Alaska Staff Development Network – 2013 Spring Leadership Retreat

1. Alaska Staff Development Network – 2013 Spring Leadership Retreat Emerging Trends and issues in Teacher Evaluation: Implications for Alaska Deep Dive Break-Out Session Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Measures of Effective Teaching Study - Findings and Recommendations Session Leader: Al Bertani, RAPPS Senior Design Consultant

2. Goals of the Gates Foundation MET Study A new approach to development and evaluation that teachers endorse and that helps all teachers improve. Learning about Teaching – Initial Findings from the MET Project Published by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 2010

3. Premises of the Gates Foundation MET Study • Whenever feasible, a teacher’s evaluation should include his/her students’ achievement gains. • Any additional components of the evaluation (eg. classroom observations, student feedback) should be demonstrably relate to student achievement gains. • The measures should include feedback on specific aspects of a teachers’ practice and support teacher growth and development. Learning about Teaching – Initial Findings from the MET Project Published by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 2010

4. Gates MET Study SEE YOUTUBE LINK BELOW FOR VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR3ez3b6dh4

5. Strategies of the Gates Foundation MET Study If we want to change the curve of improvement, we must… • Identify great teachers • Find out what makes them so effective • Transfer those skills to others Learning about Teaching – Initial Findings from the MET Project Published by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 2010

6. Data Collected-Gates Foundation MET Study Measure 1 Student achievement gains on different assessments. Measure 2 Classroom observations and teacher reflections. Measure 3 Teacher pedagogical content knowledge. Measure 4 Student perceptions of the classroom instructional environment. Measure 5 Teacher perceptions of working conditions and instructional support at their school. Learning about Teaching – Initial Findings from the MET Project Published by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 2010

7. Gates MET Study Findings – Phase 1 • In every grade and subject studied, a teacher’s past successes in raising student achievement on state tests is one of the strongest predictors of his/her ability to do it again. • Teachers with the highest value-added scores on state tests also tend to help students develop a deeper conceptual understanding as well. • The average student knows effective teaching when he/she experiences it. • Valid feedback need not be limited to test scores alone. Learning about Teaching – Initial Findings from the MET Project Published by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 2010

8. Moving From and To… MET Working with Teachers to Develop Fair and Reliable Measures of Effective Teaching June 2010

9. Research Study Questions – Phase 2 Question 1Can measures of effective teaching identify teachers who better help students learn? Question 2How much weight should be placed on each measure of effective teaching? Question 3 How can teachers be assured trustworthy results from classroom observations? MET Project Ensuring Fair and Reliable Measures of Effective Teaching January 2013

10. Major Research Findings • Effective teaching can be measured. Teachers previously identified as more effective caused students to learn more.  Groups of teachers identified as less effective caused students to learn less. Balanced weights indicate multiple aspects of effective teaching. Teaching is too complex for any single measure of performance to capture it accurately.  Trade off’s to using different models. Adding a second observer increases reliability significantly more than having the same observer score an additional lesson. Adding outside observers can provide an on-going check against in-school bias. MET Project Ensuring Fair and Reliable Measures of Effective Teaching January 2013

11. Framing What We Know Now… MET Project Ensuring Fair and Reliable Measures of Effective Teaching January 2013

12. What We Know Now Lesson 1 Student perception surveys and classroom observations can provide meaningful feedback to teachers. Lesson 2 Implementing specific procedures in evaluation systems can increase trust in the data and the results. Lesson 3 Each measure adds something of value. Lesson 4 A balanced approach is most sensible when assigning weights to form a composite measure. Lesson 5 There is great potential in using video for teacher feedback and for the training and assessment of observers. MET Project Ensuring Fair and Reliable Measures of Effective Teaching January 2013

13. Influence of the Gates Foundation “We know that of all the variables under a school’s control, the single most decisive factor in student achievement is excellent teaching. It is astonishing what great teachers can do for their students. Yet compared with the countries that outperform us in education, we do very little to measure, develop, and reward excellent teaching. We have been expecting teachers to be effective without giving them feedback and training.” How Teacher Development Could Revolutionize Our Schools? By Bill Gates published in the Washington Post February 28, 2011

14. Influence of the Gates Foundation Proxies for improving student achievement… • Automatic salary increases based on seniority ($50 billion per year) • Bump in pay for advanced degrees ($15 billion per year) • Reducing class size (U.S. has twice as many teachers per student than they did in 1960. How Teacher Development Could Revolutionize Our Schools? By Bill Gates published in the Washington Post February 28, 2011

15. Evaluation Instruments Used in the MET Study • Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) - Pianta and Hamre • Framework for Teaching – Danielson • Mathematical Quality of Instruction (MQI) – Hill & Ball • Protocol for Language Arts Teaching Observations (PLATO) – Grossman • Quality Science Teaching (QST) - Pecheone Learning about Teaching – Initial Findings from the MET Project Published by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 2010

16. Gates Partnership Sites – Levels of Performance

17. Gates MET Project Teaching Video SEE YOUTUBE LINK BELOW FOR VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Mv8z6DPycU