Snowballs chance in hell, but the idea is great.

I already do it a bit during SS hour. Go visit the librarian, catch a few folks that skip out after SM and chat with them about their latest hobby.

A couple things he suggested were maybe all the teachers (or anyone who has taught in the past few months) get together maybe on a Saturday afternoon or something and someone provides donuts and they all share ideas for ways that they prepare lessons, what things have worked for their classes, what things they liked that past teachers did, etc. Just to have a fun get together where they all can share their ideas and eat food.

Exchange chicken salad recipes…

:angel: