Measuring Up: Effective Strategies for Teacher Evaluation

1. Measuring Up: Effective Strategies for Teacher Evaluation Patricia A. Popp, Ph.D. State Coordinator, Project HOPE-VA Clinical Associate Professor pxpopp@wm.edu Xianxuan Xu, Ph.D. Post-Doctoral Research Associate xxu@wm.edu School of Education The College of William and Mary

2. Teacher Evaluation in an Era of Accountability • Currently, ESEA flexibility has been granted to 34 states and the District of Columbia. As part of the flexibility requirements, the states were required to establish new teacher evaluation systems that factor in student achievement progress for statewide implementation by the end of the 2013-2014 school year. • All states that received Race to the Top funding are undertaking substantial reforms with teacher evaluation. • “The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers” (Barber & Mourshed, 2008).

3. Share of At-Risk Students on PISA(Not reaching PISA baselines): Reading

4. Share of At-Risk Students on PISA(Not reaching PISA baselines): Math

5. Percentage of Country’s Students in PISA Top Performing Groups: Reading

6. Percentage of Country’s Students in PISA Top Performing Groups: Math

7. What do we do about it?

8. How Long Do Students Attend School? Days in the Academic Year

9. How Long Do Students Attend Schools?Minutes in the Day

10. How Much Do We Spend?

11. Student/Teacher Ratio Source: Available at worldbank.org.

12. Which factor is a strong predictor of student achievement gains? Class size Classroom heterogeneity School resource differences It’s the teacher. Sources: Wright, Horn, & Sanders, 1997; Hanushek, Kain, & Rivkin, 1998,

14. Influences on Student Achievement:Explained Variance Source: Hattie, J. Teachers make a difference: What is the research evidence. Retrieved 20Nov08 from http://acer.edu.au/documents

15. Dallas Research: Teacher Quality Dallas, Texas data: 2800-3200 students per cohort Comparison of 3 “highly effective” & 3 “ineffective” teachers (Jordan, Mendro, & Weerasinghe, 1997)

16. Dallas Research: Teacher Quality

17. 75th Percentile Teacher 25th Percentile Teacher 0 1/4 1/2 3/4 1 Years Needed Time in School Year Needed to Achieve the Same Amount of Learning Leigh, Economics of Education Review (2010)

18. Time in School Needed to Achieve the Same Amount of Learning Source: Leigh, A. (n.d.). Estimating teacher effectiveness from two-year changes in students’ test scores. Retrieved May 22, 2007, from http://econrsss.anu.edu.au/~aleigh/.

19. Sequence of Effective Teachers Low Low Low 52-54 percentile points difference High High High Sanders & Rivers (1996)

20. Sequence of Effective Teachers High Low Low 13 percentile points difference High High High Sanders & Rivers (1996)

21. Revised Teacher Evaluation System in Virginia: An Overview

22. Primary Purposes of the Evaluation System • Improve student achievementthrough the quality of instruction by assuring accountability for classroom performance • Contribute to the successful achievement of the goals and objectives defined in a school division’s educational plans • Provide a basis for instructional improvementthrough productive teacher appraisal and professional growth • Share responsibility for evaluation between the teacher and the evaluation team in a collaborative processthat promotes self-growth, instructional effectiveness, and improvement of overall job performance

23. A Flawed System Problem No. 1: Observation equals evaluation Problem No. 2: Likely to rely on intuition, not evidence, to make judgments about teacher performance Problem No. 3: One size fits all Problem No. 4: Don’t communicate Problem No. 5: Fragmented evaluation process Problem No. 6: Irrelevant evaluation Problem No. 7: One-point rating scales Problem No. 8: No impact evaluation

24. Question 1 What is the basis of the teachers’ evaluation?

25. MainComponents Performance Standard Performance Indicators Performance Appraisal Rubric

26. Performance Standards

27. Teacher Performance Standard 1: Professional Knowledge • The teacher demonstrates an understanding of the curriculum, subject content, and the developmental needs of students by providing relevant learning experiences.

28. Teacher Performance Standard 2: Instructional Planning • The teacher plans using the Virginia Standards of Learning, the school’s curriculum, effective strategies, resources, and data to meet the needs of all students.

29. Teacher Performance Standard 3: Instructional Delivery • The teacher effectively engages students in learning by using a variety of instructional strategies in order to meet individual learning needs.

30. Teacher Performance Standard 4: Assessment of and for Student Learning • The teacher systematically gathers, analyzes, and uses all relevant data to measure student academic progress, guide instructional content and delivery methods, and provide timely feedback to both students and parents throughout the school year.

31. Teacher Performance Standard 5: Learning Environment • The teacher uses resources, routines, and procedures to provide a respectful, positive, safe, student-centered environment that is conducive to learning.

32. Teacher Performance Standard 6: Professionalism • The teacher maintains a commitment to professional ethics, communicates effectively, and takes responsibility for and participates in professional growth that results in enhanced student learning.

33. Teacher Performance Standard 7: Student Academic Progress • The work of the teacher results in acceptable, measurable, and appropriate student academic progress.

34. Question 2 How will teacher performance be documented?

35. Multiple Data Sources

36. Measures of Academic Progress

37. Step 3: Create and implement teaching and learning strategies Step 4: Monitor student progress through ongoing formative assessment Student Achievement Goal Setting Step 1: Determine needs Step 2: Create specific learning goals based on pre-assessment Step 5: Determine whether the students achieved the goal

38. What are the Purposes ofStudent Achievement Goal Setting? • Focus on student results • Explicitly connect teaching and learning • Improve instructional practices and teacher performance • Tool for school improvement

39. Question 3 How will teacher performance be rated?

40. Evaluations • Interim Evaluation • Used to document evidence of meeting standards • Does NOT include rating of performance • Summative Evaluation • Comes at end of evaluation cycle • - One year for probationary teachers • - Three years for continuing contract teachers • Assessment of performance quality • - Four point rating scale • - Performance rubric for every standard

41. Evaluating Performance

42. Sample Performance Appraisal Rubric • Standard I: Professional Knowledge • The teacher demonstrates an understanding of the curriculum, subject content, and the developmental needs of students by providing relevant learning experiences.

43. Summative Rating Summative ratings should apply the rating for each of the seven performance expectations, with the most significant weight given to Standard 7 - Student Academic Progress. • Weight each of the first six standards equally at 10 percent each • Weight Standard 7 – Student Academic Progress at 40 percent

44. Lessons Learned • Most practitioners believe new models provide specific measures of teacher effectiveness that are useful for distinguishing effective from less effective teachers.

45. Lessons Learned • Most practitioners believe that new models have the potential to improve teaching and learning by providing useful feedback that can be used to diagnose and guide teacher improvement.

46. Lessons Learned • With more rigorous assessment to identify problems and recognize excellence, investments in teacher development can be better related to school and division goals for improvement. Strengths and Weaknesses Identified Targeted Professional Development Evaluation

47. Lessons Learned • Practitioners appreciate the value in using multiple data sources to provide evidence of performance standards. Observations Student Learning Objectives Teacher Performance Standards Documentation Logs Student Surveys

48. Lessons Learned • Practitioners believe that new models set up realistic expectations for teacher performance, and they reflect the most important elements of effective teaching. Professional Knowledge Instructional Delivery Learning Environment Instructional Planning Assessment of/for Learning Professionalism Student Progress

49. Lessons Learned • The evaluation framework is valid in terms that the process standard ratings of teacher have a moderate ability to predict the student academic progress. In addition, there is a significant correlation between each of the six process standards and student academic progress.

50. Lessons Learned • New models can be time-consuming to implement. • Practitioners mistrust the validity of student progress models as a measure of student growth. • Teachers believe that the nature, quality, and credibility of the evaluation process vary depending on the qualifications of the evaluators.