Springfield Public Schools SEEDS: Collecting Evidence for Educators Winter 2013

2 Agenda Context, purpose and overview Collecting evidence

3 Strengthening educator effectiveness is a critical piece of a district-wide effort to improve learning for students Coach, develop and evaluate educators based on a clear vision of strong instruction Implement a consistent, rigorous curriculum built on common standards with common unit assessments Deploy data that is timely, accurate and accessible to make decisions for students, schools and the district Strengthen social, emotional and academic safety nets and supports for all students The work

4 SEEDS is a completely new evaluation system SEEDS’ purpose is development and continuous improvement Educators are empowered through a self-assessment and an ability to collect evidence All educators will have a minimum of one student learning goal and a minimum of one professional practice goal Includes short, frequent, unannounced observations Educators receive one of four performance ratings Phased in over three years: – level 4 schools – district-wide – includes district determined measures of student learning

5 SEEDS provides an opportunity to move our district in an exciting direction A system that: Encourages development and continuous improvement Aligns with and reinforces the educator goals Empowers educators Is driven by data and evidence Enables more accurate assessments through short but frequent observations Where we are nowWhere we are going A system that: Focuses on compliance Lacks connection to the educator’s goals Is done to an educator Excludes student learning and growth Relies on scripted, announced observations

6 The SEEDS framework consists of five key features Statewide Standards and Indicators Three categories of evidence to assess performance A statewide performance rating scale Four educator plans Five-step evaluation cycle Five features of the new evaluation framework

7 Today we will equip educators on collecting evidence Continuous Learning Today’s Focus

8 Why do we collect evidence as educators? It empowers the Educator and allows the Educator to be part of the evaluation process. The Educator has the opportunity and responsibility to provide artifacts and evidence of practice that the Evaluator might not have been able to observe. Standards III and IV are difficult to observe in the classroom; therefore, the Educator is responsible for collecting and presenting evidence to the Evaluator relating to fulfilling professional responsibilities and family outreach and engagement. The Educator is encouraged to collect evidence for Standards I and II as well. It will help the Evaluator have a more accurate picture of the Educator’s performance.

9 Agenda Context, purpose and overview Collecting evidence

10 Both the evaluator and the educator are responsible for implementing the Educator Plan Evaluators’ responsibilitiesEducators’ responsibilities Provide feedback for improvement Ensure access to resources and supports Collect evidence on educator performance against the rubric and progress toward goals through: Unannounced observations Announced observations Improve practice by using the rubric as the definition of a proficient/exemplary educator Pursue the attainment of goals Collect evidence on: Engagement with families (Standard III) Fulfillment of professional responsibilities (Standard IV) Student learning and professional practice goals Welcome to include information on Standards I and II of the rubric

Importance of Strategically Collecting Artifacts OR 11 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

12 What types of artifacts count as evidence?

13 Strategies for collecting evidence 1. Identify common artifacts to collect Educators should discuss with Evaluators what common artifacts are most important and are expected to collect, e.g. lesson plans 2. Think about the evidence that is important for your evaluator to see Educators are encouraged to summarize evidence for evaluators to see that they think reflects the strengths in your practice. For example, educators do not have to include documents from every parent communication they send, but could present a log of their communications with parents. 3. Think about evidence that applies to multiple indicators/standards Collecting evidence that pertains to multiple indicators and/or standards reduces your workload to document. 4. Collaborate with colleagues Educators are encouraged to share examples of high-quality evidence during faculty or team meetings to share best practices.

14 Exercise: Evidence Collection for Student Learning and Professional Practice Goals Student Learning Goal Each of my Intermediate and Advanced ELL students will demonstrate mastery of science content standards based on multiple assessments throughout the year. Professional Practice Goal In order to build mastery of science content by ELLs, we will work to consistently identify and teach symbols, key terms, and other domain specific pedagogical techniques and additional resources to ensure comprehension. Task: Divide group in to two parts, break down each goal and identify specific pieces of evidence that could be provided to the Evaluator to successfully demonstrate meeting each goal. * SMART Goals provided by DESE, Module 5: Gathering Evidence

15 Exercise 2: Evidence Collection for Student Learning and Professional Practice Goals Grade 2 Student Learning Goal 100% of all students (number of students) will increase at least 1 point on text based responses. __% (number of students) of the students will score a 3 out of 4 on text based responses by June Professional Practice Goal During this year, I will learn and appropriately use three effective rituals, routines and responses from Doug Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion to prevent behaviors that interfere with student learning as measured by a reduction of student disciplinary reports.

16 Exercise: Brainstorm evidence you might present Review the evidence collection guide. Using the table on the next slide, brainstorm the types of evidence that you might collect for the following categories: Standard III: Family and Community Engagement Standard IV: Professional Culture Are there any ideas in addition to the appendix guide that you could provide? Identify artifacts that could serve as evidence for multiple indicators. Share your thoughts with a neighbor. Did you brainstorm similar evidence? Source: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

17 Exercise: Evidence to collect on Standards III and IV Standard III Family and Community Engagement Standard IV Professional Culture

18 SEEDS Information Sessions 01/23/13 02/27/13 03/20/13 04/10/13 05/23/13 Sign up through MLP