THE ISSUE Research confirms that of all in-school factors, teacher quality is the strongest determinant of student achievement. Yet teachers themselves assert that the evaluations they receive don’t improve their ability to help students succeed in the classroom. Rather than promoting meaningful and customized discussions about how to improve teacher success, most evaluations are compliance-driven checklists that take up valuable time, with minimal results.

A host of other issues, such as insufficient training of evaluators, an absence of robust teacher/principal performance rubrics that effectively measure student learning, and a strong disconnect between school policy, human resources, and those responsible for teacher evaluation all contribute to the ineffectiveness of many teacher evaluation systems. To improve teacher effectiveness and student progress, we need to find a better way to evaluate our educators.

THE MISSION Pivot Learning Partners seeks to revitalize public education by developing the education leaders and building the education organizations of the future.

THE PARTNERSHIP In partnership with Full Circle Fund, Pivot Learning Partners created the North Bay Collaborative for Teacher and Principal Effectiveness, which convened 11 districts to study and revise teacher evaluation systems. The goal was to initiate a process that would both improve outcomes for thousands of students and provide a more professional and fulfilling working environment for teachers and school leaders.

THE RESULTS Experienced senior leaders from Pivot Learning Partners designed a series of interactive training and workshop sessions for district teams. In addition to helping curate and lead the workshops, Full Circle Fund Members lent their expertise to synthesize complex research on teacher and administrator evaluation systems. Members helped to assemble information about best practices from districts across the county into actionable information that participants could integrate into their work.

Team Members from participating districts used these materials to develop their own district-specific plans and tools for redesigning teacher and principal evaluation systems. Pivot Learning Partners then leveraged this work in order to improve districts across the state. While the project has officially ended, the work is continuing in many of the districts involved.

“We truly benefited from Full Circle Fund’s action-

oriented philanthropy. They provided the financial support to seed 11 new district teacher evaluation

redesign projects, and worked shoulder to shoulder with us to curate and facilitate four very effective workshops.”

– Dr. Merrill Vargo

Executive Director

Pivot Learning

Partners

Pivot Learning Partners REDESIGNING TEACHER & PRINCIPAL EVALUATION SYSTEMS CIRCLE: EDUCATION

SNAPSHOT GRANT TERM: 2011-12

95 EDUCATORS IN 11 SONOMA COUNTY DISTRICTS DIRECTLY WERE IMPACTED

BY THIS PROJECT. 8 DISTRICTS HAVE MOVED FORWARD WITH THE EVALUATION REDESIGN, SERVING APPROXIMATELY

23,000 STUDENTS

PIVOT SECURED $15,000 IN NEXT ROUND FUNDING FROM STATE FARM AND

4 NEW FEE-FOR-SERVICE CONTRACTS WITH SONOMA COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICTS

MEMBERS CONTRIBUTED 160 STAFF HOURS, SAVING PIVOT AN ESTIMATED

$20,000

GRANT PARTNER IMPACT STORY

Full Circle Fund is an engaged philanthropy organization

cultivating the next generation of community leaders and driving lasting social change in the Bay Area. We recruit top leaders from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, and empower them to leverage their experience, connections, and financial

resources to benefit innovative social entrepreneurs and

organizations.

www.fullcirclefund.org