School Improvement Network conducted study of 50 state department of education officials who are responsible for implementing teacher evaluation policy to better understand state teacher evaluation policy and how much flexibility districts have at the local level to implement state requirements. The goal was to inform ourselves, school districts and local schools how much freedom and flexibility, or lack thereof, they have to innovate on behalf of their own teachers and students particularly when it comes to using technology to achieve their professional development needs.
This document summarizes a report on teacher professional development tied to teacher evaluations. It finds that while most states require some professional development as part of teacher evaluations, few collect data on how districts provide individualized professional development plans for teachers. The report highlights best practices from Kentucky, Connecticut, New Jersey, and South Dakota, which provide online resources, coaching, and training to support teachers' professional growth goals. However, more data is needed to understand how districts are implementing individualized professional development aligned with teacher evaluations in most states.
This independent study, conducted by EdNexus Advisors, LLC, was sponsored by School Improvement Network to better understand each state policy on providing and funding meaningful teacher professional development tied to teacher evaluations. Further states were surveyed on the state relationship with districts on requiring or recommending professional development and to what extent districts were providing professional development tied to state mandated evaluations.
A Guide for School Districts: Exploring Alternative Measures of Student Learn...Tanya Paperny
Districts across the country play a crucial role in ensuring schools effectively serve students and families. Beyond federal requirements in the Every Student Succeeds Act and state-level accountability systems, locally developed school performance frameworks are a key lever for holding schools accountable, particularly for student learning and wellness.
Today — with unfamiliar school configurations and unknown impacts on student outcomes — it is more important than ever that districts are diligent about assessing schools’ impact on students. But the ways that districts have done so in the past may no longer be appropriate. And districts that previously did not engage in school-level performance assessments now have a new incentive to do so.
This toolkit is a resource to help districts adapt existing school performance frameworks to the current moment or create new ones. These slides identify and walk through the fundamental questions districts need to consider in designing school performance frameworks that acknowledge the challenges that schools and students are facing, as well as a continued need to monitor performance and continuously improve.
This document discusses 5 key federal policy issues regarding online learning:
1. Accountability should be based on individual student growth models to better support competency-based learning.
2. Assessments should move to performance-based systems that provide ongoing, real-time data throughout a student's learning process.
3. More research is needed on effective practices in K-12 online and blended learning.
4. Training and support are needed to develop teachers and leaders with the skills to facilitate new competency-based learning models.
5. Reliable internet access and open educational resources are critical to ensure all students can access online courses and materials.
Autonomous District Schools: Lessons From the Field on a Promising StrategyJeremy Knight
Autonomous district schools (sometimes called “in-district charters”) use some of the same freedoms that public charter schools enjoy while remaining part of the district. Enabled by innovative policies that support school-level autonomy, Springfield, Massachusetts; Indianapolis, Indiana; Denver, Colorado; and San Antonio, Texas, are experimenting with these types of schools. While these efforts are too new to have clear student impact data, autonomous district schools could be a promising strategy to improve districts’ ability to meet families’ and students’ needs and to improve outcomes.
“Autonomous District Schools: Lessons From the Field on a Promising Strategy” summarizes Bellwether’s work with San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) over the past 18 months. The district has authorized three networks of autonomous district schools using a law that supports and incentivizes the creation of these schools. Bellwether provided program design support, strategic advice, and capacity building to SAISD’s Network Principal Initiative, and this deck offers an overview of the initiative and the lessons we learned about the launch of autonomous district schools.
This slide deck is accompanied by a tool kit, “Autonomous District Schools: Tools for Planning and Launching,” which offers concrete resources for leaders interested in planning an autonomous school or network.
Moving Toward Sustainability: Kansas City Teacher ResidencyJeremy Knight
The Kansas City Teacher Residency program launched in 2016 to recruit, develop, and retain teachers for the Kansas City region. After three years of operation, the program underwent a strategic planning process to refine its business model and ensure long-term sustainability. The planning process included evaluating KCTR's current financial model and benchmarking other teacher residency programs. It revealed that KCTR relies heavily on philanthropic funding and has opportunities to optimize expenditures. The new strategic plan developed by KCTR focuses on strengthening partnerships, optimizing costs, exploring new revenue sources, and gradually growing enrollment while ensuring program quality. The changes are expected to lower KCTR's per-resident costs and reduce its long-term fundraising needs.
American education is facing challenges including budget cuts, increased standards, and high teacher attrition. Effective talent management can help districts improve teacher effectiveness and retention by providing personalized learning, tracking performance, and supporting career growth. Integrated talent management systems allow districts to deliver differentiated instruction to educators through all stages of their career. These systems make talent management more efficient and data-driven while empowering teachers with customized development opportunities. Case studies show districts that implement talent management software see benefits like increased compliance, insight into training needs, and improved outcomes.
A School Leader’s Guide to Effective Stakeholder EngagementTanya Paperny
Families, teachers, and communities all have varying perspectives on what
the school year can and should hold for students. School leaders need to
balance these voices in decision-making through effective and authentic
stakeholder engagement.
Stakeholder engagement is essential for school leaders confronting change
and uncertainty. And yet there are better and worse ways for school leaders
to engage stakeholders in their decision-making processes: It’s far too easy to
neglect important groups, spend too much time with some groups and not
enough with others, or fail to take into account how past decisions and
community context may affect the perception of leadership decisions.
“A School Leader’s Guide to Effective Stakeholder Engagement” [LINK TK]
can help school leaders avoid these pitfalls. This slide deck provides an
overview of stakeholder engagement and easy-to-understand steps, and a
linked workbook (on slide 5) provides a resource to support school leaders as
they implement their approach.
This document summarizes a report on teacher professional development tied to teacher evaluations. It finds that while most states require some professional development as part of teacher evaluations, few collect data on how districts provide individualized professional development plans for teachers. The report highlights best practices from Kentucky, Connecticut, New Jersey, and South Dakota, which provide online resources, coaching, and training to support teachers' professional growth goals. However, more data is needed to understand how districts are implementing individualized professional development aligned with teacher evaluations in most states.
This independent study, conducted by EdNexus Advisors, LLC, was sponsored by School Improvement Network to better understand each state policy on providing and funding meaningful teacher professional development tied to teacher evaluations. Further states were surveyed on the state relationship with districts on requiring or recommending professional development and to what extent districts were providing professional development tied to state mandated evaluations.
A Guide for School Districts: Exploring Alternative Measures of Student Learn...Tanya Paperny
Districts across the country play a crucial role in ensuring schools effectively serve students and families. Beyond federal requirements in the Every Student Succeeds Act and state-level accountability systems, locally developed school performance frameworks are a key lever for holding schools accountable, particularly for student learning and wellness.
Today — with unfamiliar school configurations and unknown impacts on student outcomes — it is more important than ever that districts are diligent about assessing schools’ impact on students. But the ways that districts have done so in the past may no longer be appropriate. And districts that previously did not engage in school-level performance assessments now have a new incentive to do so.
This toolkit is a resource to help districts adapt existing school performance frameworks to the current moment or create new ones. These slides identify and walk through the fundamental questions districts need to consider in designing school performance frameworks that acknowledge the challenges that schools and students are facing, as well as a continued need to monitor performance and continuously improve.
This document discusses 5 key federal policy issues regarding online learning:
1. Accountability should be based on individual student growth models to better support competency-based learning.
2. Assessments should move to performance-based systems that provide ongoing, real-time data throughout a student's learning process.
3. More research is needed on effective practices in K-12 online and blended learning.
4. Training and support are needed to develop teachers and leaders with the skills to facilitate new competency-based learning models.
5. Reliable internet access and open educational resources are critical to ensure all students can access online courses and materials.
Autonomous District Schools: Lessons From the Field on a Promising StrategyJeremy Knight
Autonomous district schools (sometimes called “in-district charters”) use some of the same freedoms that public charter schools enjoy while remaining part of the district. Enabled by innovative policies that support school-level autonomy, Springfield, Massachusetts; Indianapolis, Indiana; Denver, Colorado; and San Antonio, Texas, are experimenting with these types of schools. While these efforts are too new to have clear student impact data, autonomous district schools could be a promising strategy to improve districts’ ability to meet families’ and students’ needs and to improve outcomes.
“Autonomous District Schools: Lessons From the Field on a Promising Strategy” summarizes Bellwether’s work with San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) over the past 18 months. The district has authorized three networks of autonomous district schools using a law that supports and incentivizes the creation of these schools. Bellwether provided program design support, strategic advice, and capacity building to SAISD’s Network Principal Initiative, and this deck offers an overview of the initiative and the lessons we learned about the launch of autonomous district schools.
This slide deck is accompanied by a tool kit, “Autonomous District Schools: Tools for Planning and Launching,” which offers concrete resources for leaders interested in planning an autonomous school or network.
Moving Toward Sustainability: Kansas City Teacher ResidencyJeremy Knight
The Kansas City Teacher Residency program launched in 2016 to recruit, develop, and retain teachers for the Kansas City region. After three years of operation, the program underwent a strategic planning process to refine its business model and ensure long-term sustainability. The planning process included evaluating KCTR's current financial model and benchmarking other teacher residency programs. It revealed that KCTR relies heavily on philanthropic funding and has opportunities to optimize expenditures. The new strategic plan developed by KCTR focuses on strengthening partnerships, optimizing costs, exploring new revenue sources, and gradually growing enrollment while ensuring program quality. The changes are expected to lower KCTR's per-resident costs and reduce its long-term fundraising needs.
American education is facing challenges including budget cuts, increased standards, and high teacher attrition. Effective talent management can help districts improve teacher effectiveness and retention by providing personalized learning, tracking performance, and supporting career growth. Integrated talent management systems allow districts to deliver differentiated instruction to educators through all stages of their career. These systems make talent management more efficient and data-driven while empowering teachers with customized development opportunities. Case studies show districts that implement talent management software see benefits like increased compliance, insight into training needs, and improved outcomes.
A School Leader’s Guide to Effective Stakeholder EngagementTanya Paperny
Families, teachers, and communities all have varying perspectives on what
the school year can and should hold for students. School leaders need to
balance these voices in decision-making through effective and authentic
stakeholder engagement.
Stakeholder engagement is essential for school leaders confronting change
and uncertainty. And yet there are better and worse ways for school leaders
to engage stakeholders in their decision-making processes: It’s far too easy to
neglect important groups, spend too much time with some groups and not
enough with others, or fail to take into account how past decisions and
community context may affect the perception of leadership decisions.
“A School Leader’s Guide to Effective Stakeholder Engagement” [LINK TK]
can help school leaders avoid these pitfalls. This slide deck provides an
overview of stakeholder engagement and easy-to-understand steps, and a
linked workbook (on slide 5) provides a resource to support school leaders as
they implement their approach.
Unfinished: Insights From Ongoing Work to Accelerate Outcomes for Students Wi...Jeremy Knight
Despite some gains over the past 20 years, significant numbers of students are not meeting grade-level expectations as defined by performance on academic assessments. Meanwhile, few schools are able to support the sort of accelerated academic learning needed to catch students up to grade-level expectations.
Evidence indicates this is not for lack of educator commitment or dedication. Instead, many educators lack clarity about how to help students catch up. Common messages about holding a high bar for academic rigor and personalizing learning to meet students where they are can be perceived as being at odds with one another.
“Unfinished: Insights From Ongoing Work to Accelerate Outcomes for Students With Learning Gaps” synthesizes a broad body of research on the science of learning in order to inform efforts to help students close gaps and meet grade-level expectations. This deck argues that helping students catch up is not about rigor or personalization — classrooms need both.
Closing learning gaps requires students to be motivated and engaged to grapple with challenging, grade-level skills and knowledge — while also having their individual learning needs met.
The report identifies what must happen among educators, systems-level leaders, teacher developers, instructional materials providers, and technology experts to move beyond the dichotomy of “rigor versus personalization” and toward a future that effectively blends the two.
Teacher Pension Plans: How They Work, and How They Affect Recruitment, Retent...Jeremy Knight
About 90 percent of public school teachers today are enrolled in defined benefit pension plans operated by their state. Most of these state-run plans were created decades ago, and they have not adjusted to serve the mobile teaching workforce in today’s modern society. While they do serve some long-serving veteran teachers well, the plans also leave many short- and medium-term teachers with less-than-adequate benefits.
In “Teacher Pension Plans: How They Work, and How They Affect Recruitment, Retention, and Equity,” we look at the history of these plans and how they interact with key education issues facing our schools today, including attracting and retaining high-quality teachers and providing equitable resources for disadvantaged students. While there are no easy or one-size-fits-all solutions, this deck concludes with examples of states that have re-designed their retirement systems to better meet the needs of teachers, taxpayers, and the general public.
Four educational trends for the new decadeAdrianGearld
Recently, there has been a lot of developments in the educational sector. Educators, school managements and government has become more active and invested in the educational world to improve the workforce and entrepreneurs of tomorrow. However, experts predict that in the coming year of 2020 which is also the beginning of the new decade, more educational trends are coming in. These trends are going to change the educational system for good.
Charter schools currently serve 3 million students in more than 7,000 schools across 44 states and Washington, D.C. And their reach continues to grow: Since 2005, the number of charter schools in the U.S. has nearly doubled, and the number of charter students has nearly tripled.
Despite being an enduring presence in the nation’s education space, charter schools remain a topic of ongoing debate. The State of the Charter Sector provides the latest available information on charter schools across the country, including updated data on growth, performance, and geographic trends. It also includes analyses of the challenges that charter schools face and how the sector is trying to address them.
This comprehensive slide deck updates our 2015 State of the Charter School Movement, and together, these resources serve as a fact base to cut through the rhetoric that often accompanies conversations about charter schools.
The goal of this analysis is not to persuade, but to inform. As the charter sector continues to grow and improve, it needs a rigorous, evidence-based debate around its weaknesses and strengths. Accurate information is crucial for thoughtful policymaking and, ultimately, to ensuring all students have access to a high-quality education.
How to Develop a Response to Intervention ModelAmy Robertson
Schools need a way to identify struggling students so they can intervene immediately to alter the course of action for students. Learn the 10 steps to developing an RTI model at your school with this eBook.
This document discusses the concept of school autonomy and networking. It provides examples of networks of model schools from international experience, including the Networked Learning Communities in England and specialized school networks. School autonomy is most effective when combined with accountability measures like external exams. The document concludes that while networking is an important strategy for improving schools, further research is still needed to fully understand its impact.
This document discusses professional learning communities (PLCs) and their potential to foster collaborative success in schools. It provides historical context for educational reform efforts beginning with A Nation at Risk in 1983 and the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001. The document defines PLCs as groups of educators working collaboratively to improve student outcomes. It reviews research showing that effective PLCs develop high levels of trust among stakeholders and incorporate teacher collaboration, data-driven instruction, administrative support, and community involvement. The document argues that PLCs that demonstrate these characteristics are more likely to achieve measurable gains in student performance.
The Challenges and Opportunities in School Transportation TodayJeremy Knight
Every day, America’s fleet of roughly 480,000 school buses transports more than a third of students to and from school. This fleet is more than twice the size of all other forms of mass transit combined, including bus, rail, and airline transportation.
1) The document outlines a vision to transform the South Delhi Municipal Corporation's (SDMC) school system by 2017 through ambitious goals focused on student learning outcomes.
2) Key targets include becoming the top ranked school system in Delhi and India based on standardized test scores, achieving near universal enrollment in pre-primary and elementary education, ensuring all children are at grade level by 3rd class, increasing the percentage of schools offering English medium instruction, and ensuring all schools are well-resourced.
3) The transformation will be driven through system-wide levers like collaboration between schools, improved accountability, selecting effective school leaders, and focus on literacy and numeracy, as well as school-level levers like
The document explores autonomy in education through an analysis of international benchmarks and examples. Key findings include:
- PISA results show a positive correlation between autonomy over curriculum/assessment and performance, and autonomy over resources can also correlate positively under certain conditions like teacher collaboration.
- However, the correlations are not strong and both centralized and decentralized systems can be high-performing. New Zealand's experience shows more autonomy works better with sufficient training.
- U.S. states are experimenting with school autonomy models. In Massachusetts, most high-poverty but high-performing schools have greater autonomy than traditional district schools.
- International research found improving systems decentralize more over time as performance increases, and vary
Shedding Light on District Efficiency: Survey Results from Tech & Learning Ma...itslearning, inc.
How many logins are teachers, parents, and students using every day? What tools and processes are in place for developing and managing curriculum? How effectively are pedagogical principles like UDL and Personalized Learning being implemented? What is the teacher turnover rate? Answers to these questions and more from the Tech & Learning survey on district efficiency.
April Superintendent Report State BoardEducationNC
The document summarizes updates from the April 2021 State Board of Education meeting. It outlines the vision of Operation Polaris to ensure every student receives a sound basic education. It proposes using ESSER III funds to support extended learning opportunities, specialized instructional support, and data/IT projects. Key areas of focus include learning recovery, literacy, accountability, student support, human capital, and district transformation through various working groups. The overall goal is to address learning loss from COVID and fulfill a long-term vision to transform public education in North Carolina.
Pat Ashley, cohort director of N.C. State's Educational Leadership Academy, shared an overview of efforts in North Carolina over the last couple of decades to turn around low-performing schools to the Governor's Commission on Access to Sound Basic Education.
Scott Marion- Balanced Assessment SystemsEducationNC
Scott Marion, executive director of the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment, shared this presentation at the Governor's Commission on Access to Sound Basic Education in North Carolina.
Toward Equitable Access and Affordability: How Private Schools and Microschoo...Jeremy Knight
The document discusses trends in private school enrollment and costs in the United States. It notes that while private schools have historically served around 10% of students, Catholic school closures and rising tuition costs have reduced access for middle- and low-income families. The average private school tuition increased 60% between 1999-2011, outpacing inflation and wage growth. This suggests a need to explore how private schools can increase affordability and serve families with limited means.
The document outlines 10 essential elements for a new vision of high school called Forecast 3.0 compared to a traditional school model. Forecast 3.0 envisions schools that: 1) ensure students master core knowledge and skills through performance-based assessments and digital portfolios; 2) facilitate engaged learning through collaboration and community resources; and 3) support public-private partnerships and social innovations to expand learning opportunities for students.
The document proposes a project to enhance the quality of primary education in India by providing free, quality education to children and women through a joint effort between the government, volunteers, students, retired teachers, and NGOs to address issues like declining learning rates, poor infrastructure in government schools, and increasing private school enrollment. The project aims to enroll 3 million children and 2 million women in primary education programs staffed by managers, coordinators, teachers, and retired teachers providing instruction and infrastructure support funded through government support, private donations, and partnerships with NGOs.
The document discusses findings from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests regarding student performance in reading, mathematics, and science. Some key findings include:
1) Over half a million 15-year-old students from 74 countries took the PISA tests to assess their ability to apply knowledge in novel situations.
2) Test results show differences in average performance and equity across countries as well as changes over time for some countries.
3) High-performing education systems tend to have ambitious and aligned goals, well-established instructional practices, high-quality teachers, and balanced accountability systems.
Maria Pitrie-Martin Redesign of DPI District SupportEducationNC
Maria Pitrie-Martin, deputy state superintendent, shares how DPI is redesigning its support to school districts based on need to the Governor's Commission on Access to Sound Basic Education.
20140908 Alger Teacher Incentive Pay that WorksVicki Alger
This document provides a summary of a report on teacher incentive pay programs around the world. It discusses 10 case studies of effective programs that reward teachers based on student achievement. Two successful group incentive programs are from Chile and Dallas, Texas that keep teachers motivated by carefully defining incentive award groups. Two individual incentive programs that focus on student achievement are from Little Rock, Arkansas and England. The report also discusses programs that combine group and individual incentives. It provides lessons for policymakers on defining expectations, supporting teachers, rewarding performance, building sustainable programs, and promoting continuous improvement.
The document summarizes research on state teacher evaluation policies and local flexibility. A survey found that 37 states offer flexibility to local districts in designing teacher evaluation rubrics, but many districts are unaware of this flexibility or find the state approval process difficult. As a result, most districts continue using state-designed rubrics even if not well-aligned locally. The researchers recommend improved state communication on policies and more support for local implementation.
Highlights from findings of the SREB reportsBenchmarking State Implementation of College- and Career-Readiness Standards, Aligned Assessments and Related Reforms
Unfinished: Insights From Ongoing Work to Accelerate Outcomes for Students Wi...Jeremy Knight
Despite some gains over the past 20 years, significant numbers of students are not meeting grade-level expectations as defined by performance on academic assessments. Meanwhile, few schools are able to support the sort of accelerated academic learning needed to catch students up to grade-level expectations.
Evidence indicates this is not for lack of educator commitment or dedication. Instead, many educators lack clarity about how to help students catch up. Common messages about holding a high bar for academic rigor and personalizing learning to meet students where they are can be perceived as being at odds with one another.
“Unfinished: Insights From Ongoing Work to Accelerate Outcomes for Students With Learning Gaps” synthesizes a broad body of research on the science of learning in order to inform efforts to help students close gaps and meet grade-level expectations. This deck argues that helping students catch up is not about rigor or personalization — classrooms need both.
Closing learning gaps requires students to be motivated and engaged to grapple with challenging, grade-level skills and knowledge — while also having their individual learning needs met.
The report identifies what must happen among educators, systems-level leaders, teacher developers, instructional materials providers, and technology experts to move beyond the dichotomy of “rigor versus personalization” and toward a future that effectively blends the two.
Teacher Pension Plans: How They Work, and How They Affect Recruitment, Retent...Jeremy Knight
About 90 percent of public school teachers today are enrolled in defined benefit pension plans operated by their state. Most of these state-run plans were created decades ago, and they have not adjusted to serve the mobile teaching workforce in today’s modern society. While they do serve some long-serving veteran teachers well, the plans also leave many short- and medium-term teachers with less-than-adequate benefits.
In “Teacher Pension Plans: How They Work, and How They Affect Recruitment, Retention, and Equity,” we look at the history of these plans and how they interact with key education issues facing our schools today, including attracting and retaining high-quality teachers and providing equitable resources for disadvantaged students. While there are no easy or one-size-fits-all solutions, this deck concludes with examples of states that have re-designed their retirement systems to better meet the needs of teachers, taxpayers, and the general public.
Four educational trends for the new decadeAdrianGearld
Recently, there has been a lot of developments in the educational sector. Educators, school managements and government has become more active and invested in the educational world to improve the workforce and entrepreneurs of tomorrow. However, experts predict that in the coming year of 2020 which is also the beginning of the new decade, more educational trends are coming in. These trends are going to change the educational system for good.
Charter schools currently serve 3 million students in more than 7,000 schools across 44 states and Washington, D.C. And their reach continues to grow: Since 2005, the number of charter schools in the U.S. has nearly doubled, and the number of charter students has nearly tripled.
Despite being an enduring presence in the nation’s education space, charter schools remain a topic of ongoing debate. The State of the Charter Sector provides the latest available information on charter schools across the country, including updated data on growth, performance, and geographic trends. It also includes analyses of the challenges that charter schools face and how the sector is trying to address them.
This comprehensive slide deck updates our 2015 State of the Charter School Movement, and together, these resources serve as a fact base to cut through the rhetoric that often accompanies conversations about charter schools.
The goal of this analysis is not to persuade, but to inform. As the charter sector continues to grow and improve, it needs a rigorous, evidence-based debate around its weaknesses and strengths. Accurate information is crucial for thoughtful policymaking and, ultimately, to ensuring all students have access to a high-quality education.
How to Develop a Response to Intervention ModelAmy Robertson
Schools need a way to identify struggling students so they can intervene immediately to alter the course of action for students. Learn the 10 steps to developing an RTI model at your school with this eBook.
This document discusses the concept of school autonomy and networking. It provides examples of networks of model schools from international experience, including the Networked Learning Communities in England and specialized school networks. School autonomy is most effective when combined with accountability measures like external exams. The document concludes that while networking is an important strategy for improving schools, further research is still needed to fully understand its impact.
This document discusses professional learning communities (PLCs) and their potential to foster collaborative success in schools. It provides historical context for educational reform efforts beginning with A Nation at Risk in 1983 and the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001. The document defines PLCs as groups of educators working collaboratively to improve student outcomes. It reviews research showing that effective PLCs develop high levels of trust among stakeholders and incorporate teacher collaboration, data-driven instruction, administrative support, and community involvement. The document argues that PLCs that demonstrate these characteristics are more likely to achieve measurable gains in student performance.
The Challenges and Opportunities in School Transportation TodayJeremy Knight
Every day, America’s fleet of roughly 480,000 school buses transports more than a third of students to and from school. This fleet is more than twice the size of all other forms of mass transit combined, including bus, rail, and airline transportation.
1) The document outlines a vision to transform the South Delhi Municipal Corporation's (SDMC) school system by 2017 through ambitious goals focused on student learning outcomes.
2) Key targets include becoming the top ranked school system in Delhi and India based on standardized test scores, achieving near universal enrollment in pre-primary and elementary education, ensuring all children are at grade level by 3rd class, increasing the percentage of schools offering English medium instruction, and ensuring all schools are well-resourced.
3) The transformation will be driven through system-wide levers like collaboration between schools, improved accountability, selecting effective school leaders, and focus on literacy and numeracy, as well as school-level levers like
The document explores autonomy in education through an analysis of international benchmarks and examples. Key findings include:
- PISA results show a positive correlation between autonomy over curriculum/assessment and performance, and autonomy over resources can also correlate positively under certain conditions like teacher collaboration.
- However, the correlations are not strong and both centralized and decentralized systems can be high-performing. New Zealand's experience shows more autonomy works better with sufficient training.
- U.S. states are experimenting with school autonomy models. In Massachusetts, most high-poverty but high-performing schools have greater autonomy than traditional district schools.
- International research found improving systems decentralize more over time as performance increases, and vary
Shedding Light on District Efficiency: Survey Results from Tech & Learning Ma...itslearning, inc.
How many logins are teachers, parents, and students using every day? What tools and processes are in place for developing and managing curriculum? How effectively are pedagogical principles like UDL and Personalized Learning being implemented? What is the teacher turnover rate? Answers to these questions and more from the Tech & Learning survey on district efficiency.
April Superintendent Report State BoardEducationNC
The document summarizes updates from the April 2021 State Board of Education meeting. It outlines the vision of Operation Polaris to ensure every student receives a sound basic education. It proposes using ESSER III funds to support extended learning opportunities, specialized instructional support, and data/IT projects. Key areas of focus include learning recovery, literacy, accountability, student support, human capital, and district transformation through various working groups. The overall goal is to address learning loss from COVID and fulfill a long-term vision to transform public education in North Carolina.
Pat Ashley, cohort director of N.C. State's Educational Leadership Academy, shared an overview of efforts in North Carolina over the last couple of decades to turn around low-performing schools to the Governor's Commission on Access to Sound Basic Education.
Scott Marion- Balanced Assessment SystemsEducationNC
Scott Marion, executive director of the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment, shared this presentation at the Governor's Commission on Access to Sound Basic Education in North Carolina.
Toward Equitable Access and Affordability: How Private Schools and Microschoo...Jeremy Knight
The document discusses trends in private school enrollment and costs in the United States. It notes that while private schools have historically served around 10% of students, Catholic school closures and rising tuition costs have reduced access for middle- and low-income families. The average private school tuition increased 60% between 1999-2011, outpacing inflation and wage growth. This suggests a need to explore how private schools can increase affordability and serve families with limited means.
The document outlines 10 essential elements for a new vision of high school called Forecast 3.0 compared to a traditional school model. Forecast 3.0 envisions schools that: 1) ensure students master core knowledge and skills through performance-based assessments and digital portfolios; 2) facilitate engaged learning through collaboration and community resources; and 3) support public-private partnerships and social innovations to expand learning opportunities for students.
The document proposes a project to enhance the quality of primary education in India by providing free, quality education to children and women through a joint effort between the government, volunteers, students, retired teachers, and NGOs to address issues like declining learning rates, poor infrastructure in government schools, and increasing private school enrollment. The project aims to enroll 3 million children and 2 million women in primary education programs staffed by managers, coordinators, teachers, and retired teachers providing instruction and infrastructure support funded through government support, private donations, and partnerships with NGOs.
The document discusses findings from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests regarding student performance in reading, mathematics, and science. Some key findings include:
1) Over half a million 15-year-old students from 74 countries took the PISA tests to assess their ability to apply knowledge in novel situations.
2) Test results show differences in average performance and equity across countries as well as changes over time for some countries.
3) High-performing education systems tend to have ambitious and aligned goals, well-established instructional practices, high-quality teachers, and balanced accountability systems.
Maria Pitrie-Martin Redesign of DPI District SupportEducationNC
Maria Pitrie-Martin, deputy state superintendent, shares how DPI is redesigning its support to school districts based on need to the Governor's Commission on Access to Sound Basic Education.
20140908 Alger Teacher Incentive Pay that WorksVicki Alger
This document provides a summary of a report on teacher incentive pay programs around the world. It discusses 10 case studies of effective programs that reward teachers based on student achievement. Two successful group incentive programs are from Chile and Dallas, Texas that keep teachers motivated by carefully defining incentive award groups. Two individual incentive programs that focus on student achievement are from Little Rock, Arkansas and England. The report also discusses programs that combine group and individual incentives. It provides lessons for policymakers on defining expectations, supporting teachers, rewarding performance, building sustainable programs, and promoting continuous improvement.
The document summarizes research on state teacher evaluation policies and local flexibility. A survey found that 37 states offer flexibility to local districts in designing teacher evaluation rubrics, but many districts are unaware of this flexibility or find the state approval process difficult. As a result, most districts continue using state-designed rubrics even if not well-aligned locally. The researchers recommend improved state communication on policies and more support for local implementation.
Highlights from findings of the SREB reportsBenchmarking State Implementation of College- and Career-Readiness Standards, Aligned Assessments and Related Reforms
Leadership Webinar: A K-12 Policy Framework for Competency EducationiNACOL
This webinar focused on the recently released iNACOL report entitled: A K-12 Policy Framework for Competency Education: Building Capacity for Systems Change. The report co-authors will describe the barriers and opportunities within federal education policy frameworks and identify how the federal government is in a unique position to catalyze and scale student-centered learning approaches.
To download a copy of A K-12 Federal Policy Framework for Competency Education: Building Capacity for Systems Change, please visit http://bit.ly/cwk12fedpolicy
Is Oregon Ready to Implement Competency Education?Jesse Moyer
This deck is from a presentation a colleague and I gave during a pre-conference session at the 2014 Northwest Proficiency/Competency Conference hosted by the Oregon Business Education Compact and the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators in March 2013.
North Carolina has made progress implementing its Race to the Top education reforms over four years, including adopting more rigorous academic standards, increasing teacher and principal professional development, and establishing a statewide technology system called Home Base. While the full effects on student achievement may not be seen for years, reforms have impacted classrooms, schools, and the state education agency. Next steps include sustaining reforms and using lessons learned to better support districts and schools.
Reviewing the Research and PEAC Recommendations around Principal EvaluationRichard Voltz
Presentation made by Benjamin Fenton, Chief Strategy and Knowledge Officer and Co-Founder of New Leaders for New Schools at the IASA sponsored workshop on November 18, 2011 at the Triple I Conference.
This document summarizes a presentation by Sarita E. Brown from Excelencia in Education at an AAC&U conference on using data to support student success. The presentation outlines why focusing on Latino student success is important given population trends, and describes Excelencia's initiatives to identify evidence-based practices that increase Latino student success in higher education. These include engaging underserved students, integrating support services, facilitating transfers, and involving students in learning. The initiatives aim to increase Latino participation and completion rates through institutional commitment and using data to inform improvements.
Using Common Assessment Data to Predict High Stakes Performance- An Efficien...Bethany Silver
This document describes a study that used student performance on common district assessments to predict scores on high-stakes state tests. The study found moderate to strong correlations between common assessment scores and later state test scores. It then used a six-step process to generate algorithm-based predictions of state test scores from common assessment data, which were reviewed and refined by teachers. Teacher-refined predictions had stronger correlations to actual state scores than algorithm-based predictions alone. The study aims to help teachers and schools proactively address learning needs before state tests.
The document summarizes findings from surveys of 2,347 North Carolina teachers and focus groups with 31 educators on topics related to education policy. Key findings include concerns about the state's educator evaluation system and a lack of awareness of resources. Recommendations focus on providing teachers more training and feedback, ensuring awareness of resources, addressing equity issues, and building teacher leadership and collaboration.
The phrase "teaching to the test" commonly means the practice of using a state-mandated test as a guide in deciding what to teach and how to teach it. However, this simple definition understates the complexity of the issue. On one hand, teaching to the test can be a case of the tail wagging the dog, where the needs of the test becomes more important than the teaching. It can even indicate an attempt to subvert the testing process, to beat the system. But seen in a positive light, teaching to the test can describe purposeful efforts to teach students knowledge and skills that have been established as important and included in mandated standards and assessments.
Why has this become an important issue?
Almost every state now has mandated tests for students. More and more, test scores are used for accountability-to make decisions about school accreditation, staff job security or pay, and student promotion and graduation. As the tests have became more high-stakes, the practice of teaching to the test has also increased dramatically. School personnel want their students to succeed and show what they know on the tests, and they often feel pressure to use any means available to raise scores. However, while families and the general public are demanding higher standards and higher scores, there is increasing concern, sometimes very vocally expressed, that the time and effort spent teaching to the test is educationally shortchanging students.
What's wrong with teaching to tests?
There's nothing wrong with teaching the general content and skills included on a test, as long as the test is assessing the "right" things and asking students to demonstrate their knowledge in ways that parallel real-world applications. The problem often develops when a test does not match standards for what students should know and be able to do, covers a very narrow set of objectives from the broader base of knowledge and skills included in standards, or includes mostly items that focus on recall of isolated facts. In cases such as these, both experts and practicing educators fear that teaching to the test may:
- narrow or distort the curriculum;
- emphasize use of short-term over long-term memory;
- discourage creative thinking;
When is teaching to the test appropriate?
In general, the better the test, the more it can be used as a guide for good instruction. There is much less controversy about teaching to the test when the test itself:
- reflects solid content standards;
- assesses a broad range of knowledge and skills;
How can we teach to the test the right way?
- Legitimate teaching to the test is not instruction targeted at specific items that will appear on the test, or that appeared on last year's version. Instruction can, however, appropriately be targeted to the general content and skills that will be assessed.
Source: https://ebookschoice.com/teaching-to-the-test/
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The document discusses Louisiana's efforts to unify and improve its early childhood education system. It outlines the creation of new teaching certificates aimed at professionalizing the early childhood workforce. These include an Ancillary Teaching Certificate requiring a Child Development Associate credential or higher, and a new Birth to Kindergarten Bachelor's degree and teaching certificate. The goal is to establish consistent standards across programs and better prepare teachers to support children's learning and development.
Evaluation of Teachers and Leaders: Benchmarking State Implementation of Coll...SREB
The document summarizes findings from SREB's evaluation of how states integrate expectations for student learning from new college and career readiness standards into teacher and leader evaluation systems. It finds that leading states like Colorado, Louisiana, and Tennessee have updated professional standards and evaluation rubrics to better align them with readiness standards, and use evaluation data to guide professional learning. The methodology section notes that SREB examined efforts in 14 states between 2010-2014 through document review and interviews.
The document summarizes discussions from a CMCSS Parent Communications meeting in April 2013. It provides an overview of [1] the new CMCSS logo and tagline developed to better promote the district, and [2] the 2013-2014 strategic work goals including implementing Common Core standards, expanding STEM programs, improving employee development and engagement, and increasing technology and funding. Concerns were raised about transitioning to online assessments and potential drop in high school scores, which Dr. Worthington addressed.
A Golden Opportunity To Use Data, Move Beyond Aspirations, and Improve Studen...Thieny Nguyen
This document discusses using data and continuous improvement to improve student outcomes through Networked Collaborative Teams and Exchanges in California. It finds that while participants value collaboration through NCTs/NCXs, it is unclear how they are demonstrating improved student outcomes and equity. A challenge is that existing measures focus on perceptions rather than outcomes. The document proposes an action plan to redesign surveys, create improvement rubrics, and reorganize roles to include data management and research positions to better evaluate impact and focus continuous improvement efforts. This would help ensure NCTs/NCXs are effectively using data and a plan-do-study-act model to enhance equity and outcomes.
Our first case study in Artesia, New Mexico was done in 2008. This case study updates their PD 360 use, plus the addition of Common Core 360 and Observation 360, components of the Educator Effectiveness System. Read about how their continued use has improved differentiated instruction and created effective questioning.
“When I am asked about PD 360, Common Core 360, and Observation 360, I only say ‘Let me show you the data.’ The Educator Effectiveness System speaks for itself and the word is getting around.”
Rick Stewart
Assistant Superintendent of Federal Programs,
Artesia Public Schools, New Mexico
The document summarizes the Common Core State Standards Initiative, which aims to establish consistent K-12 standards in English and math that can be adopted by states. It discusses the importance of common standards, the momentum behind the initiative with 48 states and territories signed on, and outlines the process used to develop the standards with input from states and educators. It also emphasizes that fully implementing the standards will require changes to classroom instruction, materials, assessments, and policies to support student achievement.
This document outlines North Carolina's State Plan to Ensure Equitable Access to Excellent Educators. It describes the state's commitment to ensuring all students have effective teachers, regardless of location. The plan discusses stakeholder engagement, analyzing equity gaps between high-poverty and low-poverty schools, and strategies to eliminate gaps, such as improving teacher preparation programs. It also covers ongoing monitoring to evaluate progress and ensure accountability. The appendices provide details on stakeholder meetings that informed the development of this plan.
The document provides an overview and self-assessment results from Elbert County School District's accreditation process using AdvancED standards. It summarizes the district's mission, vision, beliefs, and the structure of its accreditation steering committee. For each standard, it identifies strengths, challenges, and recommendations. Key points include the district maintaining high expectations for learning, focusing on improving instructional practices, and developing a strategic plan. It also notes strengths in curriculum, leadership, teaching, and resources, while identifying areas for enhancing teaching and learning support.
This document discusses the need for the United States to transition to a data-driven education system. It argues that currently, U.S. schools are not leveraging data and technology to personalize instruction, make evidence-based decisions, or improve efficiency. The document outlines how building blocks like student information systems, learning management systems, and data warehouses could be used to achieve goals of personalization, evidence-based learning, school efficiency, and continuous innovation in education through a data-driven approach.
External interview summary for may meeting draftv3ppageegd
The document discusses the benefits of exercise for mental health. Regular physical activity can help reduce anxiety and depression and improve mood and cognitive functioning. Exercise boosts blood flow, releases endorphins, and promotes changes in the brain which help regulate emotions and stress levels.
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This slide is special for master students (MIBS & MIFB) in UUM. Also useful for readers who are interested in the topic of contemporary Islamic banking.
1. Teacher evaluations
and local flexibility:
Burden or benefit?
Research Report
School Improvement Network believes that by providing
November 2013
teachers with quality, differentiated training based on
Sponsored by: School Improvement Network
best practices from master teachers, they will be better
equipped to help students master skills essential to their
Researched and Authored by:
preparation towards college or a meaningful career and
Christina E. Culver and Kathleen T. Hayes
their growth as individuals and contributors to society.
CH Global Strategies, LLC
With this training, teachers find increased capacity to
personalize their teaching, and meet the growing needs
of students, no matter their race, origin, language, or
socioeconomic status.
About this Report
The Educator Effectiveness System (EES), School Improvement Network’s premier online, on-demand professional
This independent study, conducted by CH Global Strate-
development platform, offers thousands of tools and
gies, was sponsored by School Improvement Network to
resources that increase teacher effectiveness through
better understand state teacher evaluation policy and how
solving professional development needs, providing com-
much flexibility districts have at the local level to imple-
plete support for Common Core implementation challeng-
ment state requirements. School Improvement Network’s
es, and deliver powerful observation and evaluation tools.
goal was to inform school districts and local schools how
EES includes the following key products:
much freedom and flexibility, or lack thereof, they have
to innovate on behalf of their own teachers and students,
PD 360
particularly when it comes to using technology to achieve
their professional development needs.
PD 360, the flagship product in EES, is the most widely
used online professional development solution in the US
School Improvement Network is the world’s largest pro-
and offers the largest library of expert-produced train-
vider of online, on-demand professional development and
ing videos, powerful support tools and resources, and
training resources for educators and partners with schools,
an online professional learning community of nearly one
districts, states throughout the US, Canada, and overseas to
million educators. PD 360 has earned over 70 awards for
increase teacher effectiveness and student achievement.
professional video quality, innovation, and excellence in its
technology platform.
www.schoolimprovement.com | 801-572-1153
1
2. Observation 360
School Improvement Network has been recognized by
many national and state organizations, including Ernst and
Observation 360 is a suite of products that turns the
Young, for the company’s leadership in education, innova-
observation and evaluation process into a meaningful
tion, and growth.
educator growth experience. It offers administrators
every tool they need to conduct effective observations
For more information on this report, contact Christina
and evaluations, create personalized professional
Culver, President, CH Global Strategies, LLC, 202-538-9031.
learning plans, and track results.
For more information on School Improvement Network,
go to www.schoolimprovement.com or call toll-free at
Common Core 360
800-572-1153 to speak to a sales representative.
Common Core 360, School Improvement Network’s
comprehensive training on the Common Core State
Standards Initiative, walks educators through every step
of Common Core implementation, with standard-specific
video instruction, downloadable lesson plans, crosswalking tools, a learning progressions guide, a roadmap to the
standards, and more.
LumiBook
LumiBook is the first truly interactive, multimedia, cloudbased e-reading platform. It surpasses the static information of any other reading experience, enabling real-time
author updates, collaborative conversations between
readers and authors, and a rich content experience that is
enhanced by all the resources available on the web.
Learning 360 Framework
Learning 360 Framework is the key research on teacher
effectiveness aggregated into a framework for powerful
student learning. It offers student-friendly learning targets
that are standards based and relevant, assessment that is
aligned and growth producing, and learning strategies that
are rigorous and engaging.
www.schoolimprovement.com | 801-572-1153
2
3. Introduction
instruction is the first priority for states and districts,
meeting the requirements of the ESEA Flexibility Waivers
In the last few years, the majority of states have moved
that the majority of states have received is currently
toward overhauling their teacher evaluation systems –
the driving force behind the development or revision of
a monumental, often onerous endeavor. Several new
teacher evaluation systems at the state and district levels.
federal education policies and recent research on teacher
Both states and districts have to ensure that any system
evaluation have incited states to take on the task:
they develop is valid and reliable, along with being legally
defensible in arbitration, and most districts are challenged
•
A recent shift in focus from highly qualified to highly
by the time and resources it takes to do this,” says Janice
effective teachers
Poda, strategic initiative director, education workforce,
Council of Chief State School Officers.
•
Financial incentives such as the federal American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the
Utilizing flexibility in developing rubrics at the local level
Race to the Top (RTT) program, which encourage
is important for ensuring teacher professional growth that
states to create rigorous and more comprehensive
leads to long term student academic achievement. In a
systems for evaluating teachers
corresponding survey School Improvement Network conducted with teachers nationally, teachers whose districts
•
use the state developed or chosen rubric expressed they
offer to exempt states from some of the law’s
do not believe the evaluation process in their school works
strictest requirements if they developed their own
effectively, and most of those educators say the chief
accountability standards, including those that
reason is that evaluations are neither individualized nor an
focus on teacher quality
honest reflection of their work.
Recent evidence suggesting that an overwhelming
If teacher evaluations are to be truly effective at improving
majority of teacher evaluation systems were assign-
teaching and student achievement, the evaluation rubrics
ing most teachers the highest possible rating and
need to reflect local teaching practices and provide indi-
offering little to no support for teachers who need
vidual feedback and professional development supports
improvement
•
NCLB waivers, the U.S. Department of Education’s
for improvement.
The result: an array of new or radically modified systems,
The State Teacher Evaluation Policy Scan
along with a continued emphasis in most states on
local control. The vast majority of states still offer local
From November 2012 through February 2013, CH Global
education agencies (LEAs) flexibility in developing a
Strategies administered a survey by phone and email to all
teacher practice evaluation rubric. At the same time,
50 states’ departments of education about their teacher
as a recent policy scan sponsored by the Utah-based
evaluation policies (see Appendix A for survey protocol).
School Improvement Network suggests, an unintended
The survey responses indicate that, except for California,
consequence has emerged: a communication gap between
all states are in the process of redesigning or have rede-
states and local education agencies (LEAs) that has led a
signed their teacher evaluation systems.
significant percentage of LEAs to misunderstand the level
of autonomy they have in designing their own teacher
Further, the survey revealed that the majority of states –
practice evaluation frameworks. Further, the emphasis
37 – offer flexibility to local education agencies for design-
on compliance at both the state and local levels – often
ing the rubrics they will use to evaluate teachers in their
accompanied by tight timelines – is leaving many LEAs
schools. Eleven states have developed and mandated a
little room to ensure that locally developed teacher
specific program for teacher evaluations. (See Appendix
evaluation rubrics are aligned with teacher practice to
A for a breakdown of states and flexibility options.)
help ensure instructional improvement. “While improving
www.schoolimprovement.com | 801-572-1153
3
4. School Improvement Network (SINET) followed up on the
SINET’s Delaware school district liaison, as of June 2013,
state teacher evaluation survey by surveying its 50 SINET
only one school district in the state had considered devel-
school district liaisons, who work directly with more than
oping its own teacher practice evaluation rubric.
4500 LEAs across the country. Forty-three SINET school
district liaisons responded. Among the survey’s findings:
Similarly, SINET’s Wisconsin district liaison reported that
vague policy language has led some LEAs in that state to
•
In the 37 states where teacher evaluation legislation
believe that they must choose between Teachscape or
gives districts flexibility in designing or selecting a
CESA’s 6 model when, in fact, the state’s policy allows
teacher-practice evaluation framework, that flexibility
LEAs total flexibility in selecting an alternate rubric as long
is often not clearly communicated to districts or clear-
as it adheres to state teacher evaluation policy guidelines.
ly understood at the district level – either because of
unclear communication from the state to the local level
Failure on the part of LEAs to thoroughly review
or a lack of thorough LEA review of the state’s written
written policy
policy, or both.
Specifically,
Despite the lack of clarity in some states’ written teacher
evaluation policies, some LEAs also may not be doing
73 percent of SINET’s school district liaisons report
their homework. SINET’s Kansas district liaison reported
their local education agencies are not at all or
that many LEAs there have relied solely on information
only vaguely aware of the flexibility they have in
posted on the state DOE’s website instead of thoroughly
designing alternate teacher-practice evaluation
reading the state’s teacher evaluation policy. Consequently,
rubrics; and
o
many LEAs there believe they must use one of two
state-approved rubrics when, in fact, the state’s teacher
o
74 percent of SINET’s school district liaisons say
evaluation policy allows LEAs to develop alternate
that they are somewhat likely, very likely or cer-
rubrics as long as they adhere to the state’s Educator
tain to be the primary source of LEAs’ information
Effectiveness Guidelines.
about their state’s teacher evaluation policy.
Onerous alternate-rubric approval processes that often
Further, the survey’s findings suggest three reasons for the
demand a quick turnaround
confusion:
SINET’s Kansas district liaison added that LEAs that are
Vague or dense policy language
aware of the flexibility option more often than not still chose
one of the two state-approved rubrics – either because the
Some states’ written teacher evaluation policies either
approval process for alternate rubrics was daunting, or the
do not clearly state flexibility options or are written using
LEAs lacked the capacity to develop an alternate, or both.
elaborate or dense language. For example, although
The liaison said that although one of the two state-approved
Delaware’s teacher evaluation policy allows districts to
rubrics – KEEP -- was developed and posted on the DOE’s
propose alternate teacher practice evaluation rubrics,
website approximately 18 months before the LEA rubric-
LEAs there have indicated to SINET district liaisons that
selection deadline, the second rubric (McREL) was
the state policy’s language seems to mandate use of
approved and posted just several months before the dead-
DPASS II, the state-developed rubric. Compounding the
line – leaving LEAs little time to properly review that option.
confusion, LEAs said, is that all LEA support and training
Consequently, concerns about compliance became the
offered by Delaware’s Department of Education is aligned
LEAs’ priority, and most selected KEEP or McREL. The
with DPAS II, even though the policy contains a provision
SINET district liaison added that many of the LEAs that
that allows LEAs flexibility. Consequently, according to
chose one of the two state-approved rubrics are using the
state’s 2013-14 teacher evaluation pilot year to carefully
review alternate rubrics and might propose alternate rubrics
during the next year’s approval process window.
www.schoolimprovement.com | 801-572-1153
4
5. SINET’s Wisconsin district liaison also reported a tight
Implications and questions for further exploration
approval process timeline for LEAs who wanted approval
on an alternate rubric. LEAs there had two weeks from the
Policy implementation research teaches several key les-
time the equivalency process was announced to submit
sons: The devil is in the details, and the success of any
their alternate choices.
policy depends on the bottom-line implementers . Therefore, clear, consistent and regular communication between
The Teacher Survey
policymakers and policy implementers is crucial, as is local
capacity. But as SINET’s research has suggested, weak
These findings coincide with a 2013 SINET quantitative
communication about teacher evaluation policy, along
study conducted in 46 states that examined nearly 2000
with complicated state-level approval processes for locally
educators’ attitudes toward current teacher evaluation
developed rubrics, has clouded already-overburdened
practices (see Appendix B for survey protocol).
LEAs’ understanding of and, in many cases, desire to take
Among the study’s findings:
advantage of policy flexibility.
•
The SINET surveys prompt three overarching questions:
Nearly half of evaluations use state-developed frameworks.
1.
•
Are states and districts grappling with too many
70 percent of the educators surveyed do not believe
teacher effectiveness policies, thereby compromising
the evaluation process in their school works effectively,
their capacity to clearly and faithfully implement these
and most of those educators say the chief reason is
policies?
that evaluations are neither individualized nor do they
provide more than a snapshot of their practice, and
often are too detailed.
2. Does teacher evaluation policy implementation occur
too quickly to allow both local compliance and alignment to local practice?
•
67 percent believe their evaluations do not provide a
fair and honest reflection of their work.
3. Given the large number of states with local control
over teacher evaluation, can quality and effectiveness
•
46 percent of those surveyed say that their evaluations
of teacher evaluation systems be guaranteed?
are not accompanied by professional development or
Specifically,
other support that is aligned with the evaluation criteria.
•
Are school leaders and teachers part of the policy-
This data suggests that despite the recent push for new
making process so that these bottom-line imple-
teacher evaluations to be more thoughtfully aligned to
menters’ views on effective evaluation are incorpo-
individual teachers’ practice, both states and LEAs have
rated into the policies?
work to do before evaluations truly reflect teacher practice. Further, data from the SINET state teacher evaluation
•
How are evaluation policies unfolding at the
policy scan suggests that technicalities – chiefly, state-level
principal level? What support are states and LEAs
processes for approving alternate frameworks that often are
offering their principals so they can effectively
cumbersome, time-consuming or both – are hindering LEAs’
implement new evaluation systems?
desire and capacity to craft teacher practice rubrics that are
closely aligned with teacher practice. The result: LEAs are
•
Similarly, how are evaluation policies unfolding at
likely to stick with the state-developed or state-supported
the teacher level? What, if any, professional de-
teacher practice evaluation rubric instead of expending
velopment guidelines are states calling for in their
time and other resources to develop a rubric that’s more
evaluation policies? If such guidelines are absent
locally appropriate and meets compliance criteria.
at the state level, what professional development
www.schoolimprovement.com | 801-572-1153
5
6. are local education agencies offering to teachers to
support their learning about new evaluation systems and tools?
•
How are local education agencies building teacher
capacity – especially for educators in low-performing schools – around mastery of instructional practices that will help them not only earn a
successful evaluation rating but, more importantly,
help them increase their effectiveness so that
they can move students toward higher levels of
achievement?
Recommendations
In light of these findings, we recommend the following
actions to teacher evaluation policymakers:
•
State departments of education should provide clear,
direct and continuous communication about teacher
evaluation policy (especially regarding policy components that might otherwise be complex or seem
ambiguous) to LEAs.
•
State departments of education should allot more time
for local implementation and offer more assistance in
building LEA capacity to help ensure that LEAs develop teacher practice evaluation rubrics that are both
compliant and effective.
•
LEAs should exercise their leadership role by carefully
considering local educator needs when it comes to
evaluation and building capacity that allows for better
feedback.
•
LEAs should provide thoughtful, judicious review of
and feedback to the state about their teacher evaluation policy.
•
Both states and LEAs should develop policies that
include thoughtfully crafted professional development
components so that principals and teachers are supported in their work and thereby can provide highly effective
school experiences for all students.
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7. Appendix A:
Teacher Evaluation Flexibility by State
States whose policies
offer LEAs flexibility
regarding type of
teacher practice
evaluation instrument
States with mandated
instrument(s)
Alabama
DC
Alaska
Georgia
Arizona
Hawaii
Arkansas
Idaho
California**
Mississippi
Colorado
Nebraska
Connecticut
New Mexico
Delaware*
North Carolina
Florida
Oklahoma
Illinois*
Washington
Indiana
West Virginia
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts*
Michigan
Minnesota*
Missouri
Montana
New Hampshire
New Jersey*
New York*
Nevada
North Dakota
Ohio*
Oregon
Pennsylvania*
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
*collective bargaining state
** As of May 2013, proposed legislative changes to
teacher evaluation in California failed to advance in
the state senate; California LEAs currently can use any
teacher practice evaluation instrument.
SINET’s state teacher evaluation system policy scan
revealed that Iowa’s state legislature in Spring 2013
approved new teacher evaluation guidelines, but as
of Fall 2013, the newly created Council on Educator
Development is only in very nascent stages of
Wisconsin
developing a new teacher evaluation system; therefore,
Wyoming
Iowa is not included in the chart.
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8. Appendix B:
SINET State Teacher Evaluation Policy
Scan Protocol
Appendix C:
SINET Teacher Survey Protocol:
Evaluation and Observations
1.
1.
Does your state have an approved teacher evaluation
Are you formally evaluated in your work?
system?
a. If yes, does this include walkthrough observations?
2. Does the system include an approved teacher-practice
If so, how often?
evaluation rubric/framework?
b. If yes, does this include informal observations? If
3. If yes, is that rubric/framework mandated?
4. If no, what flexibility do LEAs have for adapting that
rubric/framework or using an alternate?
so, how often?
2. When you are observed, does the process include
the following (check all that apply): Pre-observation
conference; post-observation conference; suggestions
5. If there is flexibility, what is the state-level process for
LEAs (e.g., a link on the state’s DOE website? Contact
for professional development; support for growth in
teaching effectiveness?
an individual at the DOE?) to propose an alternate or
adapted rubric/framework?
3. Is professional development part of the observation
process? If yes, is/does the professional
6. Does the state’s policy require third-party (e.g., union)
development
buy-in at the local level? If yes, what is the process?
•
personalized to your needs as identified in the
observation?
•
provided in whole-group workshops and other
traditional means?
•
provided through digital means, such as online or
on-demand PD?
•
include modeling of best practices, such as
7. What is the timeline for implementation of your new
or modified teacher evaluation system?
through videos?
4. Is the evaluation based on a state-/district-/system-mandated framework? If so, what framework
is used?
o Marzano
o Danielson
o State-developed
o Other
5. Has the framework been adequately explained
to you?
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9. 6. Does it clearly inform your work as a teacher?
11. Rate how much the following evaluation practices
would help improve the evaluation process for you:
7. Is the framework intuitive and reflective of what you
do daily as a teacher?
8. Regarding the framework used to evaluate your practice, indicate which framework it is (e.g., Danielson,
o
The ability to identify specific practices you want
to be observed
o
The opportunity to submit evidence and artifacts
that show your proficiency in certain domains
o
The chance to receive professional development
that is directly derived from your evaluations
o
An evaluation process that occasionally substitutes
peer observations in place of administrator observations
o
The opportunity to explain and/or justify student
data if student achievement data is included in the
evaluation
state-developed) and whether it works for you or does
not work for you.
9. If you indicated “does not work for me,” indicate from
the following list the reason(s) why:
o
Not individualized
o Snap-shot
o Evaluator
o
Too many details
o
Not focused on teacher’s efforts
12. Do you believe the evaluation process benefits you as
a professional educator?
o Pointless/impractical
o
Vague criteria
o
Not informed
o
Lack of post-evaluation benefits
13. Do you believe the evaluation process works
effectively?
14. Do you believe the evaluation process is fair and honestly reflects on you as an educator?
15. Is the evaluation process focused on your growth and
effectiveness as an educator?
o Unrealistic
16. Do you like being evaluated?
o Time
o Other
o
Figuring out new system
10. Does the evaluation process incorporate student
achievement data?
a. If yes, is this a fair practice?
17. What would you suggest could be done to improve
the evaluation process?
18. Do you feel that the evaluators are well-trained, qualified and objective?
19. Do you feel that the evaluators should be formally
trained and certified?
b. From where is the data derived (state standardized tests; baseline leveling assessments; ongoing
formative assessments; student evidence and
artifacts of learning)? What does the data reflect
(student growth over time, student grade-level
proficiency, or both)?
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10. i The New Teacher Project. (2009). The Widget Effect: Our
National Failure to Acknowledge and Act on Differences
in Teacher Effectiveness.
Interview with Janice Poda, strategic initiative director,
ii
education workforce, Council of Chief State School Officers, September 26, 2013.
SINET’s state teacher evaluation system policy scan
iii
revealed that Iowa’s state legislature in Spring 2013 approved new teacher evaluation guidelines, but as of Fall
2013, the newly created Council on Educator Development is only in very nascent stages of developing a new
teacher evaluation system; therefore Iowa is not included
in the charts in Appendix A; the policy scan also found
that as of May 2013, proposed legislative changes to
teacher evaluation in California failed to advance in the
state senate; LEAs there currently can use any teacher
practice evaluation instrument.
Lipsky, M. (1980). Street-level bureaucracy: Dilemmas of
iv
the individual in public services. Russell Sage Foundation;
Pressman, J.L., & Wildavsky, A. (1973). Implementation.
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
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