Changes in SC Teacher Landscape New: Induction Professional Licensure Teacher Evaluation System

Changes in SC Teacher LandscapeNew:

Induction

Professional Licensure

Teacher Evaluation System

Induction & Licensure Changes

• Initial Licensure• Induction – up to 3 years• Annual Evaluation/Continued Licensure –

Professional Development• Read to Succeed Licensure/Endorsement – 5-10

years to obtain

SC Schools Teacher Evaluation System beginning 2015-16

50% Rubric-based Observations

30% Student Growth

20% District Choice

Contributes to your Teacher Effectiveness Score

50% Rubric-based Observations • Based on South Carolina teaching standards• Current ADEPT phasing out• SC Teaching Standards phased in 2015-16

30% Student growth Student growth measured over a school year or specific time periods within the year• In test grades/subjects

--- Classroom Value-add (VAM) --- AKA, standardized test like MAP

• In nontest grades/subjects --- Performance based on Student Learning Objectives (SLOs)

20% District Choice

Any of below or combination of below:• Parent Surveys• Student Surveys• Other district approved measures• Student Growth (rather than 30% of overall

evaluation, could be more worth more)

Addressing the SC Teaching Standards • Call back date this term to teach you the new

standards and the relationship of these to the ADEPT standards you have been taught and will be evaluated on this semester

Addressing Student Growth Value AddStudent Growth – Value Add (VAM)• Classroom value-add data is collected by your school

district and as a teacher will be available to you on individual students and in various summary report formats for instructional planning and assessment of student learning. We encourage you to explore this available data in your student teaching experience

Addressing Student Growth – Student Learning Objectives (SLOs)

• You must develop classroom student learning objectives and expected performance to be approved by school leadership. We encourage you to ask your cooperating teacher if he/she has any student learning objectives you can study.

• This seminar and the follow-up seminar on Jan 23 will provide training on the development of student learning objectives. You will have an assignment to complete prior to Jan 23.

Our goals for you:

• Knowledge and understanding of the new SC Teaching Standards

• Knowledge and understanding of Student Growth measures and in particular SLOs

• Preparation for induction year evaluation• Greater marketability in obtaining teaching

positions within SC and outside of SC

Student Learning Objectives and South Carolina’s Educator Evaluation System

Overarching Objectives of this workshop

• Build understanding about – what SLOs are – what the SLO model looks like in South Carolina– how SLOs can be used for evaluation and

professional growth– the components of the SLO

The Roles of SLOsin

Educator Evaluation

Student Achievement (Proficiency) Vs. Student Growth

Achievement• Performance at one point in

time• Percent who have mastered

content knowledge • Example: 75 percent of

students scored MET or EXEMPLARY on the state exam

Growth• Performance between two

points in time• Measures improvement based

on content standards• Example: Student A grew 37

points between the beginning of the year and the end of the year, which represents approximately one year of academic growth

Discussion

Why might student growth be a more accurate measure of a teacher’s effectiveness than achievement?

What is an SLO?

• A goal that demonstrates a teacher’s impact on student learning within a given interval of instruction

• A measurable, long-term academic target (based on standards) written by an individual teacher or a teacher team

The Purposes of SLOs

• To capture student growth in every classroom• To reinforce evidence based or data driven

teaching practices• To enhance skill in creating and selecting

assessments linked to instruction and student outcomes

• To encourage collaboration, since teams can write the SLO together (but then apply it to their own class)

The SLO Process: Which Course?

• The SLO must include one class or course (preparation); educators who teach multiple courses are encouraged to develop an SLO for the course that covers the largest number of students on his/her roster. The SLO must include a minimum of six students.

• The SLO must cover the length of the course, whether it spans a year, semester, or quarter.

The SLO Process: Which Students?

• The SLO should include all students in the course or class. Only students who are not present for seventy-five (75) percent of the interval are to be excluded.

The SLO Rules

Rules Around SLOs in SC

• All educators in non-tested grades and subjects (no value added measure available) are required to develop and implement one SLO

Rules Around SLOs in SC

• The principal will conduct with each teacher three conferences a year

• Preliminary Approval of SLO by Sept 30

(or Feb 15th for second semester courses)• Mid-course Check-In to discuss student

progress toward the goals in the SLO and provide support as needed• Summative Teacher Rating and Impact on

Practice

Quality Review Tool

The Quality Review Tool requires the principal to assess three main components of the SLO:

Content: Are the SLO objectives aligned to the standards? Is the objective measureable?

Rigor of Target: Is the growth target based on students’ baseline performance, rigorous, yet attainable?

Quality of Assessment: Does it measure the skills identified in the objective?

SLO Components

SLO Development Process

Components of an SLO: Objective

• Identifies the priority content and learning that is expected during the interval of instruction. Should be broad enough that it captures the breadth and depth of content of an extended instructional period, but focused enough to be measureable.

• Summarize on your SLO Template

Components of an SLO: Rationale

• Explains how the target was determined, including the data source and evidence used. Rationale should be provided for each target, indicating how it is both rigorous, yet attainable.


Components of an SLO: Baseline and Trend Data

• Describes the source(s) of the data• Students’ baseline knowledge (prior to

instruction) and its relation to the growth targets.

• Trend data describes that patterns that the educator identifies after analysis of the baseline data.


Components of an SLO: Growth Targets

• Describes where the teacher expects the student to be at the end of the interval of instruction. The target should be measurable and rigorous, yet attainable for the interval of instruction. In many cases, the target should be tiered so that it is both rigorous and attainable for all students included in the SLO.


Components of an SLO: Student Population

• Specifies the student population targeted by the SLO. Information should include, but is not limited to the following: number of students in class, students with exceptionalities, descriptions of any academic supports that are provided to students, etc.


Components of an SLO: Standards / Content

and Interval of Instruction

• Standards: Describes the content and content standards that are addressed in the SLO. The educators provide a rationale for why these standards were selected for the focus of the SLO.

• Interval: Specifies the time period, or instructional interval for which the objective is planned. Objectives are typically planned to capture either year-long or semester-long growth

Components of an SLO: Assessment (Pre and Post)

• Describes which assessment(s) will be used to measure student learning, why the assessment is appropriate for measuring the objective, and the grading scale and/or rubric used to score the assessments. Consider state, district, school, and teacher-made assessments.


Components of an SLO: Instructional Strategies

• Provides a description of the high yield instructional strategies that will be employed during the SLO interval of instruction. Also provides opportunity for the teacher to describe plans for differentiating instruction for learners at various proficiency levels.


Components of an SLO: Progress Monitoring

• Describes the frequency of formative assessments used to measure student progress towards the learning goal. Describe the instruments. What will be done if students are not showing adequate progress toward the goal?

• What is a ‘formative’ assessment?• Summarize on your SLO Template

Components of an SLO: Teacher Professional Learning

• Describe the learning that the teacher will complete in order to successfully complete the plan. What reading and reflection will be done during the year?


Numerical data summaries could logically be used to support statements in which sections of an SLO? (list the letters of those for which this is TRUE)

A. Growth TargetsB. StrategiesC. Baseline and Trend DataD. RationaleE. Student PopulationF. Progress MonitoringG. Standards/Content and Interval of InstructionH. Teacher Professional LearningI. Assessment (Pre and Post)

SLO Reviewer Activity #1

• Answer questions 1- 9 in the SLO Quality Review Tool for the SLO written by Sandra Casper. Indicate Yes/No for each of the 9 questions, and give a justification for each choice, listing which section(s) of the SLO you referred to.

Selecting Assessments for SLOs

Spectrum of Assessment Choice in SLOs

Attributes of Appropriate Assessments

• Valid– Does the assessment measure the appropriate

content?

What is an example of a valid assessment?


• Reliable– Does the assessment produce consistent results for

similar students and across similar conditions?

What is an example of a reliable assessment?


• Rigorous– Does the assessment require students to

demonstrate the appropriate level of knowledge, skill, or understanding?


• Comparable– The level of comparability between teachers’ SLOs will

depend on the district process for choosing assessments. – The pre-assessment and post-assessment should be

comparable for each teacher’s SLO.– Are the pre- and post-assessments the same or same type of

assessment? If they are different, are the pre- and post-assessments clearly aligned in terms of content, form, complexity, and scoring?

Describe the ideal ‘comparability’ of assessments of an SLO.


• Timely – Are the data available in time to be used at all

relevant points in the SLO cycle?

Can you name an assessment that might not be timely?

Talk to your cooperating teacher

• Does the district have an assessment that is valid, reliable, rigorous, comparable, and timely?

• Does the district have assessments that are only used for formative purposes at this time?

New Assessments: Considerations

• Teacher created– Need to ensure validity, reliability, rigor, and

comparability– It takes time to create new assessments

• Commercial– Need to ensure alignment with scope and sequence and

SLO content standards– Districts may not have the resources to purchase

commercial assessments

Assessments to Consider

• Early Education– Formative data for instructional purposes (DIBELS, Fountas and Pinnell,

running records, etc.)– RTI assessments

• Middle and High School Content Courses– Course final exams– Unit exams

• Arts and Performance Courses– Final projects or performances– Portfolios

• Career and Technical Courses– Final projects or performances– Commercial industry-based assessments

Resources for Assessment Literacy

• http://kidsatthecore.com/– Resources and articles to support understanding of

how to measure and understand student growth

• http://fcit.usf.edu/assessment/basic/basica.html– Online overview of classroom assessments

http://kidsatthecore.com/



http://fcit.usf.edu/assessment/basic/basica.html




• Revisit questions 8- 9 in the SLO Quality Review Tool for the SLO written by Sandra Casper. Change your decisions, if you feel you need to, and add a justification for your changes.

Gathering Baseline Student Data

The Data Analysis Process

• Identify and gather baseline data:– Is there a pre-assessment that is aligned to the post-

assessment?– Are there clear groups (tiers) of students? If so, what are

they?– Where is this kind of data accessible in the district?

Discuss the ‘snapshot’ that baseline data provides of a student. Is baseline data alone sufficient for setting growth targets? Why or why not?

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• Trend data and other student data helps educators determine how much growth each student is likely to make


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• Identify and gather trend data:– Test scores from prior years (any available)– Current and past grades– Formative assessment data from this year and

previous years, including running records– Reading and math conferences– Data to inform the student population section, such

as attendance records or 504 plans– Results from diagnostic assessments

– Districts can set rules or give guidance on what kind of baseline or trend data teachers should include in their SLO



• Analyze the data and look for trends– Are there clear groups of students? If so, are they

the same groups represented in the baseline data? Are there some students whose performance has changed or been inconsistent in the last year or two?

– How are students performing overall? Are most students consistently demonstrating proficiency?

– What kind of growth have students been making? Have students been consistently meeting or missing expectations?


• Meaningful Baseline and Trend Data should:– Describe students in terms of groups ( or tiers)– Describe student performance over time– Inform growth targets– Inform instructional strategies

Setting Growth Targets

Process for Setting Growth Targets for Teachers

• Set initial growth targets– Growth made in previous years?– What would make them “proficient”? Does the initial growth target

allow students to make meaningful progress towards proficiency?

• Adjust growth targets– Are there contextual factors that are likely to affect students’ growth

in positive or negative ways? – Are these factors new, or were they reflected in students’ previous

growth?– What growth have students with similar factors made in the past?

• Review targets– Are these targets rigorous and attainable?

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• Learning disabilities or conditions• Behavioral conditions• Student health and home conditions (i.e. transient or

managing long-term health challenges)

Note: It is important to consider• The extent to which these factors may have impacted

baseline data, and could impact student growth this year• What types of interventions or supports are in place and

their effectiveness

Possible Contextual Factors


• Look at the growth targets.– identify ways in which you can tell that these

growth targets are rigorous yet attainable. You can refer to other sections of the SLO if needed.

The Importance of the Rationale

• The rationale allows the teacher to:• Explain the process for setting or adjusting growth targets• Explain the reasoning for setting or adjusting growth

targets, including both – contextual/qualitative information (ex: a student’s transient status

this year) – quantitative information (ex: adjusted target down 10 points from

previous year’s growth because this is aligned with formative assessment data from this year)

• The rationale allows the evaluator to:• Ensure that the growth targets are appropriate, rigorous,

and attainable

Connecting growth targets to instructional strategies

What instructional strategies will be used to – ensure that lower-performing students do not fall

further behind?– ensure that lower-performing students can make

progress towards closing their achievement gap?– ensure that students consistently demonstrating

proficiency continue to grow and develop advanced skills?

– engage and challenge higher-performing students?

Monitoring student progress

–What kinds of formative assessments and informal formative data collection will be used?

–What kind of interim goals or benchmarks will be set (formally or informally) to ensure students are on-track?


• Revisit questions 4-7 in the SLO Quality Review Tool for the SLO written by Sandra Casper. Change your decisions, if you feel you need to, and add a justification for your changes.

• Any questions or clarifications you need to feel prepared to do an SLO Review on your own?

Homework for SLO Training 2 – January 23

• Evaluate a ‘real’ SLO Example• Use Quality Review ToolDocuments found at this link:http://www.clemson.edu/education/field/teachered/slo.html

• Bring back to January 23 Training Session---9:00 AM – 12:00 (noon) Middle Grades MAT, Secondary Education, Secondary MAT Education and Agricultural Education Student Teachers and University Supervisors. --- 1:00 – 4:00 PM Early Childhood, Elementaryand Special Education Student Teachers and University Supervisors.

http://www.clemson.edu/education/field/teachered/slo.html