Promising Teacher Evaluation Models NGA Center for Best Practices Policy Forum on Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness Providence, Rhode Island July 18, 2011
The Widget Effect When it comes to measuring instructional performance, current policies and systems overlook significant differences between teachers. There is little or no differentiation of excellent teaching from good, good from fair, or fair from poor. This is the Widget Effect: a tendency to treat all teachers as roughly interchangeable, even when their teaching is quite variable. Consequently, teachers are not developed as professionals with individual strengths and capabilities, and poor performance is rarely identified or addressed. The New Teacher Project, 2009 2
By May 2011, 17 states had passed or proposed legislation to improve teacher evaluations and reverse the widget effect. States passing or proposing legislation substantially improving their teacher evaluation systems (May 2011) DE 18 million students stand to benefit from the changes. That s more than all 9 th -12 th grade students in the U.S. Passed legislation Proposed legislation State participant in The Widget Effect The New Teacher Project 2011 3
The Rhode Island Model evaluates teachers and building administrators using multiple measures beginning SY 2011-2012. Teachers and building administrators participate in 3 evaluation conferences with their evaluator and are observed at least 4 times per year (minimum of 1 long, announced and 3 short, unannounced). Student Learning Rhode Island Growth Model and/or Student Learning Objectives Professional Practice Knowledge and skills from RI teaching & leadership standards Individual ratings in each of these components will be combined to produce a final, summative evaluation rating of: Highly Effective, Effective, Developing, or Ineffective. Professional Responsibilities Contributions as a member of the school /learning community Educators from over 23 LEAs and organizations participated in the creation of the system, (including field testing of the model in select sites). 4
In Indiana s RISE model, a teacher s summative rating is based on two components. PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE Indiana Teacher Effectiveness Rubric Instruction 2 extended observations 3 short observations Leadership Records of events or activities, evidence of conferences, PD etc. Planning Plans, materials, assessments, record keeping systems, etc. 10% 15% 75% Core Professionalism Attendance, timeliness, respect, policies and procedures Lowers rating by one if not met STUDENT LEARNING Individual Growth Model Data A statistical measure of the amount an individual teacher s students have grown Student Learning Objectives Targets of student growth and achievement set at the start of the school year that teachers and students work towards throughout year. School-wide Learning Measure School-wide Growth Model data for elementary and intermediate schools or a measure aligned to accountability policy for high schools 5
Houston ISD s appraisal & development system will evaluate each teacher s performance based on multiple measures in three performance criteria. Student Performance Three Major Performance Criteria Student Performance: Teacher s impact on student learning Instructional Practice Instructional Practice: Teacher s skills and knowledge that help promote student learning Professional Expectations Professional Expectations: Teacher s efforts to meet objective, measurable standards of professionalism Teachers will be evaluated based on multiple measures in each performance criterion. The scores in the three criteria will combine into an overall rating of Ineffective, Needs Improvement, Effective, or Highly Effective. 6
DCPS s IMPACT system is meant to be more than an evaluation tool. Teaching and Learning is at the heart of the Effective Schools Framework. The Framework is aligned to the district s overarching Master Education Plan. The six elements of The Framework are the foundational elements of district reform efforts at the school level. IMPACT is a primary tool of reform, designed to put classroom instruction and teachers at the center of the conversation. The Framework was designed to meet simple, yet powerful goals. Fairly and accurately assess teacher effectiveness. Improve practice by establishing clear expectations while providing meaningful support. Be as manageable and straightforward as possible easy to understand and execute. 7
New Haven Public Schools Teacher Evaluation System Highlights. NHPS new model for teacher evaluation and development is designed to: Incorporate student growth as measured by objective assessments as a significant factor in evaluations, with a clearly defined plan to be able to collect such data for the vast majority of classroom teachers within the next several years; Allow administrators to provide frequent, concrete feedback to teachers about their performance against a clear, detailed performance rubric, through multiple classroom observations and a mid-year review of student data and teacher performance; Use the peer review process in an innovative way, using third party experts not affiliated with the district or the union as a norming mechanism to validate administrator judgments for teachers rated as exemplary or needs improvement ; Ensure all teachers are have evaluation and development conferences every year, as the foundation of a professional learning relationship with their manager; and Recognize, with real consequences, both outstanding and poor performance. 8 The New Teacher Project 2009 8
Sample District Report: District ratings based on differential retention rates. 9
For more information: www.tntp.org 10