Teacher Evaluations: Meeting Compliance Standards at a Time of Budget Constraints

1. Teacher Evaluations:Meeting Compliance Standards at a Time of Budget Constraints John Raymond President, PowerIT john@poweritschools.com(High School History Teacher 1995-2001)

2. Teacher Evaluations:Take a look around!

3. In the News… “Teacher Evaluations” News Search: 4/4/12 Tennessee New York Connecticut Florida Wisconsin Ohio Idaho Minnesota Maine

4. In the Statehouse… "Tenure means...That a teacher has received (i) two exemplary ratings on an evaluation conducted pursuant to section 10-151b..." Governor’s Bill no. 24 Connecticut General Assembly (3/23/12) http://www.cga.ct.gov/2012/TOB/S/2012SB-00024-R00-SB.htm

5. In the Statehouse… “A salary increase for a teacher employed by a school corporation on or after the date this subsection takes effect must be based primarily on student academic performance…” Indiana S.B. 0001, 117th General Assembly (2011):http://www.in.gov/legislative/bills/2011/SB/SB0001.1.html

6. In the Statehouse… “I am proud to sign these groundbreaking education reform bills into law…We have replaced traditional tenure with an evaluation system that allows for the removal of ineffective teachers from the classroom…” Gov. Sandoval speaking on Nevada AB 225, 229, 76th Session (6/15/11) http://gov.nv.gov/news/item/4294971628/

7. Race to the Top (RTT) The “Widget Effect” study by TNTP Clarity on impact teacher of teacher effectiveness on student learning Political and economic climate: Backlash against LIFO How’d we get here?The “Perfect” Storm: 2009-2012

8. How’d we get here? Race to The Top (RTT) “…to access this money, we seek your commitment to the following four essential areas of reform: 1) Making improvements in teacher effectiveness and ensuring that all schools have highly qualified teachers…” Secretary Arnie Duncan, April 1, 2009 Letter to Governors

9. How’d we get here? Race to The Top (RTT) (RTT Redux?) ESEA Waivers – anyone here from a waiver state?

10. How’d we get here? The “Widget Effect” Study • Nearly all teachers are rated goodor great • Excellence goes unrecognized • Professional development is inadequate • Novice teachers are neglected • Poor performance goes unaddressed The New Teacher Project: The Widget Effect: http://widgeteffect.org/overview/

11. Impact of Teacher Effectiveness on Student Achievement: Marzano, R., Marzano, J., and Pickering, D. Classroom Management That Works. Retrieved from: http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/103027/chapters/The-Critical-Role-of-Classroom-Management.aspx How’d we get here?

12. “As for tenure…there should be NO tenure. WHY should a teacher get tenure when your average everyday person that works does not get tenure?” -forum contributor, 2008 http://www.topix.com/forum/education/edu-etc/T8D7PFSQFK9I496GB/p82 How’d we get here? Political and economic climate: Backlash against LIFO(Last In, First Out)

13. “The anti-LIFO laws have become so pervasive that even a union known for its recalcitrance on the issue (NEA) is advancing the teacher evaluation debate.” (2/21/12) -Joy Resmovitz Huffington Post http://www.patersonea.org/PEA/Home_files/PEA%20News%20for%20February%2021%202012.pdf How’d we get here? Political and economic climate: Backlash against LIFO(Last In, First Out)

14. Contrast:What are some chief characteristics of the old and the new approaches to evaluating teachers? The Makeup of Teacher Evaluations

15. Contrast - Adjectives: The Makeup of Teacher Evaluations • New: • Data-driven • Thorough • Controversial • Process-heavy • Old: • Superficial (Drive-bys) • Quick • Pointless • Pro-forma

16. Characteristics:One Criterion: What are we measuring? • Old Emphasis: InputsTeacher certificate; participation in professional development activities • New Emphasis: Outputs/Performancestudent achievement, professional conduct, teaching skills (emphasis on demonstration not simply participation)

17. New Characteristics:A shift to standards Indiana’s RISE Rubrichttp://www.doe.in.gov/sites/default/files/educator-effectiveness/draft-teacher-effectiveness-rubric_1.pdf Rubrics – Frameworks – Standards – InstrumentsRISE – DPAS II – InTASC – PDAS

18. New Characteristics:A shift to standards • “You’re talking about hundreds of student-learning objectives” • Superintendent Scott G. MartzloffWilliamsville Public Schools, NY http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/amherst/article773550.ece

19. New Characteristics:More data points than before • Student growth data • Formal observations • Multiple walk-throughs/informal observations • Peer observation • Self-assessment • Student and parent surveys • Can you think of others?

20. New Characteristics:Other possible components • Mentoring/Instructional Rounds • PLCs • Tracking of PD activity • Evaluator training • Third-party validation

21. The flies in the ointment • “Value Added” component • The Implementation Bottleneck

22. The flies in the ointment Value-Added • Rhode Island: 51% of teacher evaluation will be based on student achievement growth; RIDE decides measures • New York: 40% of teacher evaluation must be based on student learning growth, including 20% standardized test scores • Louisiana H.B. 1033: Student academic growth to count for 50% of a teacher’s evaluation • Tennessee First to the Top Act of 2010: Enacted a framework for teacher and principal evaluations with 50% based on student achievement

23. The flies in the ointment Value-Added “A major report by the RAND Corporation concluded that:  The research base is currently insufficient to support the use of VAM for high-stakes decisions about individual teachers or schools…” Strauss, V. (2011, Sept. 15). Getting Teacher Evaluation Right. The Washington Post. Retrieved from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/getting-teacher-evaluation-right/2011/09/15/gIQAPzs9UK_blog.html

24. December 1, 2011:“For me, Component 5 - the one component that outweighs all others - will be based on the scores of tests for two subjects that I do not teach and on scores from many students who I do not teach nor have I ever taught.” • Frederika Jenner, President • Delaware State Education Association http://blogs.delawareonline.com/delawareed/2011/12/delaware-continues-to-work-on-new-teacher-evaluation-system/ February 12, 2012:“…we have confirmed with the Governor's Office that schoolwide student test scores will not be used for individual educator evaluation this year, next year or beyond.” http://www.dsea.org/Accountability/DPASII.html The flies in the ointment Value-Added

25. The flies in the ointmentThe implementation bottleneck

26. Implementation What’s Involved?

27. Implementation What’s involved in a “model” case? • Self-assessment • Goal-setting meeting with evaluator • Formal observation • Up to five supplementary observations • Collection of evidentiary artifacts • Official forms with workflow • Evaluatee (teacher) comments • Professional development/growth opportunities • Mid-year meeting • End-of-year meeting • Reporting

28. Implementation What’s Involved? "It's making my head spin trying to understand it and you can just imagine how hard it will be trying to implement it" - Marc Bruno, Teacher Riverside High School, Buffalo, NY http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/162155/13/Deadline-Hours-Away-For-Teacher-Evaluation-Plan

29. The flies in the ointment Lots of Data + Lots of Process + One person’s responsibility = Bottleneck

30. Solutions? • Value Added? • Implementation?

31. For Implementation… • Commitment from school board & administration • Buy-in from key constituencies • Evaluator training • Data management system

32. Data Systems What can they do? • Streamline observations and data collection • Protect evaluation data against loss • Facilitate targeted professional growth • Build reports (Individual, Building, Peer Group, District-wide) • Manage schedules of observations and meetings/conferences • Capture required forms and provide workflow systems • Manage evidentiary artifacts • Provide evaluation summary • Track teacher growth year-to-year

33. Data Systems What can they do? • Let’s Take a Look!

34. Data Systems and Implementation “Theimplementationof observation criteria and tools ultimately matters more than their design.” -The New Teacher Project

35. Teacher Evaluations • Potential to improve teaching • Potential to improve learning outcomes • Potential to reinvigorate the K-12 teaching profession by increasing accountability over time

36. Teacher Evaluations The key word… “Potential”

37. Fulfilling the Potential of Teacher Evaluations • Legislators pass good laws • DoEs interpret those laws with wisdom and consensus • District leaders make the necessary commitments in terms of training and resources • School leaders (“in the trenches”) have access to effective data management tools

38. Thank You! John Raymond, President PowerIT john@poweritschools.com www.poweritschools.com www.eval3d.com