DESE REGIONAL WORKSHOP MARCH 5, 2013 LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE FIELD

PRESENTER John Doherty, Superintendent, Reading Public Schools Wiki

LESSONS LEARNED Trust and Collaboration Building Capacity Making it SMART Training Opportunity vs. Compliance Modeling the Process

TRUST AND COLLABORATION DESE PRESENTATION

Trust and Collaboration are Critical for Success

“WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER” “IT WILL NOT BE PERFECT” “WE WILL BE MAKING MISTAKES ALONG THE WAY.” “WE NEED YOUR HELP TO MAKE THE PROCESS BETTER.”

TRUST Focus on Growth, not Gotcha Form Joint Committees Conversations between supervisor and educator is the most critical Communication is Key Joint Meetings/Union Leaders, Members and Administration Engage School Committee -Training opportunities - Enlist support for rewarding exceptional teaching and for supervision of mediocre/ineffective teaching

BUILDING CAPACITY DESE PRESENTATION

A FRAMEWORK FOR ENGAGING EDUCATORS I KnowI Apply I Participate I Lead

STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING CAPACITY All stakeholders (SEA, LEA, Union, SC) are responsible Develop feedback loops for misconceptions Surveys, Focus Group Sessions Communicate, Communicate, Communicate Guidebooks/Handbooks/CBA District/School Improvement Documents FAQ Website Newsletter Information Sessions Podcasts/Webinars Train the Trainer Models

STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING CAPACITY Make resources and tools available for educators to use Model lesson plans aligned to standards Instructional coaching Mentoring Professional Development Interim Assessments Videos of high quality instruction Professional Libraries Opportunities to Observe Peers and Discuss Practice

STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING CAPACITY Follow up on Feedback Joint Union/Administration Communication Teams Breaks down barriers and eliminates misconceptions Identify teachers for additional roles and responsibilities Peer Observation Pilot Developing assessments for multiple measures Tools and guidance with student learning objectives

STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING CAPACITY Identify excellent practitioners and give them opportunities to lead Study groups which focus on particular evaluation standards or development of assessments Participate on school/district evaluation advisory committees Establish a culture that accommodates disagreement, but does not accept the status quo Process Important - Culture of Trust = Success Using DESE process only can be seductive “We Implemented the Regulations and are in compliance” Compliance only will not lead to change or better student outcomes

MAKING IT SMART DESE PRESENTATION

SMART GOAL PROCESS Most challenging for teachers Provide examples of Self-Assessment and SMART Goal for each level and type of educator Encourage staff to develop school-wide or team goals/ Safety in Numbers Goals should reflect systemic goals DIP/SIP Alignment and Articulation Collaborative Conversations essential to development of effective SMART Goals Transparency- Talk About Needs/Goals Publicly

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 17

TRAINING DESE PRESENTATION

TRAINING FOR ADMINISTRATORS Provide training for All Stakeholders Administrators Department Chairs Team Chairs Coordinators Central Office School Committee Public Training Focus Providing meaningful feedback Supervision and observation Understanding the process

TRAINING FOR ADMINISTRATORS Administrative Collaborative Conversations Why are we doing this ? If… Then… How do our goals connect to maximize impact within the framework of our resources? How can we use the evaluation system in our strategy for classroom/school/district improvement? What are our beliefs and do we institutionalize them or are they pretty words? Do our actions reflect core values? What our our “Non-discussables”?

INTER-RATER RELIABILITY Teachers need to understand that expectations for observation and evaluation are consistent across a district- Calibrate observations across district Train administration/evaluators Video review of lessons and debrief as a team Discuss and establish instructional norms and values Assign administrators to walk through classrooms as teams Teams should observe across all levels Use essential questions to debrief Invite Union leaders to do “walk throughs”/debrief Invite School Committee to visit – opportunity to realize how budget is expended

Link this system to the common core and assessments implementation.

TRAINING FOR TEACHERS Focus on connections between initiatives Common Core State Standards Assessment Development District Determined Measures Other initiatives Focus on process, not compliance Give examples

OPPORTUNITY VERSUS COMPLIANCE DESE PRESENTATION

Look at this as an opportunity to improve teaching and learning and educator growth in your district

OPPORTUNITY VS. COMPLIANCE Connect Common Core and Assessment Development to the Educator Evaluation System Use the conversations as opportunities to grow Don’t treat this as “we have to do this.” Provide time for teachers to understand process and collaborate Identify ways to take things off of principal’s plate Assigning some evaluations to central office and team chairs Increasing evaluation cycle for non-teachers (i.e. paraeducators) Communicate their priorities

OPPORTUNITIES Engage School Committee/Interest Based Bargaining (IBB) Opportunity to collaborate to solve problems Involves all stakeholders Collaborative Conversations about Issues and Emerging Trends Time, Compensation, Schedules Explore how technology can assist teachers and administrators to collect/share data Baseline Edge May afford opportunity for feedback or to clarify data

OPPORTUNITIES Explore systemic strategies to collect/report data to public Community Engagement Standard Opportunity to establish a public dialogue and solicit feedback Schedule of survey and data collection/On going, systemic process Measures of student/parent engagement Measures of teacher/parent satisfaction Measures of how effectiveness in teaching 21 st C skills/Career Readiness Alumni data collection

EXAMPLE OF A TWO-FER OR THREE-FER

Common Core For Literacy has three expectations Building knowledge through content rich non-fiction and informational texts Reading and writing grounded in evidence from text Regular practice with complex text and its academic vocabulary Rubric Element I-A-3 (Rigorous Standards-Based Unit Design) Element I-B-1 (Variety of Assessment Methods) Element II-A-2 (Student Engagement) Goal setting would be focused on Increasing the amount of non-fiction and informational text used in the classroom Increasing the amount of writing that focuses on using evidence from text Increasing student engagement by using quality questioning techniques. EXAMPLE OF A THREE-FER

Classroom Observations Focus On Engaging Students Directly with High Quality Texts Quality of Questions and Instructional strategies used to engage students with a high level of key academic vocabulary Assessing Student Work through Evidence of Speaking and Writing Common Assessments Could Focus On MCAS/PARCC Student Analytic Writing which shows growth over time Student presentations which shows evidence of drawing information from texts over time EXAMPLES OF A THREE-FER CONTINUED

MODELING THE PROCESS DESE PRESENTATION

MODELING THE PROCESS Communicate the Process Newsletters Blogs School Committee Meetings If not RTTT District, implement the following this year: Administrator Process Superintendent’s Process Educator Plan Superintendent should play a key role in communication

FINAL THOUGHTS

Plan your strategy and process

The DESE has provided some excellent materials

Adopt the model rubric

Involve your school committee early and often in the communication process.

Focus on the reason why we are doing this

QUESTIONS “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail? “ “What could we as a school district attempt to do for students if we knew we could not fail?” “Does our culture reflect the core values we articulate and how does this translate into behavior in our schools?” “In our schools do we react with curiosity or criticism?”

QUESTIONS DESE MARCH 5, 2013