Documenting Objective Evidence & Providing Effective Feedback Stronge Teacher Performance Evaluation System ©Stronge, 2014 All Rights Reserved

What is evidence?

Two Purposes for Collecting Evidence Improve teacher practice Determine and justify summative ratings

What is Evidence? “The available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid.” Dictionary.com Evidence considered Rating determined

Focus of Evidence STANDARDS & INDICATORS Teacher Practice Student Learning

Steps to Collecting Evidence: Evaluators and Teachers Working Together 1. Start with standards and indicators framework 2. Look and listen for examples of concrete, tangible evidence using multiple data sources 3. Document evidence 4. Determine a rating based on the preponderance of evidence. Evaluators and Teachers Evaluators

Evidence… Is standards-based Can include both examples of meeting or not meeting the expectation Does not include judgment (that comes during the summative rating)

Documenting Evidence Tips Avoid terms that express judgment (“neat classroom,” “fun activity,” “caring attitude”) Avoid words that imply quantity (“most,” “few,” “several”) Stick to the five senses Remember Who, What, When, Where, How

How can this evidence be improved? Instructional Delivery: The teacher effectively engages students in learning by using a variety of instructional strategies to meet individual learning needs. 3.3 Differentiates instruction to meet students’ needs. Spent the majority of the time on whole class instruction for math though several of the students demonstrated proficiency on the long division process in the first few minutes of class. How much? How many? How?

Better? Instructional Delivery: The teacher effectively engages students in learning by using a variety of instructional strategies to meet individual learning needs. 3.3 Differentiates instruction to meet students’ needs. The teacher spent 45 minutes reviewing the steps in the long division process with the whole class though four students correctly completed all steps in the process on the problem introduced during the warm- up activity.

How can this evidence be improved? Learning Environment: The teacher uses resources, routines, and procedures to provide a respectful, positive, safe, and student-centered environment that is conducive to learning. 5.1 Arranges the classroom to maximize learning while providing a safe physical environment. Classroom neatly arranged so students can work in small groups. How? Desks in groups? Center areas? When during the lesson do students work in small groups? How is this defined?

Better? Learning Environment: The teacher uses resources, routines, and procedures to provide a respectful, positive, safe, and student-centered environment that is conducive to learning. 5.1 Arranges the classroom to maximize learning while providing a safe physical environment. All desks are arranged in clusters of 5-6. During the Explore activity, the teacher distributed task cards to each cluster and had them work together to solve the Explore problem.

Activity: Is this evidence?

Providing Effective Feedback

Why Evaluation Only Is Not Enough Teacher evaluation is not an end in itself, but a means to an end… …TEACHER IMPROVEMENT!

What Makes Feedback Effective? (Gordon, S. P., 2006) Effective feedback is: Focused on teaching and learning rather than other areas Relevant to performance standards Contextual rather than context free; context that should be considered include:  School’s mission and improvement goals  Curriculum and instructional goals  Teachers’ career histories, level of expertise, teaching styles and instructional goals  Students’ cultural background, prior learning, current needs

What Makes Feedback Effective? (Gordon, S. P., 2006) Effective feedback is: Generated through analysis of deep, rich evaluation data Generated based on long-term, continuous data gathering rather than “one-shot” evaluations

Feedback Scenario 1 During the observation, I noted that you called on girls 25 times and boys 7 times, even though you have an equal number of each in your class. This is very discouraging for the boys. How could this feedback be improved?

Feedback Scenario 2 You wrote thorough directions on the board, and reviewed them twice before allowing students to transition. Most students transitioned quickly and quietly from the Hook to the Explore activity. Adding tennis balls to the bottom of students’ chairs can help decrease the noise even more. How could this feedback be improved?

Feedback Scenario 3 Most students stayed on-task during the science experiment. Four of the five groups’ paper helicopters completed more rotations when they added paper clips, but one group did not. Have you considered showing students the expected result ahead of time so they will all achieve it? How could this feedback be improved?

Feedback Scenario 4 The lesson was clear, organized, and focused. Students appeared engaged in relevant learning. The resources used were appropriate for the developmental needs of students. Consider differentiating for an even greater impact. How could this feedback be improved?

Feedback Scenario 5 From where I was sitting, it appeared that almost all students were engaged in the introduction activity and directions. I did notice two girls in the back of classroom who were passing notes back and forth throughout this activity; they had to ask another student to repeat the directions for them. How do you typically address this type of behavior? How could this feedback be improved?

Activity: Effective and Ineffective Meetings

Ineffective versus Effective Feedback Meetings Ineffective Meetings Effective Meetings Based on your experience, write down three things that make meetings particularly ineffective and effective.

Ineffective Meetings Dominated by the individual leading the meeting Focused on narrow concerns Provide a teacher with short, prescriptive feedback Threaten teacher self-esteem Influenced by an unequal power relationship Lack teacher reflection and self-evaluation Lack reasoning and critical thinking Summarized by Blase & Blase (2004)

Effective Meetings The Evaluator: Listens Knows about effective teaching methods Understands how teaching relates to learning Uses examples and demonstrations Gives teachers choice Encourages risk taking Offers professional literature and other resources Recognizes teachers’ strengths Maintains a focus on improving instruction Knows how to make a meeting reflective and nonthreatening Summarized by Blase & Blase (1999)

Meetings between teachers and administrators are an important component of teacher evaluation, however, only 34% of teachers and 12% of principals agree that such meetings are done well. MassPartners (2000) Importance of Meetings

Questions?