SAFE-T Judgments

1. SAFE-TJudgments www.scteachers.org

2. What are the stages of SAFE-T? • Stage I: Preparation • Stage II: Collection of evidence • Stage III: Deliberation • Stage IV: Judgments

3. What is the role of SAFE-T evaluators? • SAFE-T evaluators are both collectors of evidence and judges. • As collectors of evidence, they are responsible for gathering evidence that is as objective as possible. • As judges, they are responsible for making informed professional judgments.

4. What is an “informed professional judgment?” • “Informed” means that the judgment is based on evidence. • “Professional” means that the judgment (1) is consistent with ethical guidelines, (2) is made on a case-by-case basis, and (3) eliminates to the extent possible external motives and personal feelings.

5. Where is the evidence located? • The evidence is contained in the templates in the teacher’s dossier. • The chair of the evaluation team maintains the dossier.

6. What’s in the dossier? At this point, the dossier should contain the following completed documents: • TT1: teacher’s LRP and reflections • TT2: teacher’s UWS and reflections • ET1s: evaluators’ observation records • TT3s: teacher’s reflection on each observed lesson • ET2: professional review completed by the principal • TT4: teacher’s self-assessment

7. What connects the evidence to the judgments? • The evaluation criteria serve as the primary connection between the evidence and the judgments.

8. What connects the evidence to the judgments? • The evaluation criteria are described in ET3. • To reduce subjectivity, all evaluators must use ET3 to review all evidence.

9. How many judgments are made? Judgments are made at three levels. • The first judgment concerns whether or not the teacher met the requirements defined by each of the 34 key elements associated with the ADEPT Performance Standards.

10. How many judgments are made? Judgments are made at three levels. • The second judgment concerns whether or not the teacher passed each of the four ADEPT domains for classroom-based teachers: planning, instruction, environment, and professionalism.

11. How many judgments are made? Judgments are made at three levels. • The third and final judgment concerns whether or not the teacher received an overall passing score on SAFE-T.

12. How are the judgments made? • The team chair must ensure that each member of the evaluation team has access to the entire contents of the dossier.

13. How are the judgments made? • Each team member must independently review the evidence in terms of the written description of each of the key elements. • Based on this review, each team member independently determines whether each key element was “met” or “not met.”

14. What happens next? • The next stage is deliberation. Here, the team members meet • to discuss their independent reviews, • to arrive at consensus regarding the judgment for each key element; and • to complete a consensus-based ET3 (SAFE-T Evaluation Summary).

15. What else needs to happen at the consensus (deliberation) meeting? • The team must agree on the rationale for the consensus-based decision (“met” or “not met”) for each key element.

16. What else needs to happen at the consensus (deliberation) meeting? • The rationales must be provided in the appropriate sections of ET3. • The rationale statements are especially important when the decision is “not met.”

17. How many key elements are needed to pass each domain?

18. How many key elements are needed to pass each domain? A teacher can miss one key element and still “pass” a domain. If a teacher misses two or more key elements in a particular domain, he or she “fails” the domain.

19. What is the overall passing criteria for SAFE-T? • To pass SAFE-T, a teacher must pass all four domains at the time of the final evaluation. • Key elements that are “not met” automatically become areas for improvement.

20. Is a written report required? • Yes. The consensus-based ET3 serves as the written evaluation report. • A consensus-based ET3 must be completed after each evaluation period.

21. Is a teacher conference required? • Yes, at least one evaluation team member must meet with the teacher following each consensus meeting but prior to the end of each evaluation cycle. • The purpose of the conference is to provide the teacher with an explanation and a copy of the consensus-based ET3.

22. Is a teacher conference required? • The teacher must sign and date the consensus-based ET3 at the conclusion of the meeting. The signature simply indicates that the teacher has reviewed the information contained on the consensus-based ET3. • The teacher must receive a copy of the consensus-based ET3

23. In summary, what are the steps involved in making the necessary judgments? • Each evaluation team member conducts an independent review of the dossier and completes ET3.

24. In summary, what are the steps involved in making the necessary judgments? • All evaluation team members meet to discuss their independent ratings and to achieve consensus.

25. In summary, what are the steps involved in making the necessary judgments? • The evaluation team members prepare and sign the consensus-based ET3.

26. In summary, what are the steps involved in making the necessary judgments? • One or more members of the evaluation team conference with the teacher to provide an oral and written explanation of the evaluation results.

27. Are there any remaining important points? • School districts must seek to continuously improve the formal evaluation process by • obtaining and analyzing feedback on an annual basis regarding the ADEPT formal evaluation process,

28. Are there any remaining important points? • School districts must seek to continuously improve the formal evaluation process by • analyzing their ADEPT data system (ADS) reports and evaluation summaries, and

29. Are there any remaining important points? • School districts must seek to continuously improve the formal evaluation process by • using the results of these analyses to continuously improve the design and/or implementation of the ADEPT formal evaluation process.