1. Support Staff Evaluation Process Training Validation Study 2012-2013

2. Purpose
To provide a framework for implementing the support staff evaluation process and validation study

3. Each Region of North Carolina has been assigned Professional Development Consultants who can also support and provide training for you as you work with the North Carolina Educator Evaluation System. Please contact a Professional Development Consultant in your region if you need face to face support or training.

4. http://wikicentral.ncdpi.wikispaces.net NCDPI Wiki Central
In response to the request from our constituents in the field, the NCDPI staff are working on a central location for wikispaces. The wikispaces that provide information for educators across the state, including the NCEES wiki, may be found at the url on this slide. The site is continuously being updated with the most recent information, so it is constantly under construction. Wikicentral is intended to help guide educators to the resources they need.

5. State Board of Education Mission
Every public school student will graduate from high school, globally competitive for work and postsecondary education and prepared for life in the 21st Century.
-Adopted August 2006
Audio:
In 2006, the state board of education adopted their mission, “Every public school student will graduate from high school, globally competitive for work and postsecondary education and prepared for life in the 21st Century.” Because of this new mission, the state board charged the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards Commission with aligning the Core Standards for the Teaching Profession, originally adopted in 1997, with the new mission. The Commission members, 16 practicing educators from across the state, considered what teachers need to know and be able to do in 21st Century schools. These new Professional Teaching Standards were adopted by the State Board of Education in 2007.
Flash:
While the State Board mission is being read, “pop out” the words, knowledgeable global citizen, effective problem solver, creative/innovative thinker one at a time.

6. Purpose of Support Staff Evaluation Process
Serve as a measurement of performance for individual employees
Serve as a guide for employees as they reflect upon and improve their effectiveness
Serve as the basis for the improvement of professional practice;
Focus the goals and objectives of schools and districts as they support, monitor, and evaluate employees;
Guide professional development programs for various fields of work;
Serve as a tool in developing coaching and mentoring programs;
Inform higher education institutions as they develop the content and requirements for relevant programs.
Explain the purpose of the Support Staff Evaluation Process as stated in the rubric manual.

7. Support Staff Evaluation Process

8. Before Week 3 of School Year
Component 2: Orientation Within two weeks of support staff member’s first day, the principal will provide:
The Rubric for Evaluating North Carolina (support staff employee);
A schedule for completing all the components of the evaluation process.
STEP 1:
Training and Orientation
Component 1: Training
Before participating in the evaluation process, all support staff, principals, and designated evaluators should be trained by their district, through self-study, or by other experienced trainers on the evaluation process.
Resources in Red – no policy yet – policy will be written after the validation study is completed.

9. Before First Formal Observation
Component 3: Self-Assessment
Using the Rubric for Evaluating North Carolina School (Support Staff), the support staff employee shall rate his or her own performance at the beginning of the year and reflect on his or her performance throughout the year.
STEP 2: Self-Assessment, Goal Setting and Pre-Conference
Component 4: Pre-Observation
Conference
Before the first formal observation,
the principal meets with the support staff member to discuss: self- assessment, professional development plan a written
description of the activity to be
observed.
Goal: To prepare principal for the
observation.
Self-assessment should be completed by each support staff member as soon as possible.
Pre-conference only required prior to the FIRST formal observation (includes discussion of self-assessment, PDP, description/plan of the activity to be observed).

10. Within the 1st nine weeks
Component 5: Observations
Formal Observation is 45 minutes (or the length of the activity to be observed)
At least one formal observation required for each support services staff member
STEP 3:
Observation Cycle
STEP 3:
Observation Cycle
(Administrative and Peer)
One formal observation required for each support staff member.
Component 6: Post-Observation Conference
The principal shall conduct a post-observation conference no later
than ten school days after each formal observation.
Discuss and Document strengths and weaknesses on the Rubric

11. Before the End of the School Year
Component 8: PD Plans
Support Staff shall develop a Professional Development Plan as a guide for improving their performance during the subsequent school year.
The PDP should be discussed with and approved by the principal as the final step in the evaluation process.
STEP 4:
Summary Evaluation and Goal Setting
Component 7: Summary Evaluation Conference and
Scoring the Support Staff Summary Rating Form-
A. Give rating for each Element in Rubric
B. Comment on “Not Demonstrated”
C. Overall rating of each Standard
D. Provide support staff member with opportunity to add comments to the Summary Rating Form
E. Review completed Summary Rating Form with staff member and
F. Secure the school employee’s signature on the Record of School Employee Evaluation Activities and School Employee Summary Rating Form.

12. Component 2: Orientation: Within two weeks of a support staff employee’s first day of work in any school year, the principal will provide the employee with a copy of, or directions for, obtaining access to a copy of:
The Rubric for Evaluating North Carolina (support staff employee);
A schedule for completing all the components of the evaluation process.
Copies may be provided by electronic means.
Component 3: Self-Assessment: Using the Rubric for Evaluating North Carolina School (Support Staff), the support staff employee shall rate his or her own performance at the beginning of the year and reflect on his or her performance throughout the year.
Component 4: Pre-observation Conference: Before the first formal observation, the principal shall meet with the support services staff employee to discuss the support services staff employee’s self-assessment based on the Rubric for Evaluating North Carolina School support services staff, the most recent professional growth plan, and the activity to be observed. The school employee will provide the principal with a written description of the activity. The goal of this conference is to prepare the principal for the observation. Pre-Observation conferences are not required for subsequent observations.
Component 1: Training: Before participating in the evaluation process, all support staff, principals, and designated evaluators should be trained by their district, through self-study, or by other experienced trainers on the evaluation process.
Component 8: PD Plans: Support Staff shall develop a Professional Development Plan as a guide for improving their performance during the subsequent school year. At a minimum, such a plan shall outline the standards and elements which need to improve, goals to be accomplished, activities to be completed, and a timeline for completing all activities and/or achieving goals. The PDP should be discussed with and approved by the principal as the final step in the evaluation process.
Component 5: Observation:
Formal Observation is 45 minutes (or the length of the activity to be observed)
At least one formal observation required for each support services staff member
Component 7: Summary Evaluation Conference and Scoring the Rating Form:
Prior to the end of the school year and in accordance with LEA timelines, the principal shall conduct a summary evaluation conference with the school employee. During the summary evaluation conference, the principal and employee shall discuss the Principal’s assessment of the employee’s performance over the course of the school year, self-assessment, the most recent Professional Development Plan, the components of the North Carolina Educator Evaluation Process completed during the year, observations, artifacts submitted or collected, and other evidence of performance.
At the conclusion of the evaluation process, the principal shall:
Give a rating for each Element in the Rubric;
Provide a written comment on any Element marked “Not Demonstrated”;
Give an overall rating of each Standard;
Provide the school employee with the opportunity to add comments to the School employee Summary Rating Form;
Review the completed School Employee Summary Rating Form with the school employee; and
Secure the school employee’s signature on the Record of School Employee Evaluation Activities and School Employee Summary Rating Form.
Component 6: Post-observation Conference: The principal shall conduct a post-observation conference no later than ten (10) school days after each formal observation. During the post-observation conference, the principal and school employee shall discuss and document on the Rubric the strengths and weaknesses of the school employee’s performance during the observed session. Each observation informs the completion of the rubric as part of the data-collection process leading up to the summary rating form.
Support Services Evaluation Process – each participant provided a paper copy.

13. Distinguished Accomplished Proficient Developing
Consistently and significantly exceeded basic competence
Distinguished
Exceeded basic competence most of the time
Accomplished
Demonstrated basic competence
Proficient
Demonstrated adequate growth toward achieving standards, but did not demonstrate basic competence
Developing
Now, think about this in the context of support services staff members.

14. Distinguished Accomplished Proficient Developing
Consistently and significantly exceeded basic competence
Accomplished
Exceeded basic competence most of the time
Proficient
Demonstrated basic competence
Developing
Demonstrated adequate growth toward achieving standards, but did not demonstrate basic competence
Sometimes analogies help us better understand the ratings. Some of you have been in our regional training sessions where we discussed growing levels of competency with using a smart phone or the gadgets on a new car.
Today, let’s think about how the ratings would apply to baking cakes.
As a developing cake baker, you follow the recipe, but your cooking techniques aren’t always successful. Your cake might be dry, the layers may fall apart, or the icing isn’t the right consistency. You demonstrate growth by practicing and your cakes become better, although still not quite right. Look at the picture. This is a cake, and perhaps it is a better cake than the baker’s many previous attempts. However, this cake would still be unacceptable from a professional baker. This reminds us educationally of a teacher who, despite making growth, has not yet reached proficiency.
As a proficient cake baker, you follow the recipe and you’ve mastered the basic cooking techniques. You are able to produce a basic layer cake with frosting that tastes good and looks nice. The cake pictured is acceptable by all measures, which reminds us educationally of basic competence with such important matters as instructional strategies or communication. In other words, this cake is acceptable and yet still has room to grow. Let’s look at the next cake from the accomplished baker.
As an accomplished cake baker, you have a greater understanding of baking and on most occasions you are able to successfully incorporate additional ingredients and/or flavorings that improve the taste, appearance, and overall quality of your cakes. You’ll note that the cake pictured has multiple flavors, which reminds us educationally of differentiation and multiple instructional strategies.
As a distinguished cake baker, you have an in-depth understanding of baking cakes. As such, you know the essential ingredients that must be included in all cakes. Using your knowledge, you are able to begin with the recipe, combining the essential ingredients and other add-ins to tailor your cakes to meet the tastes of the person for which you are making the cake. In other words, you understand the recipe well enough to enhance it. Your talent and skill as a distinguished baker may lead you to decorate exquisitely or even assist others in developing their baking skills. Distinguished truly is the “icing on the cake” so-to-speak.
What resources do you have to help you and your teachers better understand the differences between the ratings for teachers and school executives? Your best resources are the rubrics for evaluating teachers and principals/assistant principals. The performance descriptors provided for each element of the performance standards will help you determine the expectation for each rating level. Engage in conversations with colleagues about the differences between the descriptors on the rubrics. It’s also helpful to have a firm understanding of the Standards for Teachers and School Executives. If you need a refresher on the professional standards, consider completing the N.C. Professional Teaching Standards Module and the soon-to-be-released School Executive Standards Module. 
Cake images
Image Credits:

15. Scoring the Rubric Self-Assessment Reflect on practice
Think deeply about each standard, element, and descriptor
Support staff members will complete the self-assessment as soon as possible in order to diagnose strengths and areas in need of improvement to set goals.

16. Example – How to score the rubric.

17. Scoring the Rubric Observations – Data-Collection
Observer checks descriptors observed during the activity
An observation of an activity is an opportunity for data-collection. It is NOT necessary to check descriptors left to right. ONLY check the descriptors observed during the observation.

18. Observation Rubric Example
Example – Observation (only check the descriptors observed).

19. Scoring the Rubric Summary Rating Form – Rating for each element
Overall rating for each standard
ALL data used to inform the ratings
Summary Rating Form – There must be a rating for each element and an overall rating for each standard. All data should be used to inform the ratings (observations, walkthroughs, artifacts, post-conference conversations, other observations during committee meetings, PLCs, etc.)
Overall rating for each standard NOT an average. Overall rating is principal’s discretion.

20. X X X X X Example of Summary Rating Form.
Notice that even though there are two elements rated as proficient and two elements rated as accomplished, the evaluator rated the support staff member as proficient.

21. Observations
This Support Staff member does not teach lessons. What can I observe to collect data?
Divide into 5 Specialty Groups
School Counselor
Media Coordinator
Technology Facilitator
School Psychologist
Social Worker
Participants divide into 5 specialty groups:
Choose a Recorder and a Reporter for the group.
Discuss activities that could be observed for that support staff member.
Input ideas into a google doc to share

22. Present

23. Validation Study Process
Prior to leaving for the Winter Holiday:
Self-Assessment - Submit a hard copy of the individual self-assessment or input into
Excel spreadsheet forwarded to you prior to training.

24. Validation Study Process
Prior to April 15, 2013:
Observation - Completed rubric with observed descriptors checked

25. Validation Study Process
Between April 1 and May 15, 2013:
Focus Groups – A few participants selected
Opportunity to provide in-depth feedback about process and materials

26. Validation Study Process
Prior to May 15, 2013:
Summary Rating Form – Signed by the administrator and staff member and submitted

27. Validation Study Process
Online Survey – Notified in advance
Opportunity to provide additional feedback

28. Validation Study Process
Prior to Winter Holiday
Prior to April 15, 2013
Between April 1 and May 15, 2013
Self-Assessment
Observation
Focus Groups
Prior to May 15, 2013
Summary Rating
Form
Online Survey

29. Closure/Reflection Wallwisher
How will this evaluation process positively impact student support services in your district?

30. Growing Greatness http://ncees.ncdpi.wikispaces.net
The North Carolina Educator Evaluation instruments are based on the Framework for 21st Century Learning and the North Carolina Professional Teaching
Standards. The instruments are designed to promote effective leadership, quality teaching, and student learning while enhancing
professional practice and leading to improved instruction. All of the instruments and processes are designed to encourage
professional growth, to be flexible and fair to the persons being evaluated, and to serve as the foundation for the establishment of
professional goals and identification of professional development needs. Using this aligned system to grow great teachers and leaders has supported the mission of the North Carolina State Board of Education focused on every public school student graduating from high school
globally competitive for work and postsecondary education and prepared for life in the 21st century. This mission requires a new
vision of school leadership and a new set of skills that teachers must use daily in order to help their students learn 21st century
content and master skills they will need when they graduate from high school and enroll in higher education or enter the workforce
or the military.
For the first time ever, North Carolina's four-year cohort graduation rate exceeded 80 percent, according to North Carolina's 2012 graduation rate report. In 2012, 80.2 percent of students who started ninth grade in completed high school in four years or less. This is up from the 2011 rate of 77.9 percent.
Some students require a fifth year of high school in order to complete graduation requirements. The five-year cohort graduation rate for students who entered ninth grade in (Class of 2011) also was presented today and showed a five-year graduation rate of 81.1 percent, up from the five-year rate for the ninth graders (Class of 2010) of 77.7 percent.
"We are pleased with the progress our students are making, but we need to make sure every kid – no matter where he or she lives in North Carolina – has what it takes to succeed in a career, in a two- or four-year college or in technical training," said Gov. Bev Perdue.
"This is tremendous news for North Carolina public schools and a testament to the hard work of principals, teachers, counselors and students," State Superintendent June Atkinson said. "While I'm thrilled that our graduation rate is the highest ever, we will not rest until every student graduates career and college ready."
State Board of Education Chairman Bill Harrison also commended the dedication of administrators and teachers to ensuring students' success in school. "This is more solid proof that our public schools are definitely headed in the right direction. We still have a lot of work ahead of us but the path we're on is the right one for North Carolina."
Thank you for the service you provide to our teachers and students.

31. Survey
Live survey link:
go.ncsu.edu/webinar

32. Contact Information
Donna Albaugh MSA
Professional Development Consultant
Tara Patterson MSA
Professional Development Consultant