Getting Engaged in Evaluation: How to Develop an Evidence-based Offense for Your Evaluation Presented by Ellen Holmes, NBCT

Remember Your Evaluations … Impact the quality of your work AND (can, may, will…) Impact your career earnings. You need a strong base of evidence that supports where you “rate” in the CCSD rubric.

The best defense is a strong offense. Currently, the bulk of evidence from your evaluations is gathered via principal observations. This means you are a passive actor in the process – on the defense. By creating a plan for identifying and gathering evidence of your practice, you now have an active role in your evaluation. A collection of evidence is a strong offense.

Where can the evidence of your practice come from? Gathered through: Observation Conferences (face to face and written) Self-assessment Structured reflection Planning documents Teaching Artifacts (things you make) Student data (things you collect) Pictures

Evidence of Your Practice Examples of Teaching Artifacts and Other Sources of Data Assignments Worksheets Project Directions Parent communications Logs of PD Student work Written lesson plans Semester and unit plans Interview Conferences Attendance records Field trip logs Back-to-School handout Student interviews Phone log School or district projects Classroom rules Discipline procedures Student achievement data Copies of assessments Copies of grade book Student profiles Student portfolios Video or audio

CCSD Rubric Select a Domain from your current CCSD Evaluation Rubric. For let’s look at Domain 2: Assessment of Student Achievement Now, look at the first indicator: Student achievement, access/equity and other site- specific data were analyzed. Now, let’s look carefully at what you are required to do at a level 3 in the rubric.

What to do… There is clear, convincing evidence that the teacher’s performance consistently met standards and may have occasionally exceeded standards in some areas. The teacher: Analyzed student achievement data; including data related to student accessibility and patterns of achievement over time. Begin by underlining the verbs. This is what you are to DO Next circle the nouns. These are what you KNOW or can PRODUCE as evidence. So…what sorts of evidence can you provide that you have done this? Classroom observations alone can never provide evidence that you have done this. Some examples of evidence can be: Student data charts where you are tracking pre and post test over time with an ANALYSIS of what your next steps are.

Continue the Process Using the CCSD Rubric and the worksheet called “CCSD Professional Domains” proceed through all the LEVEL 3 indicators under each domain. Brainstorm the types of evidence you think you already have or can gather that show how you meet this indicator. Then, start collecting your evidence.

Strategy for Gathering Evidence Create a space that is visually prominent in your work area that has 5 Evidence Folders – one for each Instructional Domain. As you receive or create something that would provide evidence of your practice – slip a copy into the appropriate folder. I suggest spending about 10 minutes a week locating some piece of evidence that accurately describes your practice as defined by the CCSD Rubric.

Remember to Build Your Evaluation Toolbox Copy of your Contract District evaluation rubrics Work site handbook Evaluation calendar – Dates of visits, start and end times of visits and who visited Evaluation Procedures Reflect and create Individual Growth Plan Folder for your lesson plan printouts Folder for any and all written appraisals, evaluations, notices, reports, reprimands AND any of your written responses. Evidence Files

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