District Administration - November 2012 - (Page 44)

Teacher evAluAtioN ielson emphasizes. Danielson also says she’s concerned that a growing number of state laws may evaluate teachers simplistically, especially through standardized testing. “Legislators don’t understand how hard it is to do this well,” she complains. “If we only get better at labeling teachers as underperforming or performing satisfactorily, we won’t have done much for students.” Part of the problem, she continues, comes from the gold rush of the federal Race to the Top program. “Everybody’s been in a hurry to implement a system by the day after tomorrow.” In contrast, Danielson points to Arkansas, which hired her as a consultant in 2009 and has taken a deliberate approach to implementing her framework as the state model. After developing the teacher evaluation program over two years, the state piloted it in about a dozen schools in the 2011-2012 academic year, and added another dozen this year. “Those schools are truly guinea pigs,” admits Karen Cushman, the state’s assistant education commissioner for human resources and licensure, adding that a rollout in all districts will take place in the 2013-2014 academic year. “We’re trying to listen and involve all parties. There’s hard work ahead, but it’s going to be for the benefit of the kids.” Danielson’s idea of rigor goes well beyond the teacher being evaluated. Starting with “a clear definition of what teaching is,” she issues a call for evaluators, whether administrators or peers, to be trained extensively in recognizing those defining factors. “We need to train teachers and principals so they are on the same page, and also to conduct an assessment of those preparing evaluations to ensure they know what they’re doing,” she argues. Along those lines, Danielson has created an online program in collaboration with the educational company Teachscape to train teachers and evaluators alike. The program includes 23,000 lessons, which are analyzed using Danielson’s framework, with an emphasis on what works in those lessons and what District Administration BrAve New worlD of At the Syracuse (N.Y.) City School District in September, Peter Worth, a member of Teachscape’s instructional design team, leads a training session with three English language arts teachers, who are also coaches. What’s more, the NCTQ survey notes, 22 states have made measures of student growth a significant part of the evaluation of all teachers, even veterans. Thirteen states, meanwhile, have identified those measures, from state- and district-created standardized tests to endof-course exams, as the “preponderant criterion” in teacher evaluation—as much as 50 percent or more. “States are prioritizing student achievement,” observes Jacobs, although she adds, “no state has taken the approach that student achievement scores are the only thing that matters.” In almost 20 states, teacher evaluation results may be grounds for dismissal after two or three consecutive years. “The bottom line is that these evaluations have to impact hiring, tenure, and professional development, Jacobs says. “If they don’t, we haven’t done much for children.” So what’s a district to do? There’s no shortage of answers as school systems from Los Angeles and Denver to Toledo, Ohio and Syracuse, N.Y., have rolled up their sleeves, worked hand-in-hand with teachers’ unions, and hammered out an evolving set of evaluation programs. Building the Danielson Framework Educators seem to be drawn to perhaps 44 November 2012 the most widely adopted approach—one being implemented by almost a dozen states, including Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Delaware and a growing number of districts, New York City, Chicago, Houston, and Syracuse among them. It’s an extensive framework developed by educational author and consultant Charlotte Danielson. Sixteen years ago, Danielson wrote one of the earliest books on teacher evaluation, titled Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teachers. This framework—which depends mainly on classroom observation—covers 22 components divided among four domains: Planning and Preparation (including areas such as “Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy” and “Designing Student Assessments”); Classroom Environment (including “Managing Classroom Procedures and “Establishing a Culture for Learning”); Instruction (such as “Using Questioning and Discussion Techniques” and “Using Assessment in Instruction”); and Professional Responsibilities (“Participating in a Professional Community,” for example). Districts need to ensure that school administrators are well-trained as classroom observers. “These are high stakes evaluations for teachers that put a heavy burden on the system to do it well,” Dan-

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - November 2012

District Administration - November 2012
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Flipping the Script in K12
Sustainable Professional Development
Brave New World of Teacher Evaluation
Philadelphia’s “Servant- Leader” Superintendent
Enhancing School Access Control
New Products
Professional Opinion
New Directions

District Administration - November 2012