1. Changes in SC Teacher Landscape
New:
Induction
Professional Licensure
Teacher Evaluation System

2. Induction & Licensure Changes
Initial Licensure
Induction – up to 3 years
Annual Evaluation/Continued Licensure – Professional Development
Read to Succeed Licensure/Endorsement – 5-10 years to obtain

3. New Teacher Evaluation System
Components of Evaluation:
Lesson Observations (observational tool)
Student Growth (SLOs/Value Add Test data)
District Choice (parent surveys, student surveys, and/or student growth

4. Addressing Student Growth Value Add
Student Growth – Value Add (VAM)
Classroom value-add data is collected by your school district and as a teacher will be available to you on individual students and in various summary report formats for instructional planning and assessment of student learning. We encourage you to explore this available data in your student teaching experience

5. Addressing Student Growth – Student Learning Objectives (SLOs)
You must develop classroom student learning objectives and expected performance to be approved by school leadership. We encourage you to ask your cooperating teacher if he/she has any student learning objectives you can study.
This seminar and the follow-up seminar on Jan 23 will provide training on the development of student learning objectives. You will have an assignment to complete prior to Jan 23.

6. Our goals for you:
Knowledge and understanding of the new SC Teaching Standards
Knowledge and understanding of Student Growth measures and in particular SLOs
Preparation for induction year evaluation
Greater marketability in obtaining teaching positions within SC and outside of SC

7. Student Learning Objectives and South Carolina’s Educator Evaluation System

8. Overarching Objectives of this workshop
Build understanding about
what SLOs are
what the SLO model looks like in South Carolina
how SLOs can be used for evaluation and professional growth
the components of the SLO

9. The Roles of SLOs in Educator Evaluation

10. Student Achievement (Proficiency) Vs. Student Growth
Performance at one point in time
Percent who have mastered content knowledge
Example: 75 percent of students scored MET or EXEMPLARY on the state exam
Growth
Performance between two points in time
Measures improvement based on content standards
Example: Student A grew 37 points between the beginning of the year and the end of the year, which represents approximately one year of academic growth

11. Discussion
Why might student growth be a more accurate measure of a teacher’s effectiveness than achievement?

12. What is an SLO?
A goal that demonstrates a teacher’s impact on student learning within a given interval of instruction
A measurable, long-term academic target (based on standards) written by an individual teacher or a teacher team

13. The Purposes of SLOs To capture student growth in every classroom
To reinforce evidence based or data driven teaching practices
To enhance skill in creating and selecting assessments linked to instruction and student outcomes
To encourage collaboration, since teams can write the SLO together (but then apply it to their own class)

14. The SLO Process: Which Course?
The SLO must include one class or course (preparation); educators who teach multiple courses are encouraged to develop an SLO for the course that covers the largest number of students on his/her roster. The SLO must include a minimum of six students.
The SLO must cover the length of the course, whether it spans a year, semester, or quarter.

15. The SLO Process: Which Students?
The SLO should include all students in the course or class. Only students who are not present for seventy-five (75) percent of the interval are to be excluded.

16. The SLO Rules

17. Rules Around SLOs in SC
All educators in non-tested grades and subjects (no value added measure available) are required to develop and implement one SLO

18. Rules Around SLOs in SC
The principal will conduct with each teacher three conferences a year
Preliminary Approval of SLO by Sept 30
(or Feb 15th for second semester courses)
Mid-course Check-In to discuss student progress toward the goals in the SLO and provide support as needed
Summative Teacher Rating and Impact on Practice

19. Quality Review Tool
The Quality Review Tool requires the principal to assess three main components of the SLO:
Content: Are the SLO objectives aligned to the standards? Is the objective measureable?
Rigor of Target: Is the growth target based on students’ baseline performance, rigorous, yet attainable?
Quality of Assessment: Does it measure the skills identified in the objective?

20. SLO Components

21. SLO Development Process

22. Components of an SLO: Objective
Identifies the priority content and learning that is expected during the interval of instruction. Should be broad enough that it captures the breadth and depth of content of an extended instructional period, but focused enough to be measureable.
Summarize on your SLO Template

23. Components of an SLO: Rationale
Explains how the target was determined, including the data source and evidence used. Rationale should be provided for each target, indicating how it is both rigorous, yet attainable.
Summarize on your SLO Template

24. Components of an SLO: Baseline and Trend Data
Describes the source(s) of the data
Students’ baseline knowledge (prior to instruction) and its relation to the growth targets.
Trend data describes that patterns that the educator identifies after analysis of the baseline data.
Summarize on your SLO Template

25. Components of an SLO: Growth Targets
Describes where the teacher expects the student to be at the end of the interval of instruction. The target should be measurable and rigorous, yet attainable for the interval of instruction. In many cases, the target should be tiered so that it is both rigorous and attainable for all students included in the SLO.
Summarize on your SLO Template

26. Components of an SLO: Student Population
Specifies the student population targeted by the SLO. Information should include, but is not limited to the following: number of students in class, students with exceptionalities, descriptions of any academic supports that are provided to students, etc.
Summarize on your SLO Template

27. Components of an SLO: Standards / Content and Interval of Instruction
Standards: Describes the content and content standards that are addressed in the SLO. The educators provide a rationale for why these standards were selected for the focus of the SLO.
Interval: Specifies the time period, or instructional interval for which the objective is planned. Objectives are typically planned to capture either year-long or semester-long growth

28. Components of an SLO: Assessment (Pre and Post)
Describes which assessment(s) will be used to measure student learning, why the assessment is appropriate for measuring the objective, and the grading scale and/or rubric used to score the assessments. Consider state, district, school, and teacher-made assessments.
Summarize on your SLO Template

29. Components of an SLO: Instructional Strategies
Provides a description of the high yield instructional strategies that will be employed during the SLO interval of instruction. Also provides opportunity for the teacher to describe plans for differentiating instruction for learners at various proficiency levels.
Summarize on your SLO Template

30. Components of an SLO: Progress Monitoring
Describes the frequency of formative assessments used to measure student progress towards the learning goal. Describe the instruments. What will be done if students are not showing adequate progress toward the goal?
What is a ‘formative’ assessment?
Summarize on your SLO Template

31. Components of an SLO: Teacher Professional Learning
Describe the learning that the teacher will complete in order to successfully complete the plan. What reading and reflection will be done during the year?
Summarize on your SLO Template

32. Baseline and Trend Data Rationale Student Population
Numerical data summaries could logically be used to support statements in which sections of an SLO? (list the letters of those for which this is TRUE)
Growth Targets
Strategies
Baseline and Trend Data
Rationale
Student Population
Progress Monitoring
Standards/Content and Interval of Instruction
Teacher Professional Learning
Assessment (Pre and Post)

33. SLO Reviewer Activity #1
Answer questions 1- 9  in the SLO Quality Review Tool for the SLO written by Sandra Casper.  Indicate Yes/No for each of the 9 questions, and give a justification for each choice, listing which section(s) of the SLO you referred to.

34. Selecting Assessments for SLOs

35. Spectrum of Assessment Choice in SLOs

36. Attributes of Appropriate Assessments
Valid
Does the assessment measure the appropriate content?
What is an example of a valid assessment?

37. Attributes of Appropriate Assessments
Reliable
Does the assessment produce consistent results for similar students and across similar conditions?
What is an example of a reliable assessment?

38. Attributes of Appropriate Assessments
Rigorous
Does the assessment require students to demonstrate the appropriate level of knowledge, skill, or understanding?

39. Attributes of Appropriate Assessments
Comparable
The level of comparability between teachers’ SLOs will depend on the district process for choosing assessments.
The pre-assessment and post-assessment should be comparable for each teacher’s SLO.
Are the pre- and post-assessments the same or same type of assessment? If they are different, are the pre- and post-assessments clearly aligned in terms of content, form, complexity, and scoring?
Describe the ideal ‘comparability’ of assessments of an SLO.

40. Attributes of Appropriate Assessments
Timely
Are the data available in time to be used at all relevant points in the SLO cycle?
Can you name an assessment that might not be timely?

41. Talk to your cooperating teacher
Does the district have an assessment that is valid, reliable, rigorous, comparable, and timely?
Does the district have assessments that are only used for formative purposes at this time?

42. New Assessments: Considerations
Teacher created
Need to ensure validity, reliability, rigor, and comparability
It takes time to create new assessments
Commercial
Need to ensure alignment with scope and sequence and SLO content standards
Districts may not have the resources to purchase commercial assessments

43. Assessments to Consider
Early Education
Formative data for instructional purposes (DIBELS, Fountas and Pinnell, running records, etc.)
RTI assessments
Middle and High School Content Courses
Course final exams
Unit exams
Arts and Performance Courses
Final projects or performances
Portfolios
Career and Technical Courses
Commercial industry-based assessments

44. Resources for Assessment Literacy
Resources and articles to support understanding of how to measure and understand student growth
Online overview of classroom assessments

45. SLO Reviewer Activity #2
Revisit questions 8- 9  in the SLO Quality Review Tool for the SLO written by Sandra Casper.  Change your decisions, if you feel you need to, and add a justification for your changes.

46. Gathering Baseline Student Data

47. The Data Analysis Process
Identify and gather baseline data:
Is there a pre-assessment that is aligned to the post-assessment?
Are there clear groups (tiers) of students? If so, what are they?
Where is this kind of data accessible in the district?
Discuss the ‘snapshot’ that baseline data provides of a student. Is baseline data alone sufficient for setting growth targets? Why or why not?

48. The Data Analysis Process
Trend data and other student data helps educators determine how much growth each student is likely to make

49. The Data Analysis Process
Identify and gather trend data:
Test scores from prior years (any available)
Current and past grades
Formative assessment data from this year and previous years, including running records
Reading and math conferences
Data to inform the student population section, such as attendance records or 504 plans
Results from diagnostic assessments
Districts can set rules or give guidance on what kind of baseline or trend data teachers should include in their SLO

50. The Data Analysis Process
Analyze the data and look for trends
Are there clear groups of students? If so, are they the same groups represented in the baseline data? Are there some students whose performance has changed or been inconsistent in the last year or two?
How are students performing overall? Are most students consistently demonstrating proficiency?
What kind of growth have students been making? Have students been consistently meeting or missing expectations?

51. The Data Analysis Process
Meaningful Baseline and Trend Data should:
Describe students in terms of groups ( or tiers)
Describe student performance over time
Inform growth targets
Inform instructional strategies

52. Setting Growth Targets

53. Process for Setting Growth Targets for Teachers
Set initial growth targets
Growth made in previous years?
What would make them “proficient”? Does the initial growth target allow students to make meaningful progress towards proficiency?
Adjust growth targets
Are there contextual factors that are likely to affect students’ growth in positive or negative ways?
Are these factors new, or were they reflected in students’ previous growth?
What growth have students with similar factors made in the past?
Review targets
Are these targets rigorous and attainable?

54. Possible Contextual Factors
Learning disabilities or conditions
Behavioral conditions
Student health and home conditions (i.e. transient or managing long-term health challenges)
Note: It is important to consider
The extent to which these factors may have impacted baseline data, and could impact student growth this year
What types of interventions or supports are in place and their effectiveness

55. SLO Reviewer Activity #3
Look at the growth targets.
identify ways in which you can tell that these growth targets are rigorous yet attainable. You can refer to other sections of the SLO if needed.

56. The Importance of the Rationale
The rationale allows the teacher to:
Explain the process for setting or adjusting growth targets
Explain the reasoning for setting or adjusting growth targets, including both
contextual/qualitative information (ex: a student’s transient status this year)
quantitative information (ex: adjusted target down 10 points from previous year’s growth because this is aligned with formative assessment data from this year)
The rationale allows the evaluator to:
Ensure that the growth targets are appropriate, rigorous, and attainable

57. Connecting growth targets to instructional strategies
What instructional strategies will be used to
ensure that lower-performing students do not fall further behind?
ensure that lower-performing students can make progress towards closing their achievement gap?
ensure that students consistently demonstrating proficiency continue to grow and develop advanced skills?
engage and challenge higher-performing students?

58. Monitoring student progress
What kinds of formative assessments and informal formative data collection will be used?
What kind of interim goals or benchmarks will be set (formally or informally) to ensure students are on-track?

59. SLO Reviewer Activity #4
Revisit questions 4-7  in the SLO Quality Review Tool for the SLO written by Sandra Casper.  Change your decisions, if you feel you need to, and add a justification for your changes.

60. Any questions or clarifications you need to feel prepared to do an SLO Review on your own?

61. Homework for SLO Training 2 – January 23
Evaluate a ‘real’ SLO Example
Use Quality Review Tool
Documents found at this link:
Bring back to January 23 Training Session
---9:00 AM – 12:00 (noon) Middle Grades MAT, Secondary Education, Secondary MAT Education and Agricultural Education Student Teachers and University Supervisors.   
--- 1:00 – 4:00 PM Early Childhood, Elementary
and Special Education Student Teachers and
University Supervisors.