Steamboat Springs School District

Evaluation Committee

September 12, 2012 Minutes

Present: Jenny Krentz, Tracy Stoddard, Shannon Lukens, Lisa Derning, Babette Dickson, Meghan Alexander, Naomi Kline, Nicki Struble, Jerry Buelter, Heidi Chapman-Hoy, Marty Lamansky, Judy Harris, Brad Meeks (able to attend for part of the meeting)

Welcome Back/Introduction of New Member (Shannon Lukens)

Task for the year: Recommend the instrument and formula for evaluation of licensed teachers aligned with HB 191.

Presentation: System for evaluating principals and teachers.

Key dates and timelines : Reviewed.

Update on Rules for implementation: Reviewed.

The committee members completed the following:

Both the Effective Educators Definitions and Standards page and Colorado Teacher Quality Standards and Elements pages were reviewed by members silently.

A “Turn and Talk: and “Gallery Walk” for discussion with a person next to you about what you read and to walk around the room to read the posters from orientation of new teachers related to the question of "What is an effective educator?"

Questions and comments on the standards:

1. Specialists goals are solely based one one subject such as reading. How does that work when they will be evaluated on reading and math knowledge/expertise?

2. When teaching reading, supporting math, etc. If it's in the rubric and it's not demonstrated, what happens?

3. For secondary teachers...what is definition of knowledge and expert?

4. To what extent are secondary teachers responsible for literacy and math?

5. Does this change “highly qualified” and how do endorsements fit into the plan?

6. How do we make the assessment for expert? How do we measure that? Knowledge piece is a challenge...skills we have figured out.

7. STD 2d -- special needs -- agree and support that...question on how that will affect the data portion of the evaluation. Growth is the key. Map gives RIT score on each kid. How would we measure it for writing, however?

8. STD 2e --feedback to families – How will we have time to share for 100 students?

9. Taking this all in --- receiving end of teaching as parent. Would need to know how teachers are evaluated now?

10. The standards are not negotiable. The issue is, do we have an idea of what they mean? They will be broken down in the rubric.

11. The State of Florida does calculations for teachers. Is Colorado going to do this? Growth counts for 50% of the evaluation. Some states have just told educators what the formula will be. Colorado is local control, however. CDE will be offering examples to support districts. Their information is presented as guidance and will be a menu of suggestions. How to prove a teacher did these things is a question. Having an internal timeline will help.

12. We are straying toward the formula for student achievement and we need to stay focused on the professional standards at this time.

13. STD 3c -- definition for current research. We need guidelines for what this means.

14. STD 2a --- relationship with students—Having a relationship with a student may conflict with their achievement at some times. What does nurturing look like? Also question the peer section and what that means. A teacher being predictable and providing structure may be nurturing or supportive. This may look different in different classrooms. Nurturing could look different in different situations. Supportive would be better word. How can you nurture 60 kids in a day? This may be a leveling issue from elementary to high school as nurturing is very important in elementary.

15. STD 4 -- reflection on practice -- We need guideline on what that will look like.

16. STD 5 --Leadership -- What does that mean? Does it mean more committees? Does it mean joining in with students during an activity? Does it mean how effective you are on a team? Does it mean how you are moving and evolving? Different formats fit different people. It might be different if it comes from you rather than being asked to do something.

17. STD 1 – integrate learning -- What does it look like with all of our different programs now at the elementary level? How can I integrate as I have separate things from different programs? Quality teachers make connections and don’t always plan it.

18. Std 1 c -- Data analysis -- We need resources. We need people to pull data. It takes hours. It should be accessible. Teachers get stumped trying to analyze data. This needs to go under assessments.

Homework Assignment:

Look at the standards and what you want the rubric to answer. Look at the SSSD evaluation tool and our current rubric. Use the Crosswalk Worksheet to document how well the SSSD tools address the standards. You do not have to crosswalk for the CDE tool, but can move forward with it if you wish.

We will send the minutes of this meeting and the PREZI to each member. Think about how you can use the PREZI to help staff members understand more about the standards.

NEXT MEETING:

Wednesday, October 4, 2012

4:00-5:30 p.m.

Bring your Crosswalk Information and your input from colleagues.