Transcript Performance Management: Activities and Tools

Teacher Appraisal Systems:
How One Urban School District is Linking
Effective Teaching to Student Achievement
Dr. Terry B. Grier, Superintendent
Houston Independent School District
February 17, 2012
About Team HISD
 Largest school district in Texas; seventhlargest in the U.S.
 Over 204,000 students
 30% LEP
 64% At Risk
 95% Title I
 80% Economically disadvantaged
 Over 11,000 teachers
 292 Schools
 Spans over 300 square miles
Data from 2010-11
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HISD’s Strategic Direction is composed of five core initiatives. The first
ensures that there is an effective teacher in every classroom.
Board of Education
Goals for HISD from the
Declaration of Beliefs and Visions
1
2
Effective
Teacher
in Every
Classroom
4
3
Effective
Principal
in Every
School
Rigorous
Instructional
Standards
&Supports
5
Data
Driven
Accountability
Culture
of Trust
through
Action
3
Our nation’s public schools are failing poor and minority children. The
achievement gap betrays the promise of an equal education for all.
NAEP Grade 4 Reading
240
White
230
230
Average Scale Score
227
220
223
228
223
210
201
204
199
200
194
190
191
203
192
198
199
Hispanic
Af.-Am.
By the time they graduate
high school,
African-American and
Hispanic students are
reading and doing math at
an 8th grade level,
on average.
192
180
170
Notes: *Accommodations for students with disabilities and English language learners not permitted; Trends similar for Math.
Source: Original analysis of the Education Trust based on Long-Term Trends NAEP ; National Center for Education Statistics, NAEP Data Explorer,
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde, NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress
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Teachers are the solution. A few years with effective teachers can
put even the most disadvantaged student on the path to college.
1 yr
Very good
teacher
Ineffective
teacher
2 yrs
1 extra year of learning
“The students of an ineffective teacher learn an average of half a
year’s worth of material in one school year, while the students
of a very good teacher learn 1.5 year’s worth—
a difference of a year’s worth of learning in a single year.”
(Hanushek, 2010)
Gap-closing growth in 4 years
White
students
Black
students
“Having a top-quartile teacher rather than a bottom-quartile
teacher four years in a row could be enough to close the blackwhite test score gap.”
(Gordon, Kane and Staiger, 2006)
10-student class size reduction
Changing teacher performance from mediocre to very good (25th
to 75th percentile) has an effect equivalent to reducing class size by
10+ students in 4th grade, 13+ students in 5th grade, or an
“implausible” number in 6th grade.
(Rivkin et al., 2005)
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We believe that dramatic improvements in student achievement can
occur with a sustained and strategic focus on teacher effectiveness.
Boost effectiveness of all teachers
through effective evaluation and targeted
professional development
GOAL
Retain and leverage
the most effective
educators
Optimize new teacher supply
by hiring from preparation
programs whose teachers
consistently achieve better
student outcomes.
Prioritize
effective
teachers for highneed students.
Improve or exit
persistently less
effective educators
Teacher Effectiveness
(Student Outcomes, Instructional Practice)
In order to achieve this, we must have an accurate understanding of
which teachers are in which performance group.
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Putting an effective teacher in every HISD classroom requires a
comprehensive set of reforms—no single strategy alone can make it
happen.
Four Key Strategies of HISD’s
Effective Teachers Initiative
Retention
Smart
recruitment and
staffing
Useful
appraisals
Individualized
teacher support
Strengthen recruitment and
staffing policies and
practices to attract top
talent
Establish a rigorous and fair
teacher appraisal system to
inform key decisions
Provide effective individualized
support and professional
development for teachers
Compensation
Selection
An effective
teacher
in every
classroom
Career
Pathways
Mentoring/
Coaching
Prof.
Development
New career
pathways
Recruitment
Hiring/
Placement
Info on
Performance
Regular
Feedback
Offer career pathways and
differentiated compensation to
retain and leverage the most
effective teachers
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HISD’s previous appraisal system (PDAS) did not distinguish between
effective and ineffective teachers.
Distribution of PDAS/MPDAS Domain Ratings, 2005-06 Through 2008-09
Just 3.4% of teachers rated on PDAS/MPDAS
between 2005-06 and 2008-09 had any domain
rated “below expectations” or “unsatisfactory.”
Source: HISD Spring and Fall Staff review process; * Compare to appraisal results from 2005 through 2009 in which only 3.4% of teachers had any domain rated as
“below expectations” or “unsatisfactory.”
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In the spring of 2010, we began instituting Staff Review as a stopgap
solution while designing a new appraisal system.
2009-10
One round of Staff Review meetings was held (spring)
 Principals reviewed information97%
about teacher performance and informally
grouped them into one of four categories during a meeting with their supervisors
and HR staff:
Highly Effective, Proficient, Developing, Low-Performing
2010-11
Two rounds of Staff Review meetings were held (fall and spring)
In addition to meetings to give teachers performance ratings:
 Principals were also required to meet with teachers to discuss classroom
performance three times per year
 Principals and teachers worked together to craft individual development plans for all
teachers
 Principals were required to conduct one in-depth observation for each teacher
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Staff Review immediately helped principals get a more accurate
picture of their teachers’ performance.
Distribution of Teacher Staff Review and PDAS Performance Category Assignments*
Nearly 30% of teachers were
rated in Staff Review as
“developing” or “low-performing,”
compared to just 3% of teachers
in the bottom two categories on
PDAS/MPDAS.
Source: HISD Spring and Fall Staff review process; Average PDAS ratings between 2005-2009. Method: Staff review ratings and distributions are reported for all employees with teacher job codes
(starting with TCHR or CATE) who received staff review ratings. Employees missing ratings are not included in these percentile distributions. Previous analyses of staff review data have included some
additional employees with job titles that could not be confirmed as referring to teacher positions (e.g. instructional coordinator, literacy coach). These employees are not included in this distribution.
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At the same time in the 2010-11 school year, we began developing
a comprehensive teacher evaluation system that involved
thousands of teachers and principals in the design process.
In May of 2011, the Board of
Education approved the new
appraisal and development
system.
Student
Performance
Teacher’s impact on student learning.
Measured by multiple student
performance measures, including
value-added data.
Instructional
Practice
Teacher’s skills and
knowledge that help
promote student learning.
Measured by multiple
classroom observations
using a rubric.
Teacher’s efforts to meet
Professional objective, measurable
Expectations standards of
professionalism.
“Houston is providing a model for the state and other districts to follow.”
--Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
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That same year, we also restructured our Professional Development
department to give teachers tailored, job-embedded support —
without increasing our budget.
PREVIOUS PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT STRUCTURE:
NEW STRUCTURE:
-Large “menu” of PD offerings
-PD offerings focused on and aligned to
district priorities
-Teachers sign up for PD courses and
attend workshops
-Teacher Development Specialists (TDS) work
directly with teachers on their campuses
-Teachers and schools access PD
through various central departments
-Teachers access PD through TDS and through
video and technology platforms
New Role:
130 Teacher Development Specialists hired to provide job-embedded, content-specific
professional development to teachers, aligned directly to our instructional practice
rubric.
 Conducted a nationwide search and a rigorous selection process; only 15%
of applicants were hired
 TDS are subject experts and assigned to teachers by content area
 Median teaching experience of TDS: 9 years
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Principals now have the information they need to exit persistently
low-performing teachers.
Total Teachers brought to File Review for Performance
Spring 2010:
Formal performance
conversations begin
720
496
82
2006-2007
130
118
2007-2008
2008-2009
# of teachers exited through the
file review process:
77
2009-2010
213
2010-2011
373
Method: Teachers included in this slide refer to employees whose job codes identify them as being teachers (job code starting with “TCHR” or “CATE”). Teachers were
identified as exiting if they were present on a roster from the prior year but not present on the roster from the following year.
* Reasons for files brought to review unknown between 2006-2009 school years. The 496 and 720 between 2009-2011 were performance-based cases and do not
include files brought for budget or consult-only reasons. Exit numbers also do not include those existed from the districts who were not brought to file review for
performance reasons.
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Removing ineffective teachers isn’t the only solution—but we know
we’re likely to replace them with more effective new teachers.
300
Average EVAAS
scores of HISD's
First Year
Teachers
Number of Teachers
250
Average EVAAS
scores of HISD's
Lowest Performing
Teachers
200
150
Teachers in EVAAS 90th
Percentile or Above
Teachers in EVAAS 10th
Percentile or Below
100
50
0
-13 -12 -11 -10 -9 -8
-7 -6
-5 -4
-3 -2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 11 12 13
2- and 3-Year Average Mathematics Cumulative Gain Index
Source: HISD Internal Data
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Most importantly, HISD is retaining significantly higher percentages of
more effective teachers than less effective teachers.
Teacher Retention by Performance:
Percent of Teachers Retained on Campuses (2010 and 2011)
88%
93%
80%
88%
94%
92%
61%
46%
Low-Performing
09-10 n=570
10-11 n=591
Developing
09-10 n=1923
10-11 n=2431
Retained for SY10-11
Proficient
09-10 n=4470
10-11 n=5872
Highly Effective
09-10 n=2753
10-11 n=2696
Retained for SY11-12
Source: HISD Staff Review ratings. *In 2009-10, 225 teachers identified as low-performing in Staff Review were no longer active in HISD by the
end of the year. In 2010-11, 322 teachers identified as low-performing were no longer active by EOY.
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And, the new appraisal and development system is currently being
implemented at every HISD school—with immediate benefits for our
teachers.
 Over 800 certified appraisers and nearly
11,000 teachers have been trained on the
new system
 All HISD teachers now have individualized
development plans
 TDS have conducted over 15,000
observations so far this year
 Over 10,000 teachers received a formative
rating from their appraiser along with
comprehensive feedback
 Our appraisers and TDS have conducted
over 35,000 observations to date
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Since beginning this work full-force in 2009, we’re seeing signs that
we’re on the right track.
 The HISD graduation rate is 74.3%--an all-time district high, while the dropout
rate is 12.6%, an all-time district low. Dropout rates for both African
American and Hispanic students are both at all-time lows.
 The percentage of African American and Hispanic students scoring at the
tougher “commended” level on the reading, math, science, and social studies
portion of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills are at all-time district
highs.
 HISD students passed 39% more Advanced Placement exams 2011 than in
2009.
 Number of HISD students scoring 500 or higher on the SAT rose 13% in
reading, 18% in math, and 10% in writing in 2011.
 A record number of 25 HISD schools made the Washington Post’s list of
America’s Best High Schools.
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To learn more about the Effective Teachers Initiative, visit
www.HISDeffectiveteachers.org.
This presentation will be posted online at:
http://houstonisd.org/aasapresentation
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