DISCUSSION ITEMS

Briefing on Teacher & Principal Evaluation Changes

In the 2010 legislative session the Washington State Legislature authorized a pilot study with several school districts across the state to develop and implement a revised teacher and principal evaluation system,E2SSB 6696.  This became known as TPEP; the Teacher and Principal Evaluation Pilot.   In the 2012 legislative session the legislature made significant modifications to the Teacher and Principal Evaluation Pilot and set a timeline for state-wide implementation (ESSB 5895).  The purpose of the presentation to the board is to provide a high level, executive overview of the changes to the system and our workplan to approach the implemetation.   (The workplan is still very much in its infancy)

Important information for your review can be found at the TPEP Website, Click HERE

Criteria and Definitions

New Teacher Evaluation Criteria

1. Centering instruction on high expectations for student achievement.
2. Demonstrating effective teaching practices.
3. Recognizing individual student learning needs and developing strategies to address those needs.
4. Providing clear and intentional focus on subject matter content and curriculum.
5. Fostering and managing a safe, positive learning environment.
6. Using multiple student data elements to modify instruction and improve student learning.
7. Communicating and collaborating with parents and the school community
8. Exhibiting collaborative and collegial practices focused on improving instructional practice and student learning.

New Teacher Evaluation Criteria Definitions

1. Expectations: The teacher communicates high expectations for student learning.
2. Instruction: The teacher uses research-based instructional practices to meet the needs of all students.
3. Differentiation: The teacher acquires and uses specific knowledge about students’ cultural, individual intellectual and social development and uses that knowledge to adjust their practice by employing strategies that advance student learning.
4. Content Knowledge: The teacher uses content area knowledge, learning standards, appropriate pedagogy and resources to design and deliver curricula and instruction to impact student learning.
5. Learning Environment: The teacher fosters and manages a safe and inclusive learning environment that takes into account: physical, emotional and intellectual well-being.
6. Assessment: The teacher uses multiple data elements (both formative and summative) to plan, inform and adjust instruction and evaluate student learning.
7. Families and Community: The teacher communicates and collaborates with students, families and all educational stakeholders in an ethical and professional manner to promote student learning.
8. Professional Practice: The teacher participates collaboratively in the educational community to improve instruction, advance the knowledge and practice of teaching as a profession, and ultimately impact student learning.

New Principal Evaluation Criteria

1. Creating a school culture that promotes the ongoing improvement of learning and teaching for students and staff.
2. Demonstrating commitment to closing the achievement gap.
3. Providing for school safety.
4. Leading the development, implementation and evaluation of a data-driven plan for increasing student achievement, including the use of multiple student data elements.
5. Assisting instructional staff with alignment of curriculum, instruction, and assessment with state and local district learning goals.
6. Monitoring, assisting, and evaluating effective instruction and assessment practices.
7. Managing both staff and fiscal resources to support student achievement and legal responsibilities.
8. Partnering with the school community to promote student learning.

Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching

The Framework for Teaching, created by Charlotte Danielson, is a comprehensive and coherent framework that identifies those aspects of a teacher’s responsibilities that have been documented through empirical studies and theoretical research as promoting improved student learning. The Framework for Teaching is a validated” instrument; that is, studies have shown that teachers who receive higher ratings on their evaluation produce greater gains in student test scores.

The Framework for Teaching is one of the instructional frameworks approved by OSPI for use in Washington State’s pilot programs in teacher evaluation. But there is a long history of its use in the state; it already serves (either in its original form or with slight modifications) as the foundation of mentoring, professional development, and evaluation systems in numerous school districts, including some of the largest. The components of the framework are aligned with Washington State’s teacher evaluation criteria, making it well suited to the current initiative. Furthermore, the framework for teaching is one of the observation protocols used in the Gates Foundation-funded study of teaching, called Measures of Effective Teaching, or MET.

The Danielson Group, founded by Charlotte Danielson, is the only cadre of consultants trained and authorized to lead educators in designing and implementing teacher evaluation systems, and training evaluators to make accurate and consistent judgments based on evidence. The training of evaluators is the linchpin of a defensible evaluation system, particularly one used for making high-stakes personnel decisions. In addition, the training program serves as excellent professional development for teachers, teacher leaders, mentors and coaches, enabling all those activities to be unified into a coherent system.

The foundation of the Framework for Teaching is provided in “Enhancing Professional Practice: A framework for teaching” published by ASCD in 2007. “The Handbook for Implementing the Framework for Teaching” (ASCD, 2008) offers practitioners the tools they need to successfully use the framework for teaching in different contexts.

Implementing the Framework for Teaching in Enhancing Professional Practice: An ASCD Action Tool (2009), by Charlotte Danielson and members of the Danielson Group, provides detailed and specific suggestions for teacher practice for each of the components of the Framework for Teaching at both the proficient and distinguished levels of performance.

An evaluator training program and proficiency test is available through Teachscape, along with other online tools to implement the framework for teaching for both formative and summative teacher assessment. Educational Impact offers several self-paced online courses describing the framework for teaching.

Additional Information on Danielson's Model can be found HERE

Information on the AWSP Leadership Framework can be found HERE