1. Setting the Context
As teachers prepare to administer the Measures of Student Learning, it is helpful to have some context about the assessments and how they fit into the State’s READY initiative.
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2. Getting Students READY
The central focus of READY is improving student learning ...
by enabling and ensuring great teaching.
READY is NC’s education reform initiative. The key goal is to improve student learning, and we know the lever for change is improving the quality of our teaching force. We need to align our programs and policies such that they support great teaching and strong school leadership.
A great thing about READY is that it doesn’t stand for anything! It simply captures, in one word, what we want for our students: for them to be ready for whatever they choose to do next: community college, four-year college, workforce, military service, job training programs, and even to be good citizens.
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3. What is our goal? Student Readiness
Achievement and growth for all students
Great Teachers and Leaders An effective teacher in every classroom and leader in every school
During Teaching and Leading
Use meaningful evaluation and professional development to increase effectiveness of teachers and leaders
Before Teaching and Leading
Develop effective teachers and leaders in preparation programs
This is our logic model for how we improve the achievement for students by making sure that we have high-quality teachers.
Our end goal is to have achievement and growth for all kids. A major factor that will help us get there is having an effective teacher in every classroom and an effective leader in every school.
If we take another step back and think about how we get those effective educators in place, we have to take two paths:
Over the next ten years, NC will need tens of thousands of new teachers as many of our current educators retire. Working closely with teacher and leader preparation programs will ensure that those educators enter schools with the skills and knowledge they need to be effective from the beginning.
For the many educators already in schools, we need to deploy targeted professional development to help them become even better at their craft.
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4. Why educator effectiveness?
So why is the State focusing on educator effectiveness in the face of so many other changes?
Even as so much changes, great teaching is at the heart of student success. Our State can provide a stellar curriculum, a wealth of technology tools, and authentic assessments of student learning…these efforts do not matter if we do not have effective teachers ready to implement the tools and resources to improve student outcomes.
We also know that our teachers need to work in schools led by strong leaders, which is why we use the term “educator” effectiveness and not teacher effectiveness.

5. Why educator effectiveness?
Every student in North Carolina deserves an effective teacher in all courses and grades and needs to learn all of the standards in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study in order to be READY for their futures
Our students need to do more than read and perform math on grade-level. They need to understand the scientific method and how science and technology influence the changing world around us. They need to understand different cultures and how they can clash in conflicts that take American lives. They need to know about the behaviors and practices that lead to healthy lives. They need to appreciate the arts and how they unite people together. A student READY for the future is well-versed so much more than reading and mathematics.

6. Why educator effectiveness?
In order to increase their effectiveness, teachers need access to high-quality data. Every teacher in North Carolina deserves feedback on the growth of their students.
It is challenging to improve when the only feedback you receive is that you’re doing great. Our evaluation system needs an infusion of data on the real goal: student learning. As teachers and leaders find out more about student performance, we can identify our best teachers, and our teachers in need of additional support.
Our best teachers are the ones we can all learn from, the individuals who should be leading professional development and mentoring new teachers. If the political climate stays the same, these are the teachers who may benefit from merit pay. If merit pay is coming – the question is: does it build on an evaluation system that uses multiple measures, or is it built in isolation from our efforts?
Our teachers in need of improvement do NOT need to be automatically dismissed. They need to be automatically supported with coaching and professional development that targets their areas for growth.

7. Educator Effectiveness Policies
Now, let’s review some of the policies around educator effectiveness in North Carolina.

8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Standards 6 & 8 – The Basics Teachers
Contribute to Academic Success
Demonstrate Leadership
Establish Environment
Know Content
Facilitate Learning
Reflect on Practice
Principals (and other Administrators) 1
In July 2012, the State Board added the sixth and eighth standards to the teacher and administrator evaluation instruments.
The sixth standard is teachers contribute to the academic success of students.
The eighth standard is Academic Achievement Leadership. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Human Resource Leadership
Strategic Leadership
Instructional Leadership
Cultural Leadership
Managerial Leadership
External Development Leadership
Micro- political Leadership
Academic Achievement Leadership
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9. Standard 6 and 8 are measures of Growth
Growth Model
Teachers 6
Standard 6 and 8 are measures of Growth
Contribute to Academic Success
Principals 8
Both the sixth and eighth standards measure student growth, not proficiency. All students (even those who enter the school year above- or below-grade level) can make growth over the course of a year, and deserve a teacher who can help them meet that milestone.
Academic Achievement Leadership
Academic Achievement Leadership
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10. Growth Model
Teachers
We will use Educator Value- Added Assessment System EVAAS for standards 6 & 8 when possible 6
Contribute to Academic Success
Principals 8
The State Board of Education has voted to use the EVAAS model for sixth and eighth standard ratings. Various technical reports identified EVAAS as one of the most technically strong growth models in use across the nation, and many teachers in NC are already receiving their EVAAS reports.
There may be some cases where EVAAS cannot generate a value-added score, for example, arts classes in which there are no “seat time” requirements. In such cases, we will need to depend on the professional judgment of school administrators.
Academic Achievement Leadership
Academic Achievement Leadership
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11. 6 8 Growth Model Teachers Principals How do Value-Added models work?
They measure growth by predicting how well a student will do on an assessment.
How do they predict how well the student will do?
They look at previous test scores and estimate how well the student should do at the end of the year. Every student must grow based on where they start. 6
Contribute to Academic Success
Principals 8
Value-added models use links between teachers and their students, as well as the students’ prior test scores, to predict their scores on assessments. At the end of the year, students who score significantly higher than what was predicted had a teacher with. high value-added. Students who score significantly lower than what was predicted had a teacher with low-value added.
Value-added models focus on growth, not proficiency. Consider the example of fifth grade teacher with many students reading at a first-grade reading level. Let’s say the students leave reading at a third-grade reading level. If we use measures of proficiency, the teacher does not look very strong. But, if we focus on growth, as we will, the data show what a tremendous teacher this individual is. She made two years worth of growth with her students in one year’s time.
Academic Achievement Leadership
Academic Achievement Leadership
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12. Measures of Student Learning/Common Exams
Now, let’s discuss some basic information about the common exams.

13. Measures of Student Learning
Measures of Student Learning/Common Exams are being designed for non-tested subjects for district use to populated Standard 6
Measures of Student Learning or Common Exams are being designed for non-tested subjects for district to use to populate Standard 6: Teachers contribute to the academic success of students. These measures provide districts with tools to measure how much growth is taking place in courses and grades with no state assessments. They are built around the Common Core State Standards and North Carolina Essential Standards, focusing on what should students know and be able to do at each grade level.
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14. What MSLs Are
Measures of what students know and are able to do after completing a course or grade
Tightly linked to the instruction that a teacher delivers
One part of how North Carolina will evaluate the effectiveness of its teachers
Similar to the common summative assessments that many districts already have in place
The Measures of Student Learning will be used to generate part of the sixth standard rating: the part based on the growth of an individual teacher’s students.
The Measures of Student Learning will generate part of the sixth standard rating – the part based on the growth of an individual teacher’s students. The State Board of Education will determine components of the sixth standard other than the individual teacher-level growth. For example, for the school year, a second component was the school-wide growth score.
It is also important to remember that the sixth standard is one of six standards in our evaluation system.
Remember that teachers must demonstrate certain levels of proficiency on all standards in order to be effective.
In LEAs that already have common final exams, the Measures of Student Learning are not a new idea. The NCDPI is simply scaling up a process used in many LEAs.
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15. What MSLs Are Not
Multiple-choice standardized exams for all areas of the Standard Course of Study
Assessments that need to be delivered with the same level of security as EOCs and EOGs
Designed without teacher input
The only source of data used to make decisions about a teacher’s effectiveness
Part of the school accountability model
Given the richness of many of the content standards, multiple-choice assessment may not be the best fit for some subjects. The standards need to drive how to best assess students. Because these Measures of Student Learning are not part of the NC Testing Program, and will not be used for school or federal accountability or reporting, there will be some flexibility in how to administer them.
The LEAs will actually be the “owners” of the Measures of Student Learning. While the NCDPI can bring together teachers, help coordinate with a vendor, and perform psychometric analyses, the data generated belong to students (as part of their course grade), teachers, principals, and districts.
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16. So why have statewide Measures of Student Learning/Common Exams?
Focusing on the “Why”
So why have statewide Measures of Student Learning/Common Exams?
North Carolina has a statewide evaluation system to ensure that every teacher receives a fair and consistent evaluation, regardless of his or her employing LEA
Teachers in all content areas should receive a Standard Six rating based on the growth of their own students on their content-specific standards
Most LEAs do not have the capacity to design their own assessments for all non state-tested grades and subjects
When North Carolina won Race to the Top, district superintendents asked the Department of Public Instruction to create assessments that would be common across all districts. Districts felt that rather than each district figuring out alone how to assess physics, chemistry, fourth grade social studies, etc., creating common assessments would be preferable.  Not only would it have be tremendously difficult for districts (who don’t employ test developers) to create these assessments, but it would have also made for a lot of variety across a state that has a common statewide evaluation instrument.
The creation of tools to measure growth is a must if we believe that a teacher’s sixth standard rating should be based on the learning of her students in her content area, and not solely on a measure of school-wide growth.
So to recap:
North Carolina has a statewide evaluation system to ensure that every teacher receives a fair and consistent evaluation, regardless of his or her employing LEA
Teachers in all content areas should receive a Standard Six rating based on the growth of their own students on their content-specific standards
Most LEAs do not have the capacity to design their own assessments for all non state-tested grades and subjects
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17. Guiding Principles
NC’s experienced teachers know their students and their content
NC teachers are best-qualified to provide input on meaningful assessment of currently non-tested grades and subjects
Valid measures of what students know and are able to do will likely exceed traditional multiple-choice assessment
The design of the MSLs is based on three principles that ground this work firmly in the experience and expertise of North Carolina’s teachers.
First, the use of assessment in these grades and subjects is not new. Only the idea of doing the assessment at a state-level is different. Social studies and science teachers have long been developing their own assessments for children based on their grade level and the relevant standards. These teachers know their students, and know the content standards.
Second, teachers who have this experience with classroom assessment, know what it looks like when students have mastered the standards. They know what kind of assessment items can measure students’ content knowledge and skills.
Third, we know that assessing true understanding of our standards requires more than just multiple-choice assessment questions. It’s about asking our students to think, analyze, and write or show their work.
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18. 1 2 3 4 Timeline of Work October 2011 Fall 2012
Teachers design item specifications for all currently non-tested grades and subjects
Summer 2012
Teachers review items developed by TOPS
Fall 2012
Teachers receive training on scoring the performance tasks on the MSLs
The MSLs have been designed in three phases:
The NCDPI brought together 800 teachers from over ninety districts, fourteen charter schools, the NC Virtual Public School, and schools run by the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. These teachers received training on the Measures of Student Learning design process and how the Measures fit into the State’s educator effectiveness work. They also received training on assessment design (including potential item types, reliability, and validity) and an overview of the Common Core and Essential Standards. After the training, the teachers completed a series of feedback loops in which they examined each standard and made recommendations for how to best assess it. The also made recommendations on how heavily the standard should be weighted in the final assessment.
The NCDPI then turned over the teacher recommendations to our partner: TOPS at NC State University. TOPS employs NC teachers to write items for assessments in the state testing program, and did the same for the Measures of Student Learning. The item-writers developed over 6,000 items, which the teachers then returned to review.
In this third phase, teachers across the State are accessing this training on the Measures of Student Learning, specifically, how to score the performance items.  
The actual implementation date of the Measures of Student Learning is not on this timeline because it varies: some districts have decided to implement at the end of first semester, while others are waiting until the end of second semester.
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19. Using Student Growth Guide
Provides information on what assessments must be administered, how growth will be calculated with assessment results, and how teacher growth values will be determined
Divided into content/grade-specific sections
Available at: educatoreffect/ncees/measure- growth-guide.pdf
The Department of Public Instruction has provided a guide on how assessment data from various sources will be used to measure student growth. It is divided into content specific sections for ease of use.
Activity for Participants:
Navigate to the link on the screen and open the Measuring Growth for Educator Effectiveness Guide. Take a look at the section relevant to your grade and/or content area. Reflect below how you would explain this information to a new teacher in your grade and/or content area who just moved to the State and is just learning about this process.
If you are watching this video in a group setting, please share your reflections with your colleagues.
If you are watching this video alone, please reflect, and jot down your thoughts in writing if you would like.
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20. MSL Basics – High School
Length of the High School 2012 MSLs
90 minutes
MSLs broken into two 45-minute sections to allow for administration in non-block schedules
Item Types
Multiple-choice
Performance tasks
Rubric provided for each performance task
Available at:
This module focuses on the high school Measures of Student Learning in English Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Mathematics. Each of these Measures of Student Learning is designed for a ninety-minute administration window, and there is a stop-point for districts that decide to administer the assessment in two forty-five minute sections.
The assessments have multiple-choice and performance tasks. Each performance task will have a rubric to be used in scoring.
Activity for Participants:
Test specifications provide teachers, parents, and other stakeholders with specific information on standards that will be covered in an assessment, as well as the types of items used to assess them. The test specifications for the Measures of Student Learning can be found at the link on the screen. Navigate to the test specifications, and open the document related to your grade and/or content area. What have you learned from the test specifications? What are next steps for you as an educator?
If you are watching this video in a group setting, please share your reflections with your colleagues.
If you are watching this video alone, please reflect, and jot down your thoughts in writing if you would like.
If you are completing this module in a group setting, please share your reflections with your colleagues.
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