 The professional growth and development of teachers is the fundamental purpose of teacher assessment.

 The goal is to enable teachers to receive appropriate feedback in order to improve their teaching and their students’ learning.  Accountability? / Teacher Development?

 Talk to your clinical teacher about how he/she is assessed.  Why are teachers assessed?  What can you do to prepare for assessment?

 No Child Left Behind Act: standards of teacher quality.  1. Full state certification.  2. Passed state teacher licensing examination.  3. Minimum: Bachelor’s Degree  4. Demonstrate subject  matter competency.

 National Board Certification:  Bachelor’s Degree  + 3 years classroom experience.  Certification valid for 10 years.  Certification fee: $2,300 –  sometimes district subsidized.  Salary increases.  State to state reciprocity for hiring.  Accepted as ‘elective’ credit at USU.

 Tied to teacher retention.  Period of teacher probation.  District specific.  Frequent observation during early years.

 Formal feedback.  May include portfolio.  Performance  standards outlined  in evaluation  instrument.

 Administrator ‘drop-ins’  Peer Coaching  Mentoring  Teacher initiated  observations

 Focused skill observations  Observing of peers  Student  Feedback  Teacher  Reflection  Peer Learning  Groups

 SCED 4210:  Utah Effective Teaching Standards:  1. Learner Development  2. Learning Differences  3. Learning Environments  4. Content Knowledge  5. Assessment  6. Instructional Planning  7. Instructional Strategies

 Utah Effective Teaching Standards (cont.)  8. Reflection and Continuous Growth  9. Leadership and Collaboration  10. Professional and Ethical Behavior

 Instructor Goals and Expectations:  Factual Knowledge: (#1)  Learning terminology, classifications, methods, and trends related to curriculum design and assessment.

 Instructor Goals and Expectations:  Application Knowledge: (#3)  Learning to apply course materials to improve rational thinking, solve problems, and make teaching decisions.

 Instructor Goals and Expectations:  Professional Knowledge (#4)  Developing skills, competencies and points of view related to assessment and curriculum design needed by classroom teachers in their specific contexts.

 Instructor Goals and Expectations:  Team Development Skills (#5)  Acquiring skills in working with others as a member of a team.

 In small groups: (5)  Review the teacher evaluation instruments you have been given.  On the team form, write down the strengths and weaknesses of the model.  What questions do you have about the model?

 Which one of the instruments would you prefer being evaluated by?  Why?

 How Can You Use Learning Communities in Your Classroom?  Team-Building Activities  Curriculum-Focused Tasks  Group Projects/ Products  Differentiated Learning  Critical Thinking/  Inquiry Activities  Performance?  Other?

 How can you help students be successful as they work in Classroom Learning Communities?  Teach Group Skills  Assign Roles  Honest Feedback to Non-contributing Members  Teacher/ Other Serves as Mediator

 Five Critical Questions:  1) What is it we want all students to learn – by grade level, by course, and by unit of instruction?

 2) How will we know when each student has learned – that is, has acquired the knowledge, skills, and dispositions deemed essential?

 3) What are the best ways to teach what all students need to know and be able to do?

 4) How will we respond when students experience initial difficulty in their learning?

 5) How will we enrich and extend the learning for students who are already proficient?