1 National Center on Educational Outcomes What’s so Difficult About Including Special Education Teachers and Their Students in Growth Models Used to Evaluate Educator Effectiveness? Martha Thurlow, Sheryl Lazarus & Brian Touchette OSEP Project Directors’ Conference July 23-25, 2012

2 National Center on Educational Outcomes 1. Introduction 2. Digging deeper into student growth 3. One state’s story 4. Discussion. Overview of Session

3 National Center on Educational Outcomes Evaluating Educator Effectiveness Required aspect of RTTT applications Critical part of applications for ESEA flexibility (Principle 3)

4 National Center on Educational Outcomes Flexibility Applications Peers had several general concerns regarding SEAs’ proposals to develop and implement teacher and principal evaluation and support systems…. See “Summary of Considerations to Strengthen State Requests for ESEA Flexibility” derations-strengthen.pdf

5 National Center on Educational Outcomes Forum on Evaluating Educator Effectiveness: Critical Considerations for Including Students with Disabilities Recent Pre-session at CCSSO National Conference on Student Assessment Goal: to sort through approaches to evaluating educator effectiveness – especially with respect to including all students with disabilities and their teachers – thinking carefully about measures of student achievement.

6 National Center on Educational Outcomes Question 1: How should assessment results of students with disabilities be used in evaluation models of teacher effectiveness? What Session Participants Said: Important to include, but there can be challenges: How to include students who participate in alternate assessments In some cases, small class size is an issue Sharing of teachers Pre-session Forum Questions

7 National Center on Educational Outcomes Question 2: What are the benefits and concerns of using IEP goals or Student Learning Objectives (SLO)? What Session Participants Said SLOs recognize individual student differences May have potential to lower expectations Some expressed concern that they may not be linked to common core standards Pre-session Forum Questions, cont.

8 National Center on Educational Outcomes Question 3: If multiple measures are used, what would a balanced model look like? What Session Participants Said Multiple measures are important for the evaluation of all teachers. Multiple measures can help ensure that the big picture is considered. It should use data from a variety of sources. Teacher observation may be a part of it. Pre-session Forum Questions, cont.

9 National Center on Educational Outcomes (3) use multiple valid measures in determining performance levels, including as a significant factor data on student growth for all students (including English Learners and students with disabilities), and other measures of professional practice (which may be gathered through multiple formats and sources, such as observations based on rigorous teacher performance standards, teacher portfolios, and student and parent surveys); ESEA Flexibility: Principle 3

10 National Center on Educational Outcomes Digging Deeper into Measures that Use Assessment Results. Multiple Measures GrowthOther Measures (may include some of the following) ObservationAchievement Other Measures Commitment to School Community

11 National Center on Educational Outcomes Recommendations for Growth Models Retain a standards-based approach. Maintain grade-level focus. Include all students. Ensure that all students are visible in the results. Thurlow, Lazarus, Quenemoen & Moen (2009)

12 National Center on Educational Outcomes Where do special education teachers who teach reading or math in a tested grade fit? (Should individual-level or school-level data be used?) Group 1: Teachers Who Teach Reading or Math in a Tested Grade or Group 2: Other Teachers

13 National Center on Educational Outcomes State Example Group A (teachers who teach primary core curriculum) and Group B teachers: Teachers of students with disabilities (special education teachers) could fall into either of these two groups, depending on the model used for instruction for students with disabilities. For example, if a special education teacher is co-teaching in a language arts and/or math class or is the primary teacher for language arts and/or math, then that special education teacher would be evaluated as part of Group A. If a special education teacher was supporting the reading and math curriculum and not the primary content area teacher for students with disabilities, then they would be evaluated a part of the Group B teachers.

14 National Center on Educational Outcomes Value Added Models Do background characteristics of the student provide useful information that past achievement alone does not provide? Are students with disabilities treated differently than other sub-populations?

15 National Center on Educational Outcomes Value Added Models, cont. State Example Model does not include variables for race/ethnicity Model includes two variables for special education status o Existence of a Specific Learning Disability o Existence of other types of disabilities requiring special education Hmm... this model probably has a good mathematical fit based on historical data, but what is it saying about future expectations?

16 National Center on Educational Outcomes Value Added Models, cont. State Example, cont. Summary Students in a whole range of disability categories are lumped together When the historical data were compiled, did the students have access to high quality instruction? Is there a possibility of low expectations?

17 National Center on Educational Outcomes Are there state laws or district regulations that may make it difficult to appropriately include data from some students with disabilities? Should the principal be allowed to make decisions about whether to exclude the data of some students? Are there other laws or regulations that might be a concern?

18 National Center on Educational Outcomes Some more questions and considerations How should scores be attributed when students have multiple teachers? How are scores of students who participated in alternate assessments included?

19 National Center on Educational Outcomes Delaware’s Teacher Evaluation System

20 National Center on Educational Outcomes Discussion Questions for Session Participants How can SEAs and LEAs ensure that special education teachers and their students are appropriately included in growth models? What has worked well (and what are the challenges) as SEAs and LEAs move toward new teacher evaluation systems? What else needs to happen to successfully include students with disabilities and their teachers in growth models?

21 National Center on Educational Outcomes Contact Information Martha Thurlow: Sheryl Lazarus: Brian Touchette: