What School Board Members Need To Know About Student Growth

Dr. Richard VoltzIASA Associate Director

In 2010, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed the Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA),

which changed how teachers’ and principals’ performance is

measured in the state.

Important Question:Is your district’s teacher evaluation

plan presently in the contract?

Two Parts

Teacher Practice Student Growth

Danielson Frameworks

• Danielson Frameworks for Teaching is the PEAC recommended model, not the state default.

• Requires many more teacher observations for teacher evaluators.

• Observations must focus on EVIDENCE.• Danielson Frameworks demands that teachers

ENGAGE students in their own learning.

Danielson definition of engaged learning…

The student is intellectually engaged in

the work.

Evaluators look for “Engaged Learning Evidence”

What are the students learning?

Not what are the students doing.

PERA requires data and indicators of student growth as a “significant factor”

for principal and teacher evaluation.

Will PERA change anything?

• Main emphasis is on professional development of both principals and teachers.

• Unions have already lessoned the impact on RIF for teachers rated NI or U.

• Dismissal of tenured teachers is still extremely difficult and time consuming.

• Districts may minimize student growth impact.• Do evaluators have the time to observe and

evaluate correctly?

Medical Model Analogy

PERA Joint Committee

• Each district will convene a PERA joint committee of equal representation of teachers and administrators “Joint committee” means a committee composed of equal representation selected by the district and its teachers.

Collective Bargaining?

• Between teachers and administrators and not school board.

• For student growth only.• Once PERA Joint Committee officially starts

the parties have 180 days to develop plan OR the plan will default to State Performance Evaluation Model.

Timelines

• Chicago and RTTT Districts already in.• Lowest 20% by September 2015– Were notified by ISBE on 9/22/14

• All other districts by September 2016

Student Growth Decisions

• What percentage should student growth count for PERA?– Default is 50%– Lowest is 30% (except can be 25% first two years)

• Types of assessments?• Grouping students?• Scoring of student growth?• Applying student scores to teacher rating?

Potential Problems

Teachers do not agree that a Type I or Type II assessment can be

“identified” and thus the default is two Type III’s.

Type III Assessments areteacher created.

All assessments SHALL be aligned to Illinois Learning Standards and

the Common Core Standards.

Teachers will want the assessment to match the content that the

teacher(s) intend to teach.

Midpoint review could be THE critical point, especially early in the

implementation phase.

Scoring the assessments

• Include all students?– IEP?– ELL?– Special Education?– Low socio economic?– Student attendance?

• What is the cut score?• What percentage of students have to meet the

cut score?

More Questions

• How will the district– Assess non-core areas?– Co-teaching?– Students who change classes as semester?– Student attendance?– Student transfers?

What are SLO’s

Are SLO’s required?

School Service Personnel are not required to have student growth as

a component for evaluation.

Assigning a teacher rating as a result of the student assessments.

Default Student Growth Rating Scale

• Excellent = 76% to 100% of students met the indicated growth target

• Proficient = 51% to 75% of students met the indicated growth target

• Needs Improvement = 25% to 50% of students met the indicated growth target

• Unsatisfactory = Less than 25% of students met the indicated growth target

Round Up Model

Round Down Model

Is there any research to support the use of student growth for teacher evaluation purposes?

Some Problems

1. Non-teacher effects may cloud the results2. Data may be inaccurate3. Student placement in classrooms is not

random4. Student’s previous teachers can create a halo

(or pitchfork) effect5. Teacher’s year-to-year scores vary widely.

Amount of time required for both teachers and administrators.

Teachers may/will want

all student growth

assessments to be directly

related to what they

actually teach.

This process will test the TRUST and RELATIONSHIPS between

Board/Administration and Teachers.

Types of Assessments

• Type I - Standardized• Type II - School or District created and used• Type III - Teacher made

Q. What happens to a school district that does not meet the statutory deadlines? A. Districts that are not compliance with either PERA or SB 7 may have their recognition status reduced pursuant to 23 Ill Admin. Code 1.20. In addition, evaluation plans and tools that are not compliant with the requirements of the law may undermine dismissals (including non-renewals of nontenured teachers), discipline, and reductions in force.

http://bit.ly/PERA-Resource

Student Growth Metrics should align to Education Best Practices

• Standards based• Team Teaching• Professional Learning Communities• Do not put teachers into competition with

each other• Each teacher should be compared to a

standard so all could potentially receive favorable ratings

RV Idea

• 30% Student Growth Rating should be based on the following:– 10% All school reading and math scores– 10% Type III assessment tied to standards– 10% Student survey of teaching based on a model

such as was reported in the MET Study

For additional information contact:

Dr. Richard Voltzrvoltz@iasaedu.org

217-741-0466http://

richvoltz.edublogs.org