1. Office of Educator Talent
Student Growth for Education Evaluations in Michigan
Michigan Association of School Administrators
Midwinter Conference
January 2017

2. AGENDA Welcome and Introduction
Legislation for Student Growth within Education Evaluations
Student Growth Models Used in Michigan and in Other States
Student Growth Guidance, Communication, and Exemplars
Webinar Series
SLO and SGP Calculator Tools – Beta Versions
Lots of content. Opportunities for input at end, but please use chat feature to document your questions and observations.

3. Welcome and Introduction
Office of Educator Talent
Brian Lloyd MA, Ed.S.
Education Research Consultant – Student Growth Consultant
Michigan Department of Education, Office of Educator Talent

4. Legislation for the Use of Student Growth within Education Evaluations
Teachers
Administrators b
Highlight (i) For the , , and school years, 25% of the annual year-end evaluation shall be based on student growth and assessment data. Beginning with the school year, 40% of the annual year-end evaluation shall be based on student growth and assessment data
(ii) Beginning with the school year, for core content areas in grades and subjects in which state assessments are administered, 50% of student growth must be measured using the state assessments, and the portion of student growth not measured using state assessments must be measured using multiple research-based growth measures or alternative assessments that are rigorous and comparable across schools within the school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy. Student growth also may be measured by student learning objectives or nationally normed or locally adopted assessments that are aligned to state standards, or based on achievement of individualized education program goals.
(b) If there are student growth and assessment data available for a teacher for at least 3 school years, the annual year-end evaluation shall be based on the student growth and assessment data for the most recent 3-consecutive-school-year period. If there are not student growth and assessment data available for a teacher for at least 3 school years, the annual year-end evaluation shall be based on all student growth and assessment data that are available for the teacher.
1249b
(1)(b) For the , , and school years, 25% of the annual evaluation shall be based on student growth and assessment data. Beginning with the school year, 40% of the annual evaluation shall be based on student growth and assessment data. The student growth and assessment data to be used for the school administrator annual evaluation are the aggregate student growth and assessment data that are used in teacher annual year-end evaluations in each school in which the school administrator works as an administrator or, for a central-office-level school administrator, for the entire school district or intermediate school district.
(c) For the purposes of conducting annual evaluations under the performance evaluation system, the school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy shall develop or adopt and implement an evaluation tool for school administrators. The portion of a school administrator’s annual evaluation that is not based on student growth shall be based primarily on the school administrator’s performance as measured by this evaluation tool.
(ii) The progress made by the school or school district in meeting the goals set forth in the school’s school improvement plan or the school district’s school improvement plans.

5. Legislation for the Use of Student Growth within Education Evaluations
The requirements for the percentage of student growth have not changed from last year to this year, or even into next year. The requirements for student growth for education evaluations will change in , and districts/schools should be prepared for this change.

6. Legislation In Other States
Michigan is not alone.
Review of state guidance documents indicates that measurement of student growth is part of education evaluations in 42 different states.
A model that is great in one school district might not be as good in another school district, depending on the characteristics of the school districts.

7. MDE OET Education Evaluation Priorities (Not in order)
Evaluations that:
Are rigorous, transparent, and fair.
Provide information that informs/improves what happens in the classroom.
The purpose of educator evaluations is to improve what happens in the classroom.
Any evaluation that does not improve instruction becomes a “hoop”.
Are aligned to the definition of success for students, teachers, and administrators.
We anticipate that high quality educator evaluations will result in the improvement of educators and improved student outcomes.
Education evaluation by itself won’t improve student achievement, but research suggests that implementing evidence-based practices/instruction and accurate/valid/reliable measurement of these effects will improve student achievement.

8. MDE OET Role and Priorities for Student Growth Data within Education Evaluations
MDE Office of Educator Talent is not the “SLO Police” or “SGP Police”.
We anticipate that educator evaluations will honor teacher autonomy but will provide results that are comparable to other like teachers.
Student growth data for educator evaluations should measure the aspects of learning that are most important to success of students and teachers.
Educator evaluations should include data that informs instruction in the classroom and is meaningful to teachers and administrators to provide effective instruction and instructional leadership.

9. How Is Student Growth Measured?
The models being used for student growth within Michigan and across the country are varied. All have strengths and weaknesses.
There is no perfect student growth measurement model.

10. Student Growth Models

11. Student Growth Models
The most commonly used student growth models in use across the country and within Michigan are Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) and Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs).
Other models are also in use, but we’ll focus today on the most commonly used models.

12. Currently Available Student Growth Resources

13. Use of Student Growth Models for Local Data
The requirements for the percentage of student growth have not changed from last year to this year, or even into next year. The requirements for student growth for education evaluations will change in , and districts/schools should be prepared for this change.

14. Currently Available SLO Guidance Document
MDE recently (October 2016) released a guidance document for the implementation and use of student learning objectives (SLOs).

15. Student Learning Objectives (SLO)
A student learning objective (SLO) is a course-long academic goal that is set by a teacher or teacher team. The goal is based on the teacher’s or teachers’ knowledge of students and students’ knowledge of content. SLO goals are: (1) designed to monitor a student’s progress toward growth targets, (2) help to demonstrate a teacher’s impact on student learning within a given interval of instruction, and (3) just one of the multiple measures of student growth that may account for a portion of a teacher’s evaluation.
Some reasons that SLOs are used:
Versatile. SLOs can help measure student growth for all teachers, not just those teachers in state-tested grades and subjects. In addition, the SLO development and implementation process provides opportunities for teachers to collaborate and engage in professional conversations that are informed by data and focused on specific student outcomes.
Teacher Driven. SLOs allow teachers to have a voice in many parts of the teacher evaluation process. Teachers also may use their professional knowledge of their students to set meaningful growth targets and help select which standards become the focus for the SLO. The SLO process also provides a direct connection between teacher SLOs and student learning, which helps to ensure that classroom instruction is student focused.
Adaptable. SLOs can be flexible and adaptable. As schools implement new standards and curricula, SLOs still can be used to measure how well students are learning the new standards and the impact of the new curricula.

16. Student Learning Objectives (SLO)
SLOs represent a formal process of helping teachers move toward instructional improvement by offering the chance to:
Gather and analyze student data
Collaborate with colleagues within PLCs and data teams
Monitor student progress
Modify instruction based on student progress
Facilitate alignment with school improvement goals.
SLOs are ONE way to measure the academic growth of students at the local level.

17. SLO Guidance Document

18. SLO Guidance Document
MDE recommends a building-level SLO team consisting of the following members:
The school principal and/or assistant principal
A teacher representative from each grade level or content area
A special education representative
May also be school improvement team

19. MDE SLO Template

20. SLO Guidance Document – MDE Recommendations

21. Student Growth Model for State Assessment Data
The requirements for the percentage of student growth have not changed from last year to this year, or even into next year. The requirements for student growth for education evaluations will change in , and districts/schools should be prepared for this change.

22. Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs)
An overview of student growth percentiles
Parameters for SGP data use for teacher evaluations
Procedures for generating average (Mean) SGP scores to determine state assessment growth scores
Instructions for using an SGP Calculation Tool (beta version will be demonstrated today if time permits)
Choices for using SGPs to determine the summary teacher evaluation rating
A “Using Student Growth Percentiles for Administrator Evaluations” document will also be coming soon.
The policies and guidance within the document(s) are still being discussed with multiple stakeholders across the state, multiple offices within MDE, and multiple levels of administration within MDE.
In Development

23. Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs)
SGPs provide comparison information for the changes in scores between multiple points in time for students who start with similar scores. Students are compared to their academic peers based on prior achievement, so students at all levels of achievement can demonstrate high or low growth. Students at the high end of the test scale are compared to other similarly high-achieving students, and students at the low end of the test scale are compared to other similarly low-achieving students.
The model Michigan will use to measure growth on state assessments.

24. Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs)
To calculate SGPs, students are grouped with other students throughout the state who had equivalent scores on the previous test and then ordered in their group based on their score on the current year test. Each student then receives a percentile rank based on their order in the group based on the changes of their scores. If a student achieves an SGP of 65, we can say that they showed more growth than 65 percent of their academic peers who have had similar academic achievement. Students with identical current M-STEP scaled test scores may have very different SGPs if they have different prior test scores.

25. Average (Mean) Student Growth Percentiles
It is recommended that teachers and administrators use the average (mean) of their student growth percentiles (MGP) to describe their state assessment portion for their evaluations. Research by Castellano and Ho (2013, 2014) indicates that using the mean of student growth percentiles provides a better method of aggregation than using median scores.
Student attributed SGPs are currently available for viewing from the MDE Secure Site and/or from district data warehouse reports.

26. Publically Available SGP Data
Average (mean) SGPs are currently publically at the grade, school, district, ISD, and state levels at

27. Why Use Student Growth Percentiles (SGP)?
SGPs provide meaning to the quantity of growth that a student has made over one year using state assessments.
SGPs do not require vertical alignment of assessment and do not claim to identify the casual impact of a school, but rather describes the distribution of growth.
SGPs are considered fairer than using single points of data, and do not create and advantage or disadvantage based on prior test scores.
SGP is a scientifically validated method to attribute teacher impact to student growth.

28. When Will Districts Use SGPs?
SGPs are currently available for school districts at student, school, and district levels.
(2)(a)(ii) states, “Beginning with the school year, for core content areas in grades and subjects in which state assessments are administered, 50% of student growth must be measured using the state assessments, and the portion of student growth not measured using state assessments must be measured using multiple research-based growth measures or alternative assessments that are rigorous and comparable across schools within the school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy.”
(2)(b) states, “If there are student growth and assessment data available for a teacher for at least 3 school years, the annual year-end evaluation shall be based on the student growth and assessment data for the most recent 3-consecutive-school-year period. If there are not student growth and assessment data available for a teacher for at least 3 school years, the annual year-end evaluation shall be based on all student growth and assessment data that are available for the teacher.”

29. Student Growth Guidance, Communication, and Exemplars

30. Regional Liaison Work and Collaboration
MDE Office of Education Talent (OET) is working with regional liaisons (in part) to disseminate education evaluation information, including student growth measurement.
If you do not know who is the regional liaison assigned to your ISD/RESA/district, you may contact MDE Office of Educator talent to find out.

31. Other Student Growth Resources In Development
Ways that data warehouses and the data hub may facilitate student growth report is being investigated.
Student growth data analysis tools have been developed and are being vetted.
If time permits, I will walk our group through these tools.

32. Need for exemplars from around the state
There are people in Michigan doing very good work around student growth measurement for educator evaluations.

33. District Developed Resources
Traverse-Bay Area ISD has developed an excellent set of training modules for SLOs.
Washtenaw ISD has made progress with SLO implementation.
MASSP has developed SLO and other student growth trainings.

34. Small Group Work
What exemplars for student growth measurement have you seen from around our state?
How have you gotten around student growth measurement barriers within your districts?
Let’s talk in small groups and report out promising practices that you have seen.

35. Webinar Series

36. Webinar Series
MDE OET is planning a webinar series on education evaluations
An overview of education evaluations (including student growth) is scheduled for February 3
A webinar providing an overview of student growth for education evaluation is scheduled for February 24
A Webinar on Student Learning Objectives is scheduled for March 24.

37. SLO and SGP Calculator Tools Beta Versions

38. SLO Calculator Tool – Beta Version
SLOs are ONE way to measure the academic growth of students at the local level.

39. SGP Calculator Tool – Beta Version

40. What Questions Do You Have?
Office of Educator Talent
Brian Lloyd MA, Ed.S.
Education Research Consultant – Student Growth Consultant
Michigan Department of Education, Office of Educator Talent
What Questions Do You Have?
If you do have questions, is by far and away the best way to reach me.