PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR EVALUATORS DAY 2: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2012 Leveraging Performance Management to Support School Priorities

Today’s Agenda Setting goals that are aligned and SMART Writing Action Plans tied to goals Identifying evidence from artifacts and observations  Selective scripting Rolling all evidence up into ratings

StrengthsNeeds Improving student performance in math for students who enter my class performing below grade level Indicators/Elements: Teaching classrooms with diverse needs (especially meeting the needs of student with an IEP) Indicators/Elements: Family outreach and communication Indicators/Elements: Additional support for implementing the revised MA Curriculum framework Indicators/Elements: Improving communication with families for whom English is a second language Indicators/Elements: Strengthen leadership skills Indicators/Elements: Chris McCloud: Self-assessment against the rubric 3

Getting to Goal Topics Your school-level analysis should drive your student learning goals. Your student learning goals should drive your professional practice goals. Goal-setting is not done in a vacuum! Needs Analysis Student Professional Learning Practice Needs Analysis Student Professional Learning Practice

Setting Goals that are Aligned and SMART Evaluators will:  Identify what makes a goal SMART  Practice skills to revise SMART goals  Develop strategies to ensure alignment between teacher and school goals  Create sample goals for teachers  Know what follows goal-setting

Understanding Goal Setting Self-Assessment Analysis, goal- setting, & plan development Implementation of the plan Formative Assessment/Evaluation Summative Evaluation Where do I need to grow this year? Where do I want my students to grow this year?

Proposing and Setting Goals Rationale for goal-setting Based on the educator’s self-assessment At least:  One goal for student learning, growth and achievement, and  One goal for professional practice Consider team, grade, or department goals Educator proposes; supervisor determines BEFORE educators set goals: Measure practice against performance standards on rubric for the Professional Practice goal Examine student data for the Student Learning goal

Attributes of a Strong Goal Specific Measurable Attainable Results-Focused Time-bound Remember, the key to make sure the goal is written clearly enough so that both teacher and evaluator can determine the teacher’s degree of success in meeting the goal.

Sample Professional Practice Goal With your table, consider this goal: 7 th grade math In order to support my ELL students in averaging 80% on unit assessments, I will consistently identify and teach symbols, key terms and other math vocabulary, and use daily exit tickets that measure both vocabulary and conceptual understanding. I will measure my progress through student vocabulary notebooks and tracking exit ticket performance data twice a month from now until May 15. Does this goal meet criteria for SMART?

Sample Professional Practice Goal Specific: Focused on a sub-group of students (ELL), clear about which strategies will be taught Measurable: Can measure by analyzing student notebooks and exit tickets Action-Oriented: The teacher will implement teaching strategies that are likely to improve student learning in the area he is measuring Realistic: The teacher wants / needs to teach these strategies already. Time-bound: Completion date for action (May 15) is included in the goal.

Activity: Re-writing Goals to be SMARTer With your colleagues, review the worksheet of goals: Determine whether they are Student Learning (SL) or Professional Practice (PP) goals Assess the strength of the goal Describe how you would revise the goal

A few more considerations… Let’s revisit some of these goals and think about…

Consideration #1 – Set Goals on Leading vs. Lagging Indicators Leading Indicator = an indicator that comes first, and causes, contributes to, or partially predicts outcome on a lagging indicator Lagging indicator = an indicator that comes later, and is a result of or partially predictable based on a leading indicator Choose a leading indicator your team can influence! High school graduation rate Freshman GPAs Quarterly grades Daily attendance Reading skills Homework completion Hours sleep per night

Consideration #2 – What data is your greatest leverage point? Questions to ask: What data do we have?  Be pragmatic and use what you have whenever possible, but don’t sacrifice quality, reliability, or instructional relevance! Where is the momentum in your system?  Work with it – “be the water, not the rock” Where are kids’ skills?  Focus your goal – and thus your work – on your students’ limit to growth. Yeah, yeah – but your blood pressure is in the healthy range!

Consideration #3 – Absolute Performance vs. Growth

Aligning Goals to School Priorities Goal-setting should support your school’s goals What are your school priorities? You will now write sample teacher goals to help you further your school priorities. Educator Evaluation District Goals School Goals Professional Practice Goal Student Learning Goal

Sample Teacher Goals Aligned to School Priorities 1. Identify one or two priorities in your school. 2. Identify one of your school’s goals for student learning. 3. Based on one of your school’s goals for student learning (step #2), craft a sample student learning goal that could be adaptable for many of your teachers. Use the template in the “Guidance for Writing Goals” worksheet. 4. Examine the Rubric of Effective Teaching and select one or two elements that support achievement of that student learning goal (in step # 3, above). 5. Using the goal template in “Guidance for Writing Goals,” construct a draft professional practice goal for one of those elements identified in step #4. Keep this goal flexible enough so that teachers can adapt it to their own content areas, classrooms, and students. 6. Share these goals with colleagues and be prepared to share with the group.

Aligning Goals to Support Whole-School Improvement District priority 1.Professional Growth and Evaluation  Goal Setting (IV-A-2) 2.Using Data to Differentiate Instruction  Adjustment to Practice (I-B-2)  Access to Knowledge (II-D-3) 1.Increasing Academic Rigor  Well Structured Lessons (I-A-4) 2.Engaging Fam., Com, & Partners  Parent/Family Engagement (III-A-1)  Two Way Communication (III-C-1) School Priority School-wide Student Learning Goals School-wide Professional Practice Goals Administrator Student Learning Goals Administrator Professional Practice Goals Grade Team Student Learning Goal Grade Team Professional Practice Goal

Goal Proposal in EDFS Propose one goal for student learning and one for professional practice Evaluator will accept or return goals for further revision Templates are included in the EDFS to support the goal-writing process

EDFS: Student Learning Goal Proposal

EDFS: Professional Practice Goal Proposal

EDFS: Goal Approval

Action Plan Development

After the evaluator approves the educator’s goals, they will work with each other to develop an action plan that will detail which steps need to be taken to accomplish the educator’s goals. Developing the plan together encourages conversations that build relationships and a shared understanding of high quality professional practice.

EDFS: Action Steps and Plan Development Each goal must have action steps to support educators’ completion of the goal The action steps develop the plan into actionable steps including:  Actions;  Supports or resources required;  Timeline and frequency. These steps will also be entered into the EDFS

Activity: Developing an Action Plan Using the Action Plan Development Worksheet as a guide, work with a partner to develop an Action Plan to support a professional practice goal that one of you developed from the previous SMART goal activity. After you have finished, talk with your partner about whether this action plan would make it highly likely that the accompanying student learning goal (from the previous SMART goal activity) could be achieved.

Evidence Observation & Artifacts

Identifying Evidence from Artifacts and Observations Evaluators will understand: The difference between evidence and opinion How to identify evidence from an observation using selective scripting What an artifact is, and how to identify evidence in an artifact Types of artifacts

The 5-Step Cycle in Action  Every educator is an active participant in an evaluation  Process promotes collaboration and continuous learning Self-Assessment Analysis, goal-setting & plan development Implementation of the plan Formative Assessment/Evaluation Summative Evaluation Continuous Learning

Collection of Evidence in EDFS Both educators and evaluators are permitted to upload evidence to the EDFS Evidence should be robust, allowing evaluators to assess across multiple rubric areas

Evidence collected on … Progress on Ratings onOVERALL (2) Goals (4) Standards RATING * Student Learning * Professional Practice - Curriculum, Planning and Assessment - Teaching All Students - Family & Community Engagement - Professional Culture - Exemplary - Proficient - Needs Improvement - Unsatisfactory

Evidence Collection Cycle 1. Evaluator collects and educator submits artifacts. 2. Evaluator makes fact-based statements about evidence of practice and progress toward goals contained in artifacts. 3. Evaluator aligns evidence statements with standards and indicators and goals. 4. Evaluator provides feedback to educator using language from the rubric. 5. Evaluator rates educator practice before the formative or summative evaluation. 34

Objective Evidence EVIDENCE  Prove or disprove  Make plain or clear  Indication or sign OBJECTIVE  Not influenced by personal feelings or prejudice  Unbiased  Something that can be known (as opposed to a “gut feeling”) As an evaluator you will – of course – use your professional judgment throughout the process but, by consistently using objective evidence and scoring it against the rubric, you will be both fair and rigorous

Levels of Evidence INSUFFICIENT  After lunch, I noticed that you were not teaching. SUFFICIENT  After lunch, I noted you sitting at your desk while students got settled. EXEMPLARY  The required math block falls right after lunch. 15 minutes into that block I noticed that you were sitting at your desk looking at your computer. When I went into your classroom to see what students were doing, they were reading or working on non-math worksheets.

Quality of Evidence reflection questions 1. Is the evidence factual and free of opinion? 2. Is the evidence high quality? 3. Does the language of the evidence reflect the language in the rubric with differentiates “needs improvement” from “effective” practice in each element? 4. Does language of the evidence reflect the language in the rubric which helps to determine what “exemplary” practice looks like in each element? 5. Is there a preponderance of evidence to support a particular judgment about the performance level? 6. Is there enough evidence to make a judgment about the performance level? If not, what additional evidence could you collect to strengthen the decision? How could the artifacts be strengthened so that you could collect more high-quality evidence?

Evidence Statements

Evidence from Observations

Observing Lessons … CAUTION! … We observe all the time, which means that it is easy to do, but hard to do objectively. Remember We tend to see what we want to see We have to be aware of and avoid bias, particularly personal idiosyncrasies We have to avoid preconceptions Observation should be based upon agreed criteria

Observation Bias What is bias? What are some examples of biases you have about teaching?

Observation of Chris McCloud: Selective Scripting 1. Read over the three excerpted elements from the rubric. 2. Watch the video. 3. Examine the supporting documents. 4. While you are watching the video and reading documents, collect evidence that will allow you to rate Mr. McCloud on the three elements. Use the worksheet to selectively script evidence related to each of the elements. 5. When you are finished, complete the worksheet and rate Mr. McCloud.

How did you do?

Observations in the EDFS BPS is currently developing an observation tool mobile app Observational evidence will be uploaded to EDFS, and tagged to an appropriate category of the rubric Observations may only be used in formative or summative evaluations if the educator received feedback within 5 days of the observation

Observation Mobile App

What’s Next? All evidence has to be uploaded to EDFS – even if the hard copy is not scanned, it has to be tagged as evidence and a hard copy kept in a binder. Once you have collected evidence, you’ll give feedback to the teacher. The online system is not a substitute for face-to-face conversation.

Artifact Evidence

How detailed should an artifact be and how do you decide it demonstrates progress within an element, indicator, or standard? Artifacts:  Can be used as supporting evidence of meeting an element or an indicator within a standard to show examples of teacher performance and practice.  Can be used as evidence towards achievement of goals.  Artifacts should include evidence for multiple standards, indicators, or elements.

Collecting and Assessing Evidence - Artifacts In this session you will work with artifacts. They include:  Student assessment data  Student work  Lesson plan review  Review of teacher-made assessments How many other types of artifacts are there? Identify possible sources of evidence in the standard you are assigned.

Artifact Activity ~ can be done at your school Choose one priority element from yesterday’s “unpacking” exercise. List and describe characteristics of artifacts at the proficient level for that priority area.

Activity: Artifacts in the Educator Plan Review the Goal Setting and Educator Plan for C. McCloud For your assigned action step, write down on a sticky note two artifacts that could be collected to show progress toward his goal.

Activity: Rating Artifacts from Chris McCloud 1. With a partner, evaluate the artifacts you have from Mr. McCloud. 2. On the Evaluator Record of Evidence form, analyze the artifact for evidence of performance (based on the Four Standards) and give feedback to Mr. McCloud. 3. Share your findings with elbow partners and identify any learning points / key issues. Be ready to share with the whole group.

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Rolling all evidence up into Ratings

Rolling all evidence up into ratings Goal : Evaluators will understand  how to assess elements and rate indicators and standards  the role of Formative Assessment, Formative Evaluation and Summative Evaluation in giving ratings  how to use evidence to arrive at a rating at these three points  how much evidence is necessary to make a case  the importance of calibration

Five-Step Evaluation System Cycle Self-Assessment Analysis, goal-setting & plan development Implementation of the plan Formative Assessment/Evaluation Summative Evaluation Continuous Learning Collaboration and Continuous Learning are the focus

“Step 3” of the 5-step cycle: Implementation of the Plan Evaluator collects evidence on the professional practice of educators, including:  Multiple measures of student learning  Observations and artifacts Evaluator provides feedback on practice to educators Self-Assessment Analysis, goal- setting & plan development Implementatio n of the plan Formative Assessment/Eval uation Summative Evaluation

Formative Assessment / Formative Evaluation and Summative Evaluation Self-Assessment Analysis, goal-setting & plan development Implementation of the plan Formative Assessment/Evaluation Summative Evaluation Continuous Learning Rubric is used to assess performance and/or progress toward goals.

Final Activity: Overall Rating Individually or with your partner (10 minutes) Based on the lesson transcript and the entries in the evidence log for Chris McCloud:  On which of the standards would you feel prepared to give a rating?  What would those ratings be?  What would you next steps be to be prepared to rate Randy on all of the standards? Group table (10 minutes) Share your ratings and identify any key learning points.

Teacher Rubric at a Glance Standard I: Curriculum, Planning, and Assessment Standard II: Teaching All Students Standard III: Family and Community Engagement Standard IV: Professional Culture A. Curriculum and Planning Indicator 1.Subject Matter Knowledge 2.Child and Adolescent Development 3.Rigorous Standards-Based Design 4.Well-Structured Lessons A. Instruction Indicator 1.Quality of Effort and Work 2.Student Engagement 3.Meeting Diverse Needs A. Engagement Indicator 1.Parent/Family Engagement A. Reflection Indicator 1.Reflective Practice 2.Goal Setting B. Professional Growth Indicator 1.Variety of Assessment Methods 2.Adjustments to Practice B. Assessment Indicator 1.Variety of Assessment Methods 2.Adjustments to Practice B. Assessment Indicator 1.Safe Learning Environment 2.Collaborative Learning Environment 3.Student Motivation B. Assessment Indicator 1.Learning Expectations 2.Curriculum Support C. Collaboration Indicator 1.Analysis and Conclusions 2.Sharing Conclusions With Colleagues 3.Sharing Conclusions With Students C. Analysis Indicator 1.Analysis and Conclusions 2.Sharing Conclusions With Colleagues 3.Sharing Conclusions With Students C. Analysis Indicator 1.Respects Differences 2.Maintains Respectful Environment C. Analysis Indicator 1.Two-Way Communication 2.Culturally Proficient Communication D. Assessment Indicator 1.Variety of Assessment Methods E. Shared Responsibility Indicator 1.Shared Responsibility D. Expectations Indicator 1.Clear Expectations 2.High Expectations 3.Access to Knowledge F. Professional Responsibility Indicator 1.Judgment 2.Reliability and Responsibility