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August meeting update

8/21/2008 - The best teacher supervision and evaluation systems are designed to help teachers improve their practice, cause teacher reflection, are research-based, collaboratively developed, ensure administrators are well-trained, and provide for additional assistance to struggling teachers. That was the consensus of presenters from a number of Idaho school districts who made presentations to the Teacher Performance Evaluation Task Force on Thursday, August 14th.

Task Force members learned about the supervision and evaluation models developed by and being used in Middleton, Boise, Meridian School, and Blaine County, all based on Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching. Additionally, the Blaine County School District outlined another piece of their system, the 360 Degree model. This tool, based on a model typically used by business, asks the employee to evaluate him/herself and also requires development of a professional development plan, as a result of data collected through surveys and interviews with the teacher’s peers, students, parents, and supervisors. Every three years, Blaine County teachers who volunteer to use the 360 Degree model are evaluated with a more traditional tool, based on Danielson’s work.

Task force members spent Friday, August 15th continuing to flesh out the details of a potential state teacher evaluation and supervision framework. No final decisions have been made, but the task force has focused their work on the Danielson framework, which is research-based and used as a basis for teacher evaluation by a majority of Idaho school districts.

While the focus of this month’s meeting was on teacher evaluation, Superintendent Luna told task force members he hopes to take time in October and November to delve into the issue of teacher pay.

Task force members will meet again on September 17 and 18 to learn more about the JPAS teacher evaluation system used by the Bonneville School District, further refine the potential state framework, and discuss how to best share their work and receive feedback from Idaho educators.

July meeting update

7/18/2008 - “If the purpose of this study group is intended to lead to merit pay, that is a tough nut to crack. You can’t do it in one year and you may not be able to do it in two years. It is a serious undertaking and it requires a whole lot more in-depth work than can be done by this study committee.”—Russ Joki, University of Idaho to the Teacher Performance Evaluation Task Force (7/17/08)

The Teacher Performance Evaluation Task Force met on Thursday, July 17th and spent most of its one-day meeting learning more about the supervision and evaluation course work delivered in Idaho college and university administrator and teacher prep programs. Committee members heard from panels of Idaho university faculty.

While the focus of this meeting was on teacher evaluation, teacher pay also cropped up, as it has at each of the previous meetings. When questioned about whether teacher pay could be tied to teacher evaluation, the panelists agreed the two should not be connected. The panelists also questioned whether children would benefit from teachers who are motivated more by money than by the desire to help children learn.

The task force is scheduled to meet again in August, when it will learn more about “Value Added Assessment,” hear more about the supervision and evaluation tools being used in a variety of Idaho school districts, and continue refining the pieces of a possible state teacher evaluation framework.

Task Force Picks Up Speed

6/25/2008 - Education consultant and teacher evaluation expert Charlotte Danielson spent two days working with members of the Teacher Performance Evaluation Task Force earlier this week. By the end of the meeting, not only had task force member agreed on the purposes for teacher evaluation, they also agreed to use Danielson’s research and framework for teaching to develop the first draft of what will likely become an Idaho teacher evaluation model.

Though still in its infancy stages, the model would address the procedures, instruments, timelines, and other processes for evaluating and providing professional learning opportunities for teachers new to the profession, experienced teachers who have earned continuing contract status, and teachers in need of assistance. School districts that do not already have a comprehensive teacher evaluation system in place that addresses all areas outlined in the state model being developed could choose to modify their current system or they could choose to replace it with the soon-to-be-developed state model. The task force plans to use future meetings to continue refining the model. Their goal is to complete the model and present it to the legislature in January.

Don’t Go There!

Early on in the meeting, the discussion about connecting teacher evaluation to pay resurfaced. Danielson cautioned the group saying, “Let’s be very clear-headed about this issue. There are many unintended consequences in tying evaluation to pay.” She urged that the state policy should focus efforts on paying for teachers to do things to enhance their intellectual capacity and the overall performance of their school and district instead of focusing on paying teachers for student performance.

Will the task force and state policy makers take her advice? That question remains unanswered.

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Teacher Performance Evaluation Task Force Begins Work

Following the defeat of iSTARS during the last legislative session, lawmakers encouraged Superintendent Luna to involve all stakeholders, including IEA, to take part in the development of any future alternative compensation plan for teachers.

The legislature allocated $50,000 in the public schools budget and charged Sup’t. Luna with bringing together a task force, “…to develop minimum statewide standards for a fair, thorough, consistent and efficient system for evaluating teacher performance in Idaho.”

The IEA worked with Superintendent Luna to appoint two IEA teacher members to serve on the task force—IEA President Sherri Wood and Rexburg High School teacher and IEA Region 6 President Dan Sakota.

What’s the Goal? Teacher Evaluation? Teacher Pay?

The twenty-two member task force met for the first time on Wednesday and Thursday, May 21-22, to begin its work. Following lengthy debate, the group’s initial focus seems to be centered on the issue of teacher evaluation. However, there was rumbling among some members of the task force about the need to connect teacher evaluation to some yet-to-be-developed pay for performance system. We expect this issue will continue to be discussed and debated in future meetings.

At their initial meeting, task force members created a tentative goal to, “Develop a teacher evaluation system that must be used consistently by districts that is fair, objective, evidence-based, reliable, valid, and transparent; that incorporates multiple measures of effectiveness and achievement; that communicates clearly defined expectations, enhancing and improving teaching to increase student learning.” They expect to revisit the goal at future meetings. The big unanswered question at this point: Will the Task Force eventually recommend tying evaluation to pay?

The IEA will be sending updates to all Association members following each meeting of the Task Force.

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