1. Student Learning Objectives (SLOs)
Taken from: Measuring Teacher Effectiveness Based on Student Achievement of Content Standards
Presenters
Pam Kastner, Jen Lillenstein, Ana Sainz Dela Pena- PaTTAN Harrisburg
Amy Lena, Michelle Virtue-
Cumberland Valley SD
Upper Perkiomen School District
August 2013

2. Standards Based Education
Measurement of Student Achievement
Measurement of Educator Effectiveness
The Student Learning Objective process creates a relationship between student achievement and teacher effectiveness under the umbrella of standards based education. An SLO is about linking student achievement of measurable, standards aligned objectives to effective teacher practice, and strong SLOs will inform effective teacher practice as well as provide measurement of student achievement and teacher effectiveness.

3. SLO Concepts
Student achievement can be measured in ways that reflect authentic learning of content standards.
Educator effectiveness can be measured through use of student achievement measures.
The concept that student achievement can be measured is not new. Standardized testing, grades, achievement rubrics and academic rewards systems are founded on the premise that student achievement can be measured. But new ideas about measurement of student achievement have surfaced as the goals of education focus on 21st century learning skills and college and career readiness: first, there are standards upon which authentic student learning in a given content area should be measured, and second, teacher effectiveness can be measured based upon student achievement measures.

4. What knowledge and skills might be needed to develop an SLO?
While writing SLOs does not require a lot of specific or sophisticated educational jargon, it does require some knowledge about content standards and some skills in developing appropriate assessments to describe student achievement of content standards.

5. Know and understand the Standards PA Standards Common Core Standards
Professional/Technical
2. Assessment Tasks
Authentic to the grade
or course
Aligned to Standards
3. Assessment Scoring
Can describe levels of student achievement toward standards based learning objectives
Knowing and understanding the standards for the grade or course being taught is essential for writing SLOs. School districts who have worked to align their curriculum with PA Standards, Common Core Standards and/or Professional/Technical Standards in all content areas will have already conquered the first hurdle.
A working familiarity with assessment tasks appropriate to the grade or course being taught is also essential. This statement is not meant to imply that MORE assessments should be created; teachers should be looking at assessments that are already in place and evaluating the authenticity that the assessment tasks have to the learning objectives in that grade or course, as well as the assessment’s alignment to standards.
A skill closely related to the assessment task is the development of scoring methodologies that are well aligned to both the task and the learning objectives assessed by that task. Scoring scales and rubrics that clearly describe to what extent a student is achieving the learning objectives being assessed by the task will be important in describing to what extent the teacher is effective in instructing students toward achieving those objectives.

6. THE PA SLO TEMPLATE & PROCESS
What it is supposed to be:
A format to inform strong instructional practice and strong student achievement
A way to measure teacher effectiveness based on student achievement
An opportunity for teachers to define, describe and present data on student achievement in the content area that they teach
What it is not supposed to be:
More paperwork for teachers that has no meaning or purpose
More testing for students
A weak substitute for PVAAS or other standardized testing data
More paperwork for teachers that has no meaning or purpose
More testing for students
A weak substitute for PVAAS or other standardized testing data
The SLO Template and Process are designed to help teachers positively demonstrate the ways in which they are effective through valuable learning objectives that are content specific. Initial attempts to create SLOs will be both thought provoking and time consuming but should inform strong instructional practice, this being a primary goal of teacher effectiveness. A quality SLO can inform strong instructional practice without increasing the amount of testing that students and teachers currently experience.

7. Educator Effectiveness: SLO
PA Educator Challenge
To develop and implement an appropriately rigorous measure of teacher effectiveness based on student achievement in your content area through the use of the PA SLO Template.
So, now is the time to begin a task that, once completed, will authentically demonstrate an ability to create an appropriately rigorous measure of teacher effectiveness based on student achievement for the grade or courses that you teach. The tool developed to guide teachers through this process is call the Student Learning Objectives, or SLO Template. Please remember that this tool, much like many parts of the teacher evaluation process, is being piloted during the school year and will continue to undergo changes as Pennsylvania and other states work with this process. It is hoped that principals will encourage teachers to complete this template and implement the process in specific content areas. It is also hoped that teachers are encouraged to share their models with colleagues and submit them to a Pennsylvania Dept. of Education resource for review, comment and future inclusion on a webpage of model SLOs.
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8. STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVE TEMPLATE
Educator Effectiveness: SLO
STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVE TEMPLATE
A format to provide a measure of teacher effectiveness based on student achievement of content standards, as applicable to
the “Elective Data” portion of the Teacher Effectiveness System
in Act 82 (HB 1901).
An opening description of the student learning objective template informs teachers that, while student learning is the primary goal of all instructional processes, this is also methodology to measure teacher effectiveness through evidence of student achievement. The student learning objective process, including a complete template, approval by the principal or teacher evaluator, and implementation and completion of the process, is applicable to the “elective portion” of the teacher evaluation system.
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9. Looking at the Components of PA’s SLO Template
Teacher Information
Content Area
Student Learning Objective
Data and Targets Used to Establish the SLO
Assessment/Performance Task
Administration of the Assessment/Performance Task
Evidence of Individual Student Achievement
Strategies/Actions to Achieve the SLO
Implementation Timeline
The SLO Template, which you should have printed out or have available to you electronically as we go through the process, has twelve basic sections, each designed to help frame reflection about the students you are teaching, the setting in which they are being taught, the nature of the content students are experiencing, the goals and objectives you have for their learning, the ways in which you will know students are achieving appropriate objectives, strategies to improve instruction and a description of your effectiveness as a teacher based on your students’ demonstration of student achievement. Beginning with the end in mind, let’s jump to section 9, the Teacher Effectiveness Measure.
Teacher Effectiveness Measure (Rating)

10. 9. Teacher Effectiveness Measure
Classroom Objective
How will the aggregated scores of the “Evidence of Individual Student Achievement” results be used to define teacher effectiveness?
Failing: few students achieve content mastery or growth
Needs Improvement: less than a significant number of students achieve content mastery or growth
Proficient: A significant number of students achieve content mastery or growth
Distinguished: An exceptional number of students achieve content mastery or growth
Let’s look at the Teacher Effectiveness Measure from the classroom objective perspective. Statements of collective student achievement would be developed for this section, and categorized in the same way that statements from the Danielson Framework for Teaching would be categorized: Distinguished, Proficient, Needs Improvement and Failing. The following slide will demonstrate how these statements would be written for both the Grade 1 Art and Grade 8 Visual Art.

11. Grade 1 Math
Using the AIMSweb M-Comp assessment, less than 64% of students will meet or be above benchmark (or green). Using the AIMSweb Early Numeracy assessments, less than 64% of students will meet or be above benchmark (or green).
Using the AIMSweb M-Comp assessment, 65%-79% of students will meet or be above benchmark (or green). Using the AIMSweb Early Numeracy assessments, 65%-79% of students will meet or be above benchmark (or green).
Using the AIMSweb M-Comp assessment, 80%-89% of students will meet or be above benchmark (or green). Using the AIMSweb Early Numeracy assessments, 80%-90% of students will meet or be above benchmark (or green).
Using the AIMSweb M-Comp assessment, 90%-100% of students will meet or be above benchmark (or green). Using the AIMSweb Early Numeracy assessments, 90%-100% of students will meet or be above benchmark (or green).
Grade 8 Art
Fewer than 70% of students achieve proficient or advanced levels (holistically) on two out of three project rubrics.
70% to 85% of students achieve proficient or advanced levels (holistically) on two out of three project rubrics.
85% of students achieve proficient or advanced levels (holistically) on two out of three project rubrics.
85% of students achieve proficient or advanced levels (holistically) on all three project rubrics.
Notice that both types of teacher effectiveness statements—the Grade 1 Math and the Grade 8 Art--describe what assessments are used and how many students, in percentages, will achieve certain levels of proficiency on those assessments. Classroom objective statements could also describe change in student achievement over time, when appropriate. On the next slide you will see a targeted objective statement, designed to focus instruction and subsequent achievement for students in unique academic populations.

12. Targeted Objective
How will the mastery or growth of targeted student populations be described and used to define teacher effectiveness?
Failing: Did not meet goal, little to no student mastery or growth
Needs Improvement: Did not fully meet goal but showed some student mastery or growth
Proficient: Met goal or otherwise demonstrated significant student mastery or growth
Distinguished: Surpassed goal or otherwise demonstrated significant student mastery or growth
Grade 1 Math
Targeted Population: Students who did not enter at grade level.
Mastery and/or growth goal: Students will maintain or improve their performance level as assessed using the AIMSweb M-Comp and TEN probes.
Grade 8 Art
Targeted Population: : Four students who demonstrated an inability to remain engaged and complete projects during their prior courses in middle school art, resulting in no projects receiving proficient rating.
Mastery and/or growth goal: To complete a minimum of one of the three projects to a proficient level, with the other two projects completed to no less than the basic level.
Targeted Objectives are not restricted to student populations identified with IEP’s or disabilities. Unless the class is uniquely grouped to provide focused instructional methodologies, classroom teachers may identify different types of learning issues that will require specific instructional tasks, assessments and goals within a particular grade or course. Depending on the makeup of the class, teachers and principals may find targeted objectives more purposeful than classroom objectives.

13. 7. Evidence of Student Achievement
Data Collection
Guiding Questions:
In what format will data be collected (e.g., database, graphed, portfolio, etc.)
Is a pre-post test being used? (If so, please describe.)
How frequently will data be collected?
Sample Statements:
Grade 1 Math: Probes are teacher scored, and data from all probes administered will be put input into a database.
Grade 8 Art: The scores from student rubrics will be into entered into a database format. Data is collected at the conclusion of each project.
The data collection component is an opportunity to match frequency of task administration with frequency of formative and summative data collection. Additionally, this component looks ahead to ways in which data might be organized to detect changes in student achievement as well as how data will be presented to the principal.

14. 7. Evidence of Student Achievement
Scoring Student
Progress/
Preparation
Guiding Questions:
How was baseline data collected? (If baseline data was not collected, please explain.)
Can baseline data be compared with the results of this assessment/performance task?
Sample Statements:
Grade 1 Math: Since the assessments describe mastery, no baseline data is required. However, the design of the assessment system is one of ongoing assessment, data collection and subsequent progress monitoring.
Grade 8 Art: As this is a mastery assessment, no baseline data is collected.
The Scoring of Student Progress and Preparation slide is an opportunity to make sure that the scoring procedures are aligned across assessments and relate directly to the assessment task. Commercial systems will probably be well aligned, but teacher-developed rubrics and scoring guides may initially require some careful and focused inspection. As mentioned before, the last slide will provide some websites that demonstrate assessment tasks with connected scoring systems that teachers in many non-tested areas will find useful.

15. 7. Evidence of Student Achievement
Data Presentation
Guiding Questions:
What evidence will be presented to principal/evaluator to support the teacher effectiveness measure?
How will data be presented to the principal/evaluator (e.g., database, graphed, portfolio, individual student artifacts, etc.)?
Sample Statements:
Grade 1 Math: Evidence will be presented through aggregated scores from the database.
Grade 8 Art: Results of the database will be presented to the principal. Student artwork exemplars will also be available if requested.
Recognizing that principals and evaluators may not want to have a stack of rubrics presented to them, the SLO template asks teachers how they will present the results of student assessment scoring. Principals may want to see some exemplars of student work, so preparation to keep some artifacts of student work, through video, recordings, projects or portfolios would need to be planned. The OASYS system may allow us to capture some of this information to share.

16. 7. Evidence of Student Achievement
All Grades and Courses: The assessment can be scored by an equivalent peer.
All Grades and Courses: The assessment is a commercially produced assessment that has a history of validity and reliability.
Data Analysis and Interpretation
Guiding Questions:
How can the assessment/performance task results be interpreted in the same way across equivalent peers?
Is there a reliable and valid scoring and interpretive process (i.e., state developed, district-based, commercial, standardized, etc.) that is associated with the assessment/performance task? If so, please describe.
Sample Statements:
Grade 1 Math: AIMSweb M-COMP and TEN are valid and reliable commercially developed assessments.
Grade 8 Art: An equivalent peer can use the rubrics to assess the projects.
Just as with task administration, some states and school districts are prohibiting the classroom teacher from scoring the assessments of the students that they teach. At present, Pennsylvania has no plan to do this, but individual school districts may. As with task administration, teachers might want to plan as if an equivalent peer—a teacher who teaches the same grade or subject—could score the assessment, regardless if the task and scoring system are teacher-developed or commercially produced. There is a way to do ‘blind-scoring’ among teachers in a department who would have the same background/knowledge.

17. 8. Strategies/Actions to Achieve the SLO
Assessment for Learning
Guiding Questions:
What formative assessment information lets you know if your instructional practices will lead to successful completion of the SLO?
Sample Statements:
Grade 1 Math: AIMSweb is a progress-monitoring process that includes benchmark assessments.
Grade 8 Art: Students will use the project assessment rubrics as a part of the ongoing process. The teacher will work with students to develop strength in formative self-assessment.
While the SLO process is now at a point where the teacher effectiveness measures that we looked at earlier in the presentation can be employed, it is important to remember that improved teaching and learning are the primary reasons to change the way teachers are evaluated. The assessment for learning component guides teachers toward embedding formative processes that will inform them of student achievement along the way to completing the SLO.

18. 8. Strategies/Actions to Achieve the SLO
Alignment with the Danielson Framework for Teaching
Guiding Questions:
Based upon reflection, what instructional practices would you like to change or strengthen?
What professional learning and/or other type of support will help you to achieve this SLO?
Sample Statements:
Grade 1 Math: Based on the formative assessment information provided by the AIMSweb probes, I will intentionally modify groupings periodically to provide more targeted instructional process and materials toward both remedial and deeper understanding (based on Webb’s Depth of Knowledge). (Danielson 3C)
Grade 8 Art: In an effort to link higher achievement with engagement in art beyond the classroom, I will work to provide students with content related yet diverse project options that have computer processes embedded, giving more access for students to identify and create their own learning materials. (Danielson 3C)
Based on reflective processes found in Domain 4 of the Danielson Framework for Teaching and data gathered from formative assessment processes, teachers should now have very specific information to inform changes in teaching practice or types of professional development that may be needed to achieve the goals of the SLO.

19. Let’s look at an example and some criteria
8th Grade Science SLO Sample Draft
Criteria for High-Quality Assessments
The Science example is good because it links some of the aspects of the Common Core standards.

20. SLO Resources http://nassauboces.org/Page/1667
Teachers should spend time reviewing and discussing this resources as part of the ‘brainstorm and discussion’ phase. This will be time well-spent.

21. WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN FOR UPSD?
Focus of district In-Service Days
Incorporated into curriculum work and PLC work; “Begin with the end in mind” – what do we expect all students to know, understand, & be able to do? How can they demonstrate? (Beyond state assessments or similar type assessments?)
Allow us to revisit/solidify Grading Policies & Procedures
Connect to Differentiated Supervision Options; SLO development must be linked to Danielson Framework and must influence growth in some aspect of professional practice.
Support teachers (Reading Specialists, Learning Support) – SLOs for students served.
REMEMBER: Student performance on the assessments from SLOs will be part of teacher evaluation – 20 %– 35%
It is important to emphasize that this needs to be part of a “bigger picture;” tied to the goals we have set as a district. That is how we will be able to keep moving forward with many of the previous and current initiatives.

22. HOW WILL WE MOVE FORWARD?
State-assessed content areas– what part of overall assessment is NOT represented in state assessments that we do or will include in our assessment of students?
Non-Assessed – what assessment do we want to use for SLO; mastery or growth; all students or specific population? mastery or growth; all students or specific population?
Brainstorm and determine by grade/course; share with Director of T & L and Building Administrator
Can this or how can this fit into supervision mode?
We have to examine the implications of the type of assessments we create.
i.e. Are we incorporating the use of assessments that have related costs? In thinking long-term, will we be able to sustain them financially? If we have future budget constraints, are we willing to make the things we incorporate financial priorities? Do the types of assessments we incorporate align with direction of curricula? Will we be able to collect and share teacher-specific data on each? Will we be able to develop a way to share results of assessments with supervisors and house data to be used for individual teacher evaluations?

23. HOW WILL WE MOVE FORWARD?
Begin brainstorming process this week
Curriculum Committee Groups – will incorporate into curriculum work
In-Service Day – November 5th: Focus on developing draft SLOs for each subject area and/or grade level (at the elementary level, I do not believe SLOs need to be developed for all core academic areas; more related to Elective data piece for teachers).
Technology – how can we use to technology as part of this process?
I will begin working on a district-wide process for this work. Once we get information about the OASYS system and any additional information from PDE (from what I have been told, we will not be getting a lot more guidance), we will figure out more specific logistics.

24. PLEAE REMEMBER We are all in this together!
We have a choice on how we approach this work!
We do no have all the information, but we do know we cannot ignore it; it is not going away.
We will use this to do what we have always done – what is best for our students’ learning and growth!

25. QUESTIONS?