Transcript Slide 1

Getting Teacher Evaluation
Right
Stanford and Melbourne working in
tandem on education reform
Getting Teacher Evaluation
Right
Why is There So Much
Attention to Teacher
Evaluation Reform?
The Need for More Powerful Teaching
“The evaluations themselves are typically of little
value—a single, fleeting classroom visit by a
principal or other building administrator untrained in
evaluation, wielding a checklist of classroom
conditions and teacher behaviors that often don’t
even focus directly on the quality of teacher
instruction…. “Is presentably dressed,” “Starts on
time,” “Room is safe,” “The lesson occupies
students…. But, in most instances, it’s nothing more
than marking ‘satisfactory’ or ‘unsatisfactory.’”
-- Toch & Rothman, 2008.
I have had administrators who never came into my
classroom for formal observations or asked me for
anything more than the initial planning/goal sheet. I
have had administrators observe a formal lesson and
put the feedback sheet in my box without ever having
spoken to me about the lesson, and I have had years
where I am just asked to sign the end-of-the year
evaluation sheet [without being observed].
—Jane Fung, National Board Certified teacher
and Milken Award Winner, CA
Why has Teacher Evaluation
often been problematic?
Lack of
-- Clear standards for practice
-- Time
-- Expertise
-- Links to professional development
Little attention to student learning
Unwieldy processes for making decisions
How We Might Make
Matters Even Worse
 Focusing evaluation entirely after entry
 Creating systems that focus on ranking
teachers rather than improving teaching
 Making decisions substantially based on
value-added state test scores
 Putting all of the weight on school principals
 Designing systems that cannot be
implemented
The Right Starting Point:
What Do Effective Teachers Know and Do?
Effective Teachers…
 Engage students in active learning
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that builds on their experience
Create intellectually ambitious tasks
Use a variety of teaching strategies
Assess student learning to adapt
teaching to student needs
Create effective scaffolds and supports for language and
content learning
Provide clear standards, constant feedback, and
opportunities for revising work
Develop and effectively manage a collaborative
classroom in which all students have membership.
These Qualities are Embedded in
Standards for Teaching
 National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards + INTASC Standards for Beginning
Teachers (U.S.)
-- Portfolios used to certify accomplished teaching and,
now, in some states, beginning teaching
 Australian Professional Standards for
Teachers at four levels
-- Graduate, Proficient, Highly accomplished, Lead
-- To be evaluated through ITE accreditation, classroom
observation, and collection of evidence
How Do We Develop and
Ensure Effective Teaching for
Every Child?
Teacher Effectiveness Has Many
Components
Research finds that student learning gains are related to:
 Strong academic background
 Quality preparation prior to entry
 Certification in the field taught
 Experience (> 3 years)
 National Board Certification
In combination, these predict more of the difference in
student learning gains than race & parent education
combined (Clotfelter, Ladd, & Vigdor, 2008).
Policies should strengthen & equalize these features.
Still, Many Things Influence
Overall Achievement
Variance in Achievement*
(10th grade Mathematics)
•Model Controls for Prior
Achievement
• 95% of school, classroom,
and teacher effects were
unobservable (i.e. could not
be controlled with specific
variables)
Unexplained,
19.0%
Teacher factors,
8.5%
Classroom level
factors, 4.2%
Student
background
factors, 60.0%
School
leadership,
teachers’ peers, School level
factors, 8.6%
collaboration,
curriculum,
class size &
Source: Goldhaber, Brewer, & Anderson, Education Economics, 7 (3), 1999.
composition
matter
Creating a System: First Steps
 Treat teacher evaluation in conjunction with
the creation of a standards-based teacher
development system
-- beginners
-- professional teachers
-- accomplished practitioners
 Treat teacher evaluation in conjunction with
leadership training, development, and
evaluation, as well
Beginning
Teacher
Performance
Assessment
(e.g. PACT,
edTPA)
Professional
License
Assessment
© Linda Darling-Hammond 2010
National Board
Certification
Performance Assessments of Teaching
Teachers and preparation programs learn from
performance assessments – videos, lesson plans,
student work, and commentary -- showing how a
prospective teacher:
Plans a unit of instruction around standards for students
and standards for teaching
Instructs, reflects, and revises in response to students’
learning
Assesses and analyzes student learning
Reflects on the success of practice and on how it can be
improved
Develops academic language among all students.
Teacher Learning is Enhanced
I think for me the most valuable thing was the
sequencing of the lessons, teaching the
lesson, and evaluating what the kids were
getting, what the kids weren’t getting, and
having that be reflected in my next
lesson...the ‘teach-assess-teach-assessteach-assess’ process. And so you’re
constantly changing – you may have a plan
or a framework that you have together, but
knowing that that’s flexible and that it has to
be flexible, based on what the children learn
that day.
Teacher Educators Learn
This [scoring] experience…has forced me to
revisit the question of what really matters in
the assessment of teachers, which – in turn –
means revisiting the question of what really
matters in the preparation of teachers.
Teacher Education Programs Learn
How candidates do:
 On different aspects of teaching
 In different subject areas
 In comparison to other programs
 Over time
 With different kinds of supports
… And change:
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Courses
The learning sequence
Clinical practice opportunities
Supports for candidates
Next, Build an Integrated System of
Ongoing Evaluation
-- Standards-based
measures of practice
-- Evidence of collegial
contributions
-- Measures of student
learning & growth
Linked by goals,
considered in context
Integrated evidence of:
practice
professional
contributions
student
learning
Use Multiple Measures to
Reflect Practice
 Standards-based observation by experts trained in
evaluation and, ideally, the content area
 Curriculum plans, assignments, and student work samples
 Evidence of practices that support student learning in and
outside of the classroom
-- feedback and extra help to students
-- work with parents
-- work with colleagues to support students
 Feedback from parents and students
1. Engaging and Supporting All
Students in Learning
Element
1.1 The teacher
builds on the
students’ prior
knowledge, life
experiences, and
interests to achieve
learning goals.
Unsatisfactory
Makes limited
connections between
the learning goals and
students’ prior
knowledge, life
experiences, and
interests. Does not
encourage student
questions or comments
during a lesson.
Satisfactory
Makes acceptable
connections between
the learning goals and
students’ prior
knowledge, life
experiences, and
interests. Elicits some
questions from
students during a
lesson to monitor
student
understanding.
Accomplished
Makes substantial
connections between the
learning goals and
students’ prior
knowledge, life
experiences, and
interests. Elicits and uses
questions and comments
from students during a
lesson to extend their
understanding.
Exemplary
Employs strategies that
allow all students to
connect and apply their
prior knowledge, life
experiences, and interests
to new learning and the
achievement of learning
goals. Builds on students’
questions and comments
during lessons to modify
instruction.
1.2 The teacher
uses a variety of
instructional
strategies and
resources that
respond to students’
diverse needs.
Uses limited
instructional strategies,
but they lack variety,
are poorly carried out,
or are inappropriate to
the students or to the
instructional goals.
Few adjustments are
made to respond to
students’ needs.
Uses a selection of
instructional
strategies that are
largely appropriate to
the students and the
instructional goals.
They may lack variety
or be less than
responsive to
students’ needs.
Uses a variety of
instructional strategies
that are appropriate to
the students and the
instructional goals. The
teacher carries out these
strategies thoughtfully,
making some
adjustments that are
responsive to students’
needs.
Makes skillful use of a
wide repertoire of
instructional strategies to
engage all students in
learning, making
adjustments while
teaching to respond to
students’ needs.
Use Multiple Measures to
Assess Student Learning
 Authentic assessments:
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essays, research projects,
investigations; portfolios
Rubric-Scored tasks
Local, state, national tests
(pre - post measures; AP;
IB; DRA)
English proficiency gains
Accomplishment of
learner goals (IEP, other)
Documentation of learning
 Goal-Setting Matched
to Curriculum and
Students Taught
Basket of Evidence
Student Learning Objectives
 A goal-setting process in which
teachers assemble learning evidence
to evaluate students’ progress.
 Teachers set targets on assessment
measures—for entire classrooms or
specific subsets of students, for an
entire course or a specific set of skills
within the course—taking into
account students’ starting points.
 The goals and evidence of student
learning are examined, along with
evidence of teachers’ practices, in
the evaluation process.
How Evaluation Can
Support Collaboration
[Student learning evidence] can be used to
promote collaboration and reflection on practice
among educators. By analyzing work in teams and
by setting schoolwide, subject-level, grade-level,
or team-based goals, educators can work together
to better understand and meet the needs of all
students. The goal-setting and inquiry cycle
encourages educators to share strategies and
seek guidance and assistance from specialists
who support student learning….
Finally, Create an Integrated System
 Link the implementation of standards to goal-
setting and support
 Train and assess prospective and current
principals for teacher evaluation and support
 Create Peer Assistance and Review systems
for making decisions about tenure and
continuation in cases of intervention
 Use professional development policies and
identification of expert teachers to support
coaching and peer evaluation
Long Beach, CA Approach
 Individuals, grade-level / department teams, and schools set goals
 Multiple sources of evidence are examined collectively to evaluate
progress for students and to plan for next year. These include:
-- Teacher observations of learning
-- Anecdotal and cumulative records
-- Success and progress on a learning continuum or course of study
-- Teacher, department, or school-made pre- and post-tests
-- Curriculum-related tests
-- Use of audio-visual documentation
-- Student self-evaluations
-- Evaluative discussion with students & parents
-- Records of students' past learning
-- Files of students' work collected to show growth
-- Action research
Hillsdale High School Approach
(San Mateo, CA)
 Teachers work with principal to set specific goals around
2 CSTP standards (e.g. student engagement;
instructional practice)
 Teachers write a self-evaluation which becomes an
iterative conversation with the principal via googledocs
as observations occur and new strategies are tried
 Observation of practice and collection of evidence about
learning drive conversations throughout the year
 Teachers assemble a portfolio of evidence about how
they have met the standards, which integrates evidence
of practice, student learning, and professional
contributions
New Mexico Approach:
South Valley Academy
 3-tiered state portfolio-based licensing
system
 Within the school, PDP (Professional
Development Plan) used for goal-setting;
focused collaborative work; and assessment
of results -- A practitioner action research
evaluation model
Case in Point
 Andres’ focus on improving vocabulary
learning in chemistry
-- set goals in terms of improved mastery
-- a variety of strategies, developed with
peers
-- tracking of outcomes on multiple measures
[14 artifacts collected in his portfolio with
analysis of student learning]
Andres’ Reflection
“These collaborations are perhaps the most powerful and useful
part of the PDP process. Staff became aware of the many
learning gaps that we are noticing in our students, and we began
working collaboratively to share and find ways to address those
learning gaps. Many times other staff members noticed things
that were happening that I hadn’t noticed before, but as soon as
they said it, I was like, “Yeah, that’s happening with my students,
too.” In many of the meetings, teachers together can start
noticing trends, and then the project is even more meaningful….
Having a forum to share effective strategies for student learning
opens the door for every teacher at the school to help every other
teacher get better. When other people start doing new things
because of other people’s PDPs, this makes the process even
more powerful.”
Connect Assessment to Quality
Professional Learning
Well-designed professional development can
improve practice and increase student
achievement.
A review of experimental studies found that
student achievement increased by 21
percentile points among programs offering
extended PD (49 hours on average over 6 to
12 months). (Yoon et al., 2007)
One-shot workshops (PD <14 hours) had no
positive effects.
Professional Learning Opportunities that
Impact Practice are Generally:
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Focused on specific curriculum content
Organized around real problems of practice
Connected to teachers’ work with children
Linked to analysis of teaching and student learning
Intensive, sustained and continuous over time
Supported by coaching, modeling,
observation, and feedback
Connected to teachers’ collaborative work in
professional learning communities
Integrated into school and classroom
planning around curriculum, instruction, and
assessment
Learning about Practice in Practice
If We Take Teaching Effectiveness
Seriously, We Will Ensure…
 High-quality preparation and mentoring for all beginners
 Teaching assignments and conditions that support success for
students and teachers
 Sustained, practice-based collegial learning opportunities for
all educators
 Well-designed schools with thoughtful, coherent curriculum
 Evaluation systems that are
-- Standards-based, integrating practice and outcome data
-- Linked to coaching and professional development
-- Rigorous at tenure and other key junctures
-- Designed to provide assistance, due process, & timely
decisions