Policy Institute on Race and Education Circe Stumbo and Valerie Nyberg West Wind Education Policy Inc. Disrupting Colorblind Evaluation Policies and Practices 10 th Annual Alumni of Color Conference Harvard Graduate School of Education March 2, 2012

Agenda Welcome! Objectives and Groundrules Major issues in educator evaluation Unpacking evaluation proposals –Policy, practice, or research Reflection Institute evaluation and wrap-up

Who is West Wind Education Policy Inc.? Small company based in Iowa City Help state leaders overcome historic and persistent inequities in public education Developed a framework for Systemic Equity Leadership

Systemic Equity Leadership is about disrupting the system that is producing results we dont want Systemic Equity Leadership

Systemic Equity Leadership entails intentional actions to: reveal the forces within systems that have created racial inequities in education; disrupt those systems; and create a new and better system.

Who are you? Graduate Student Faculty Member Researcher Teacher Principal or school district leader Parent or community activist Other?

Getting Into the Conversation What is your earliest memory of race? What is your most recent experience with race?

Evaluation: A Primer Evaluation in a national context –History of the national discussion 1983; 1989; 1992 InTASC; 2001 ESEA/NCLB; 2009 Race to the Top; ESEA waivers –Context of state action –Student performance as a measure

Small-Group Reflection What makes a good teacherand how do you know it? What makes an effective school leaderand how do you know it? What makes an effective teacher and school leader for students of colorand how do you know it?

Evaluation: A Primer on the Colorblind Debate Purposes of evaluation –Professional growth (instructional improvement) –Individual accountability (Getting rid of bad teachers) Intended and unintended consequences –Fairness (to teachers)

Evaluation: A Color Conscious Approach Purposes of evaluation –Professional growth (cultural competence, student experiences) –System accountability –Planning and school improvement

Evaluation: A Color Conscious Approach Intended and unintended consequences –Fairness (to students) –Old model of teaching as private and isolated

Why Isolate Race in Evaluation? What gets measured gets valued What gets measured can inform educator development What gets measured can inform educator accountability What gets measured can inform systems change

How Might We Isolate Race in Evaluation? No great models but lots of great thinking Must capture complexity AND be measurable Information generated should inform BOTH individual development and accountability AND system development and accountability Information generated should prompt us to ask NEW questions

Small-Group Exercises Please break into triads Review the rubrics crafted by the Massachusetts Dept of Ed for evaluating teachers and administrators Available at del/PartIII.doc del/PartIII.doc

Report-Out What did you discover? What was most interesting, encouraging, or troubling?

ReflectionInfusing Race into Evaluation … and Your Own Work How can I get into conversations about/work on evaluation back home? How can I get race into those conversations/that work? What allies can I engage in this work? What avenues do I have for disrupting the conversation? What support can I draw on?

West Wind Education Policy, Inc. Circe Stumbo, President Valerie Nyberg, Policy Analyst P: F: Address: 1700 S. First Avenue, Suite 17 Iowa City, IA Website: