Creating a Principal Evaluation System: Where We Are; Where We Hope to Go

1. Creating a Principal Evaluation System: Where We Are; Where We Hope to Go Cathy Pine, Ph.D., Director Office of Professional Development New Jersey Dept. of Education December 6, 2011

2. Presentation Overview • National and state context for creating a principal evaluation system • NJ DOE work to date and proposed timeline • Challenges • Questions and feedback

3. Context and Rationale

4. Impetus for Reform: Focus on Students’ Learning Needs • Need to prepare students for a changing world • “21st century skills” • “college and career ready” • Recognition that the achievement gap persists – US global rankings and closer to home • RTTT opportunity and NCLB waiver option put emphasis on the importance of educator effectiveness • 2010 NJ Governor’s Executive Order No. 42 and the creation of the Educator Evaluation Task Force

5. Implications for Educators • Enhanced expectations for students mean enhanced expectations for educators, e.g., Common Core State Standards & assessments and revised InTASC professional teaching standards • States are being challenged to build a coherent educator effectiveness system across the continuum of practice – evaluation is a key component

6. Why Is Principal Evaluation Important? Improving the effectiveness of the principal will improve student outcomes • Fostering a rigorous curriculum • Supporting teachers in delivering high-quality instruction • Connecting with the external community

7. Why Is Principal Evaluation Important? Principal’s effectiveness is critical to retaining effective teachers • Influence on working conditions • Influence on school culture focused on collaboration, student learning, and educator learning • Role in developing staff and exiting ineffective teachers

8. Why Is Principal Evaluation Important? A common understanding and set of expectations around effective leadership practice is necessary to improve effectiveness and inform professional development • Goals of evaluation are to assess in order to develop professional practice • Assessment of current performance is necessary to provide feedback on practice and to support a continuous cycle of improvement

9. Why Is Principal Evaluation Important? • The existence of a system to evaluate performance reinforces the importance of principal effectiveness • “What gets measured gets done.” -Peter Drucker

10. Evaluation status quo does not inspire confidence • Most systems still result in a binary judgment – satisfactory/unsatisfactory • Critical behaviors related to improving student learning are not emphasized • Most systems are not aligned with professional growth and development plans • Principal evaluation is not seen as a high priority for district leaders

11. Development of a NJ Principal Evaluation System

12. NJ Educator Effectiveness Task Force (EETF) Mission (2010-11) • To create a high-quality evaluation system that enables districts and the state to: • Identify and address professional development needs • Recognize excellence and inform hiring, retention, and, where applicable, separation • Address inequitable distribution of effective teachers across schools and subject areas • With the ultimate goal of increasing student achievement for all the state’s 1.4 million students

13. NJ EETF Guiding Principles • The needs of students are paramount. • All children can achieve at the highest levels. • Educators have the power to inspire, engage, and broaden the opportunities of all students.

14. Evaluation System Must Include: • Multiple measures of student achievement that represent at least 50% of the evaluation and • Measures of practice that would account for the remaining 50% of the evaluation.

15. NJ Educator Effectiveness Task Force Recommendations • Required components of principal evaluations • Four levels of performance: highly effective, effective, partially effective, ineffective • Use of multiple sources of evidence

16. 2008 ISLLC Professional Standards for Principals – 6 domains of practice • Vision-building and change • Leading learning • Management and operations • Ethical behavior • Family and community engagement • Advocacy and policy

17. Staff Work Subsequent to EETF • Examination of commercial systems and state-developed systems • Domains of practice • Rubrics • Types of evidence • Weightings of components • Procedural details • Links to professional development • Conversations with higher ed representatives, the Professional Development Advisory Committee for School Leaders, PSA critical friends group, and the Evaluation Pilot Advisory Committee

18. Analyzing Principal Impacts Student achievement gains Teacher capacity and effectiveness Leadership practices Other student outcomes Organizational capacity and effectiveness Other school outcomes Margaret Terry Orr Bank Street College of Education New York, NY

19. Key Considerations in Building a Framework for Evaluating Principal Practice • Who is included? • What is assessed within the different “lanes”, i.e. components • What sources of evidence are used? • Who makes the value judgments on the evidence? • Are contextual factors taken into consideration? How? • How are the pieces weighted when combined? • How is the evaluation conducted? Margaret Terry Orr Bank Street College of Education New York, NY

20. ESEA/NCLB Waiver Submission • Application had to address three principles, including: Supporting effective instruction and leadership by developing and implementing state teacher and principal evaluation systems that take into account both student outcomes and practice. • Application included details about the principal evaluation system components (as set forth in the EETF report), guidelines for the assessment of principal practice, and a timeline for statewide implementation.

21. Guidelines for Principal Practice Framework: Minimum Criteria • Be research-based and shown to be valid and reliable; • Be based on multiple sources of evidence collected throughout the year; • Encompass domains of practice aligned to the NJ Professional Standards for School Leaders; • Include at least two observations of principal performance; • Include a measure of progress on at least one individual, school and/or district performance goal;

22. Minimum Criteria: Continued • Incorporate feedback from teachers; • Incorporate feedback from any other stakeholder groups (such as parents or students) if deemed appropriate based on designated performance goals; • Include an assessment of the quality of the principal’s evaluations of teachers; • Include evidence of the principal’s leadership for implementing a rigorous curriculum and assessments aligned to content standards; • Include evidence of the principal’s leadership for high-quality instruction; and • Include rubrics for assessing practice that have a minimum of 4 levels of performance.

23. Timeline for Statewide Implementation • 2011-12 SIG schools will begin to implement their principal evaluation systems – training is beginning next week • 2011-12 Mini-pilot in a few interested districts (2-3) • 2012-13 SIGS continue with implementation; Larger pilot with volunteer districts (20-25?) • 2013-14 Statewide rollout

24. Challenges for Principal Evaluation System Development

25. Issues and Challenges • Evaluation of assistant principals and supervisors • Determining valid measures for the minimum recommended components • Contextual considerations related to time in the position, school and district characteristics (e.g., size of teaching staff, number of administrative support staff, DFG) • Weighting of components, within the practice measures or between practice and student achievement – should these differ according to context and/or over time? • Incorporation of student achievement results in non-tested subjects and grades.

26. Challenges (cont.) • Timeline for pilot year - getting information out quickly so that districts can make an informed decision about participation • Funding availability for pilot – not sure yet • Creating and communicating the necessary guidance to districts • Lack of an evaluation system for superintendents

27. Immediate Next Steps • Sharing information/templates on commercial systems to support districts in making informed choices • Communicating expectations and preparing more detailed guidance • Adoption of 2008 ISLLC standards to update our professional standards for school leaders • Building a technical assistance team

28. Concluding Thoughts • We can do a better job of developing systems to evaluate principals in order to: • Provide more focused feedback based on evidence • Reward excellence and identify areas for improvement • Provide the necessary leverage to dismiss ineffective practitioners; and • Support relevant and practical professional development plans and activities. • We have to create and perfect this system together

29. “Leaders … will be explorers, adventurers, trailblazers … leaders of leaders … They will gather around them people who have the future in their bones.” -Rowan Gibson, 2008, Rethinking the Future

30. Acknowledgements • NJDOE staff members: Eileen Aviss-Spedding Bernadette (Bobbi) Newman Carol Albritton Victoria Duff Jessani Gordon

31. Contact Information • Email: cathy.pine@doe.state.nj.us • Email: ee4nj@doe.state.nj.us