Supervision of Instruction

1. Supervision of Instruction

2. Supervision vs. Evaluation

3. Flawed System One-room Schoolhouse Legacy: • Lack of dialogue about instruction • Lack of involvement in school-wide curriculum and instructional decisions • Lack of shared technical culture • Conservatism • Isolation • Psychological dilemma and frustration • Routine • Inadequate induction of beginning teachers • Unstaged career Glickman, C. D., Gordon S. P. & Ross-Gordon, J. M. (1998). Supervision of instruction: A development approach (4th ed.).

4. Flawed System-Continued • Outdated, limited, evaluative criteria • Lack of precision in evaluating performances • Hierarchical, one-way communication • No differentiation between novice and experienced practitioners • Few shared values and assumptions about good teaching • Danielson, C. & McGreal, T. L.(2000). Teacher evaluation: To enhance professional practice.

5. What is the Connection?? Student Achievement School Improvement Professional Development Teacher Evaluation

6. Purposes of Supervision • Provide constructive feedback • Recognize and help reinforce outstanding performance/service • Provide direction for staff development • Provide evidence that will withstand professional and judicial scrutiny • Aid in terminating incompetent, unproductive personnel • Unify teachers, administrators in collective efforts to educate students • Enhance teacher belief in “cause beyond oneself,” complement each other’s work, plan common purposes and actions • Promote teachers’ sense of efficacy • Screen out unqualified staff- certification, selection • Danielson & McGreal (2000); Glickman, C.D., Gordon, S. P. & Ross-Gordon, J. M.(1998)Supervision of instruction:A developmental approach (4th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Viacom Co.

7. Impact of Evaluations • Credibility of evaluator as a source of feedback • Quality of ideas in feedback • Depth of information • Persuasiveness of rationale for improvement • Usefulness of suggestions • Trustworthiness of evaluation • Helping relationship with teacher • Evaluator’s capacity to model suggestions • Evaluator’s technical knowledge of teaching • Evaluator’s familiarity with teacher’s classroom students

8. Nine Major Characteristics of Clinical Supervision • A technology for improving instruction • A deliberate intervention into the instructional process • Goal-oriented • Professional working relationship: teachers-supervisors • Requires a high degree of mutual trust • Systematic but flexible and continuously changing • Productive, healthy tension between real and ideal • Supervisor knows instruction, learning, human interaction • Requires preservice and continuous inservice reflection • Goldhammer, Anderson, and Krajewski (1993) as cited in textbook

9. Clinical Supervision • What is Clinical Supervision? • Formative cycle(s) • Planning conference • Observation • Data analysis • Goal setting conference (post observation) • Summative Conference • Discuss entire formative cycle and all data relative to 8 Iowa Standards or job description • Make a judgment about the employee

10. Each Clinical Cycle Planning Conference Classroom observation & Analysis Collaborative Reflective Feedback Conference Sullivan, S. & Glanz, J. (2000). Supervision that improves teaching.

11. Planning Conference • Select observation date/time • Describe the lesson-identify teacher objectives • Describe student behaviors • Describe monitoring techniques, accommodations, resources • Discuss problem areas, concerns • Agree upon observer’s role and identify data to be collected • Select observation instruments • Iowa Standards, criteria and descriptors • What other information do you need?

12. You need to decide on your role, data to be collected, observation instruments. Wide lens-all actions, verbal Narrow Lens: Time on Task chart Narrow lens-Selective Verbatim Teacher verbal behaviors-questions Student responses/questions Narrow lens-Verbal Flow Interaction chart-actions Staff development strategies Cooperative learning Hunter’s steps Gardner’s Observation Techniques

13. Wide Lens • Capture and record a large number of teaching phenomena • Make few prior assumptions about what is important • Is good starting point in supervising teachers • Anecdotal record-NOT judgmental • Script taping

14. Wide Lens • Lesson Design • Obj • Modeling • Structuring and clarifying • Checking for understanding • Practicing • Transitions, Summarizing

15. Wide Lens • Beginning of lesson • End of lesson • Changes in content • Changes in methodology • Activities

16. Narrow Lens-Selective Verbatim • Word for word • Written record of what is said-verbatim transcript • Advantages: • Focuses attention of vocabulary, questions • Factual, objective • Simple to use • Is this your purpose?

17. Selective Verbatim-Narrow Lens • Teacher questions: • Kinds (cognitive level), amount of information, redirection, probing, multiple, frequency, clarity • Student questions and responses: kinds of questions, when do the questions occur, kinds of responses • Teacher feedback • Amount, variety, specificity,effective praise • Structuring statements, discipline

18. Verbal Flow-Narrow Lens • Who is talking to whom? • Not as concerned with content, but with who is talking-

19. Supervisor Equipment Needs • Depending on the observational technique, the supervisor may need to use: • Seating chart-(on task behaviors, interaction chart, selective verbatim, verbal flow, action chart) • Room design-(space utilization, action chart) • Timeline coding-(wide lens, on task behaviors, selective verbatim, verbal flow) • Cooperative Learning chart • Hunter’s steps chart • Others

20. Data Collection/Analysis • Examine notes and scripts for patterns • Teacher behavior • Objectives, assessments • Questioning techniques, cues • Reinforcement • Student interaction: frequency, quality

21. Data Collection/Analysis Be careful of bias Bias cause a supervisor to unconsciously “screen” or filter out certain information or impressions if he/she is unaware of the bias. What are the different types of bias that may come into play? How can you avoid bias?

22. Common Errors in Data Collection • Failing to document relevant details • Evaluating based on personal traits or attitudes (“love of teaching”) rather than performance of actual duties • Failing to follow timelines set by district policy • Failing to use multiple sources of data • Using test or other data inappropriately

23. Feedback Conference

24. Feedback Conference • Make arrangements prior to conference • Provide teacher with an opportunity for self-reflection • Inform teacher of any needed materials for the conference (e.g. portfolio, lesson plans, student work samples, Iowa standards an criteria) • Review notes (e.g. observation, student achievement data) • Review any job expectations, Iowa Standards & criteria, relevant data • Prepare questions

25. Quality of Feedback Characteristics of feedback were identified to be correlated to the perceived quality and impact of teacher evaluation: Quality of ideas Depth of information Specificity of information Descriptive, not judgmental Timing of feedback Feedback linked to standards Frequency of formal and informal feedback

26. Types of Questions Objective-getting facts, sensory impressions, information Reflective-personal reactions, associations, emotions, images Interpretive-meaning, values, significance, purpose, implications Decisional-resolution, action, future direction, next steps, growth

27. Data Points and Data Sources The data points are evidence. They are the types of information collected. The data sources are origin of the information Data points provide information concerning a question that you have relative to the standards and criteria. Is this teacher performing at the required level? The more data sources a supervisor has, the broader and clearer the picture becomes—the clearer the answer to your question. Without data—the supervisor’s judgment becomes only opinion.

28. Data Points and Data Sources Sources & Data

29. Career I Teachers Performance Review (Summative Evaluation) At least once every three years. (Can be more frequent.) Foundation of evaluation is 8/42 (any additional-remember Waterloo case) The Performance Review shall include at a minimum, classroom observation of the teacher, the teacher’s progress, and implementation of the teacher’s individual career development plan; shall include supporting documentation from evaluators, teachers, parents, and students; and may include video portfolios as evidence of teaching practices.

30. Career Teacher The years when the teachers are not going through their Performance Review, they will be required to have an annual conversation with the evaluator. This is the annual review. The Annual Review is a conversation with the evaluator so that the teacher can demonstrate progress relative to the Individual Career Development Plan.

31. Intensive Assistance The marginal teachers are those (2-5%) who are experiencing difficulty meeting the standards. The marginal teachers could be those teachers who are experiencing some personal/professional trauma which has affected their teaching. The marginal teachers could be those teachers who are not performing well and are coasting. The incompetent teachers are those teachers who are poorly skilled and unable to improve upon the teaching.

32. Intensive Assistance If a supervisor or an evaluator determines, at any time, as a result of a teacher’s performance that the teacher is not meeting district expectations under the Iowa teaching standards…,paragraphs “a” through “g,” the model criteria for the Iowa teaching standards developed by the department…, or any other standards or criteria established in the collective bargaining agreement, the evaluator shall, a the direction of the teacher’s supervisor, recommend to the district that the teacher participate in an intensive assistance program…” JULY 1, 2004 (revised –”a-h”)

33. Intensive Assistance Intensive Assistance means the provision of organizational support and technical assistance to teachers, other than beginning teachers, for the remediation of identified teaching and classroom management concerns for a period not to exceed twelve months.

34. Intensive Assistance • Evaluators must give teachers NEAT • Notice of identified concerns • Explicitly describe the severity of the concerns and the future of the teacher. • Assistance -offer organizational support and technical assistance • Time frame for improvement

35. Be Clear Supervisors/evaluators must be clear and explicit. Supervisors/evaluators must put into writing the specific, identified concerns. Supervisors/evaluators must put into writing the severity and future of the teacher. 9/10 will not go to litigation—either they will “fix” the problems or decide to leave

36. Make Sure… • Read the district policy on evaluations. • Read the contract. • Examine the instrument carefully. • Be clear, explicit, specific in writing and verbally. • Do not send mixed messages.

37. What Do You Think? You are a conscientious, caring, and hardworking teacher. Your students love you. They enjoy being in your classroom. It might be helpful if you organized your classes, had lesson plans and maintained better control of your classroom. Your disorganized style keeps students from understanding your desired learning outcomes. Substitutes do not know what to do when you are gone.As we have discussed previously the number of students off task is too many and too frequent.

38. What Do You Think? You must become better organized, have prepared lesson plans in advance, and gain control of you classroom. This concern has been discussed with you on previous occasions (Oct. 17, Nov 5, Jan12, Jan 27) and I deem this a serious matter. If there is not sufficient improvement as we have discussed, I will be forced to recommend in March that your contract not be renewed. Your lesson plans are to be submitted to me by this Friday, Feb. 28 for next week.