Supervision and evaluation

The PowerPoint presentation satisfies the following Part II components:
*Reflection on how the supervision and evaluation process can improve
student learning.
*Reflection on how the supervision and evaluation process can build
professional learning communities. What is the professional development plan for your
school?
*Reflection on the texts and articles used with this project and how they
informed you work. What systems thinking could you apply to the evaluation and
supervision process.
I have built this presentation around this portion of the assignment, so that it might
become something I could use in the future to define my vision for the
supervision/evaluation process at my future school. Too often, I think teachers are
unclear about what a principal hopes to achieve through this process other than the
simple rating/identification of a teacher eligible for retention or monitoring. Through
the use of this PowerPoint (which will undoubtedly be updated throughout my career),
my hope is that teachers will gain a clear understanding of what I hope to accomplish
through the supervision/evaluation process. This PowerPoint includes slides that
contain paragraphs summarizing what I would say to my staff. During an actual
presentation, those slides would be removed.
Purpose of this Slideshow

How does the supervision and evaluation process benefit
students and the teachers?
*guides professional development
*builds professional learning communities
around professional development
objectives
*improves instructional practices
*improves student learning
Supervision and Evaluation

Guides Professional Development
“Education is a human enterprise. The essence
of successful instruction and good schools comes from
the thoughts and actions of the professionals in the
schools. So, if one is to look for a place to improve the
quality of education in a school, a sensible place to look
is the continuous education of educators—that is,
professional development.” (Glickman, 2012)

How does Supervision and Evaluation
Impact/Guide Professional Development?
*Adults need to receive feedback on how they are doing
and the results of their efforts. Opportunities must be built
into professional development activities that allow the
learner to practice the learning and receive structured,
helpful feedback. (Speck, 1996)
* Transfer of learning for adults is not automatic and must
be facilitated. Coaching and other kinds of follow-up
support are needed to help adult learners transfer learning
into daily practice so that it is sustained. (Speck, 1996)

What will the Supervision/Evaluation/Professional
Development dynamic look like?
*A Safe Environment
*Interactive Conversations About Learning
*High Level of Reflection
*Goal Setting

Developing a Safe Environment
* Open Door Policy for Ongoing Conversations
* Suggestions and New Information Welcome
* Teachers as Experts
* Teachers as Leaders
* A Place for Reflection
* Democratic Community

The Importance of a Safe Environment to Professional Development
Just as teachers strive to create safe and welcoming environments in their classrooms, so must
supervisors strive to create the same environment for teachers. We teach our students to be
comfortable taking risks, to be themselves, and to make mistakes in an environment that encourages
learning from those mistakes. Teachers deserve the same level of encouragement and understanding.
It is important for supervisors to begin the process of developing a safe environment by extending
themselves to their teachers in an open way. An open door policy allows teachers the luxury of feeling
as though they are working with a leader who is open to discussion, new ideas, and help when needed.
That feeling can then carry over into staff meetings, professional development, and PLCs if it is
discussed openly as an accepted practice.
Important to this mission of developing a safe environment for open dialogue will be the development
of norms for all conversations early on in the year. Once these are agreed upon, successful
conversations can occur that allow for risk taking, acceptance of others’ ideas that may be different
from our own, and respect for each other as professionals. We are now working at the highest level of
collegiality, working towards common goals and reinventing who we are and what we do.
A safe work environment then moves to the next phase of development as a supervisor or leader is not
viewed as a “power” with all the influence and decision-making ability. According to Glickman,
“Teachers participate in leadership preparation programs and assist other teachers by assuming one or
more leadership roles (workshop presenter, cooperating teacher, mentor, expert coach, instructional
team leader, curriculum developer). The teacher–leader not only assists other teachers but also
experiences professional growth as a result of being involved in leadership activities.” When teachers
are dealt with as experts and as leaders in their building, they feel more empowered.

(continued)
In a “safe” school, teachers are seen as professional experts, not only to the parents and students, but to one
another. The skill sets are tracked and their leadership training documented, so that a supervisor knows who
to turn to for assistance with certain initiatives. When the supervisor gives value to these individuals in the
building and turns teachers toward those experts, teachers feel their value to the community and are not quick
to depart from it.
Also, it is important to develop a professional community of reflective teachers. Again, this reflection may
need to be modeled and specifically taught to staff members. If the supervisor has already demonstrated open
conversations with established norms and risk-taking endeavors, hopefully, staff members will have begun to
feel safe enough to reflect on their teaching practices and how they can strengthen themselves as
professionals. “Self-evaluation can be an important part of the formative evaluation process for teachers
functioning at moderate or high levels of development, expertise, and commitment.” (Glickman, 2012) Only
through the practice of self-evaluation and reflection can teachers experience the highest levels of success in
their professional careers.
Once all teachers feel as though they have leadership that they can turn to, an environment where they feel as
though they are accepted as themselves as developing professionals, and a place where teachers are viewed
as experts with skill sets to share, a democracy is established that affords them a clear voice in all decision-
making that affects the school, their career, and their students. This decision-making power is no more
apparent than how it exists in professional development decisions. What teachers will choose to work on,
improve upon, and receive training for will now by decided by the democratic whole. Teachers will know that
professional development and PLCs are areas where risks can be made, new ideas can emerge, and genuine
reflection and learning can take place. The added benefit is that in a culture of leadership, educational growth,
and respect, teachers now have a model to operate from that helps them teach leadership, reflection, and risk-
taking in their own classrooms.

Interactive Conversations
* Established norms
* Difficult conversations
* Conversations around Student Success/Struggle
* Inquiry

The Importance of Interactive Conversations to Professional Development
“But although thinking is, by definition, an individual activity, it is stimulated by conversation.” – Danielson, 2011
As supervisors, our teachers will be looking to us as examples for how conversations in our building should transpire. It is
important that we instruct our teachers in acceptable conversational norms and respectful collaboration. It is imperative
that I begin to have multiple conversations with my staff members early on in the year, modeling these expectations. Once
the expectations are laid out, mutual trust and understanding can begin to develop. Once that culture is set, teachers can
begin to transfer the same skills to professional development activities.
For trust to develop, authenticity is paramount in these meetings. Being “real” with one another will allow teachers to be
honest and reflective about their practices with themselves and one another. As a supervisor, it will be important for me
to model this and to acknowledge any shortcomings in my efforts as their administrator, so that they see me as never
accepting the “Everything went fine.” stance. If they hear me verbalizing things that didn’t go well in my decisions in
leading, seeking out options, redefining my goals and objectives, and instituting new approaches, they will in turn mimic
those behaviors. The hopeful result will be a working environment where teachers are comfortable peer
observing/evaluating, volunteering for assignments they know nothing about, but are willing to seek answers to, and
creating mentorship programs that will foster growth in our new teachers. We will also see teachers having rich
discussions in smaller groups about how students are developing or lagging in their skills, and accepting new ideas for how
to better serve.
It will also be important as a supervisor to teach my staff to be curious rather than certain or filled with conflict, in dealing
with one another. According to Douglas Stone’s Difficult Conversations (2010) “There’s only one way to come to
understand the other person’s story, and that’s by being curious. Instead of asking yourself, “How can they think that?!”
ask yourself, “I wonder what information they have that I don’t?”” As I model “real” conversations with my staff, they will
be encouraged to have real conversations with each other, seeking out the why’s of the ideas and strategies that they
offer to students and to each other.

Expecting a High Level of Reflection
* Take the time to question yourself
* Accept the good, the bad, and the ugly
* Encourage each other
* Reflection makes the difference

The Importance of Reflection to Professional Development
During the supervision/evaluation process, it is important for the supervisor to encourage teachers to be
reflective in their practices, so that areas for improvement for both the teacher and the school can be
determined. It is a teacher standard required by the state that encourages teachers to use reflection of their
practice to determine new goals and expectations. It is important for a supervisor to reflect on the
conversations he/she has with teachers to determine whether or not those conversations are truly informational
in nature or if they are controlling (Glickman), such that a truly informational and reflective conversation will
guide professional development choices and drive professional learning community objectives. Ongoing
professional development is inconceivable without continuous analysis and reflection. How will staff members
know what it is they would like to learn without understanding and accepting their common areas of weakness
or struggle. In this way, teachers can develop professional development opportunities based on grade-level
needs, school-wide needs, or individual needs (ie new teachers who may need more support in classroom
management strategies, or veteran teachers who may need more support with integrated use of technologies).
This will again require open conversations that are modeled by a supervisor who is secure in their own reflective
practices.
Reflective practices also help teachers become stronger models for their students and the families that they
work with. If our goal is to develop a democracy of thinking individuals who believe in the sovereign truths of
the human pursuits of happiness, life, and liberty, then it is important for individuals to be able to analyze and
identify worst and best decisions and practices, as well as why and how they came about, so that they will or will
not bear repeating. When teachers are reflective and can overcome their own fears or uncomfortabilities with a
skill, then they will be stronger at eliciting the same from their students, making all students more successful in
what it is they are learning. Students will be stronger at applying learned skills to new situations and
advocatingfor their own learning objectives.

Setting Goals
* Missions statements alignment
* District initiatives
* Unified Improvement Plans
* Teacher goals

Builds Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)
“It's up to the school leader to establish trust.
"The formal and informal leaders have to be clear that the
goal is collaboration and not competition," says the
Mattituck-Cutchogue School District's Anne Smith. "You
can't clobber people about test scores and then say, 'Let's
collaborate.' What are you doing to support the
teacher?" (Ullman, 2009)

How does the Supervision/Evaluation process impact/guide
PLCs?
Supervision/Evaluation impacts/guides PLCs in the same way as it
does Professional Development. The goal of supervision and
evaluation is to provide objective observation and insight,
leadership, assurance to all stakeholders that standards of
education are being met, professional development
opportunities, and support for the objectives of learning as
defined by teachers, students, parents, and the district.

PLC Opportunities
*Grade level team meetings
*Vertical articulation meetings
*Dedicated spaces for PLCs
*Committee meetings

Grade Level Team Meetings
* Safe, collegial conversations (norms)
* Curriculum mapping/planning
* Lesson development
* Differentiated instruction
* Collaboration
* Common practices

Vertical Articulation Meetings
* Teacher leadership
* Scope and sequence of instruction
* Age/grade awareness/enlightment
* Meeting goals and objectives

Dedicated Spaces for PLCs
* Two-three rooms/offices in the school
* “Sacred” spaces
* Resources housed here

Committees
* Student-centered
* Agreements
* Talents and skills of individuals
* Teacher leadership

How supervision and evaluation impacts student learning?
By undergoing the evaluation process and through the
development of strong relationships between the
administration and staff, stronger instructional strategies are
developed that create stronger learning environments for
students. Only through self-reflection, analysis, and inquiry
can we make ourselves a strong school, and only through
those means can we hope to effectively teach our students
the same skills.

Reflection on Professional
Development Plan
Our school’s professional development decisions are based on the school’s unified improvement plan
(UIP), our school’s mission/objectives (which align with the UIP), and the trends of the district; however,
a professional development plan does not exist. Professional development is determined by the principal
every year, and usually only a few months/weeks in advance of the actual professional development days.
In talking with my principal about the matter, he stated that he has some ideas in his head about what
needs to be done, but leaves it open due to the last minute decisions and changes that come from the
district. He was happy to see that I was doing some work on culture, as that was one of his areas of
focus, so this year, that became our first professional development. Our last professional development
was based on developing a common understanding of writing instruction practices and assessments,
which was predicated by the UIP. About 2-3 weeks prior to this last professional development day, my
principal developed a power point with some focus questions and a format for vertical articulation
among the staff. Then he spent time booking a comedian from Kaiser Permanente to come in and
present about the importance of laughter to good health, downloaded some 80’s music to play for
breaks, solicited our school secretary to come in wearing multi-colored spandex to demo the exercise
bands the district was giving us, coordinated a soup lunch, and purchased fun snacks and decorations.
Last, he made copies of common writing assessment prompts that could be used school-wide for
teachers to vote on.

“Postmodern theory warns us that the rational analyses, predictions, controls, and measurements that
make up conventional planning often are inconsistent with the multiplicity of realities and competing
interests that make up the real world. Chaos theory reminds us that, unlike traditional plans, complex
systems such as schools do not consist of simple cause-and-effect relationships, are affected by
seemingly unrelated variables inside and outside the system, and are subject to unpredictable events
and changes.” (Glickman, 2012) If I were planning professional development, I think I would probably
choose 2-3 different professional development options for the year. These focus points will be based on
community and staff feedback, district initiatives, and the all-encompassing UIP. During the summer, I
will get resource contacts, do research, and develop a list of strengths that my staff members may
possess that could help us with developing these content areas, and leading/teaching the professional
development components. As the end of summer approaches and fall begins, I will probably choose the
area that I feel we have the most resources for, and which area incorporates student impact, teacher
desire, and district/state initiative building the best. Of course, just as we do in classrooms, the
professional development itself will need to have elements of “new and exciting”, collaboration,
“quality” professional training, team-building, direct classroom application, teacher-led inquiry, and
light-hearted fun to keep my staff’s interest. Once our first professional development is complete, the
staff will need to determine action steps for implementation of skills attained (and how they can take
ownership of that), as well as action steps for future professional development and staff meetings. I
believe it’s important to maintain no more than one or two focus points for professional development in
a year, allowing your staff to cultivate creativity and depth of understanding, so that they can feel
competent in these areas by the time the year is through. This also allows them to build in their own
components for leadership, as they will continue to be instructors and facilitators for implementation
steps and connected, future professional development opportunities.
Reflection on PD (cont’d)

Some of the texts and articles that informed my work throughout the project are stated in this PowerPoint. To further
elaborate on that point, Glickman’s Basic Guide to SuperVision and Instructional Leadership was probably the most
useful throughout the quarter. The guidelines were specific to the many facets of evaluation, mapping out strategies
for supervisors in the various components of leadership to include cultural and diversity awareness, building leadership
in the school, professional development, becoming a culture of inquiry, observing and evaluating, collaboration,
developing communication styles, classifying communication strategies according to need (ie directive, non0directive,
etc.), and how to overcome the staid stereotypes and practices associated with schools and education.
Another important text that influenced this work was Danielson’s Enhancing Professional Practice. Danielson’s work
chunked the evaluation process in such as way, that a supervisor would know exactly what it is he/she is looking for
when rating teachers according to their practices. The specifics as they related to what a developing teacher looks like
in comparison to a what proficient teacher looks like, made the identification of each strand, palatable.
A third important work from the quarter was Stone’s Difficult Conversations. In this book, I learned how to identify
some of the characteristics of a conversation that is going nowhere fast, and how to incorporate some listening and
speaking skills that address the “why’s” of such conversations. This work was a perfect touchpoint to the reflections
pieces in both Danielson’s and Glickman’s books. Going into the quarter, I made the assumption that teachers would
easily reflect on their teaching practices, but quickly realized that I was wrong. Difficult Conversations helped me to
understand why reflection does not always come easy to people, and how to overcome these obstacles.
The fourth book of the quarter, Pollock’s Improving Student Learning One Teacher at a Time, did not provide much
insight as it relates to the supervision/evaluation process, but was rather an overarching umbrella that nicely
summarized the positive effects of the very specific strategies listed in the other texts and articles. Her work focused
on the results that teachers achieved when they used her Big Four approach. It was a reminder for me, as a supervisor,
to keep my staff focused on curriculum targets, effective instructional strategies, multiple assessment formats,
criterion-based feedback, and growth-related grading practices. As I evaluate teachers and engage in meaningful,
reflective conversations, these points will be driving forces throughout.
Reflection on the texts and articles used with this
project and how they informed you work.

When I think about the supervision and evaluation process, I think about the issue of balancing inquiry
and advocacy. As a supervisor working with teachers through the evaluation process, I will be asking
questions about the learning that is happening– what instructional practices are you using?, why have
you chosen that instructional strategy?, how are you meeting diverse learners?, etc. While I am asking
those questions and listening to the responses, I am simultaneously adding to their repetoire of
instructional choices by providing directive support through suggestions for improvement based upon
my observations (advocacy), and encouraging the teacher to be reflective on their own practices in an
effort to identify their own areas of weakness (inquiry), which will subsequently lead to discussions
about personal goals, PLCs, or professional development and what they need from those entities in
order to ensure their own growth as professionals (advocacy). The hope would be, that at the end of
the process, common goals would arise that align with the school and district missions and objectives,
but the dance can sometimes be a complex one when the identities of the supervisor and the teachers
are at risk. It is important to keep “curiousity” at the forefront of all difficult discussions, particularly if
you are striving to balance advocacy with inquiry, and to not get caught up in “politicking” (Senge,
1994), where there is “no overt argument—just a relentless refusal to learn while giving the impression
of balancing advocacy and inquiry.” Rather, balancing inquiry and advocacy requires the players to see
their conversations, or in the case of supervisory evaluation conferences, as receptacles of questions,
responses, reasons, explanations, clarifications, and observations that culminate into a blended
understanding that evolves in a way that would make it difficult for an outsider looking in, to determine
who is the supervisor and who is the instructor.
What systems thinking could you apply to the
supervision and evaluation process.

Glickman, Carl D.; Gordon, Stephen P.; Ross-Gordon, Jovita M. (2012-02-08). Basic Guide to SuperVision
and Instructional Leadership, The (3rd Edition) (Page 197,234, 237). Prentice Hall. Kindle Edition.
Speck, M. (1996, Spring). Best practice in professional development for sustained educational change (p
33-41). ERS Spectrum.
Ullman, Ellen (2009). How to Create a Professional Learning Community. Edutopia, http://
www.edutopia.org/professional-learning-communities-collaboration-how-to
Danielson, Charlotte (2011-08-22). Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teaching 2nd
edition (Kindle Location 3678). Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. Kindle Edition.
Stone, Douglas; Patton, Bruce (2010-11-02). Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most
(Kindle Locations 808-809). Penguin Group. Kindle Edition.
Senge, Peter; Ross, Richard; Smith,Bryan; Roberts, Charlotte; Kleiner, Art (1994). The Fifth Discipline
Fieldbook (p 253-255). Doubleday, Random House. New York.
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