Principal Evaluation in Massachusetts:Where we are now

National Summit on Educator Effectiveness Principal Evaluation Breakout Session #2

Claudia Bach, Director of Educator Preparation, Policy and Leadership

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Friday, April 29, 2011

Our Guiding Principles underlying Standards and Indicators

Administrative Leadership– has become increasingly more complex and

challenging– requires significantly greater knowledge and

higher skill level– attracts fewer educators

Overriding Goal: Develop new Leadership Standards for Licensure

that are more rigorous in order to strengthen the leadership work force at all career stages

Single set of Performance Standards for all Administrative Leaders

Four Standards for Administrative Licensure*

1. Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment: Promotes the learning and growth of all students and the success of all staff by cultivating a shared vision that makes effective teaching and learning the central focus of schooling

2. Management and Operations: Promotes the learning and growth of all students and the success of all staff by ensuring a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment

3. Family and Community Engagement: Promotes the learning and growth of all students and the success of all staff through partnerships with families, community members, and other stakeholders that support the mission of the school and district.

4. Professional Culture: Promotes success for all students by nurturing and sustaining a school culture of professional growth, high expectations, and continuous learning for staff.

* These Standards and their Indicators were cross walked with the ISLLC Standards and received input from state and national experts before these latest revisions.

To meet our goal for strengthening Licensure Indicators:

• 1. Learning and Instruction – g. Accountability. Creates a culture in which both staff and students

take responsibility for their performance and behavior. – h. Closing Proficiency Gaps. Can identify and address the complex,

multiple causes of educational underperformance and ensures that districts/schools close proficiency gaps.

– n. Differentiated Instruction. Ensures that instructional practices manifest high expectations, engage all students, and are personalized to accommodate diverse learning styles, needs, interests, and levels of readiness.

Another example

• 3. Family and Community Engagement – a. Cultural Proficiency. Recognizes, values and enlists the diverse

strengths of the whole district/school community to improve student outcomes.

– b. Effective Communication. Effectively executes a full range of communication strategies that generate public understanding and support for the district/school.

– c. Family Engagement. Ensures that family concerns are addressed in an equitable, effective, and efficient manner and creates opportunities for families to inform policies, practices and programs that support students and their families and enhance student learning.

Evaluation Framework: Five ElementsTwo objectives: - Make student learning and growth a significant factor in educator evaluation - Aligned to the Licensure Standards and Indicators

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4Statewide

Standards and Indicators

4Statewide

Standards and Indicators

4Statewide

Performance Ratings

4Statewide

Performance Ratings

3 Categories

of Evidence

3 Categories

of Evidence

5Step

Evaluation Cycle

5Step

Evaluation Cycle

4 Paths

4 Plans

4 Paths

4 Plans

Educator Evaluation Standards

1. Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment: Promotes the learning and growth of all students and the success of all staff by cultivating a shared vision that makes effective teaching and learning the central focus of schooling• Assessment indicator: Ensures that teachers use a variety of

formal and informal methods and assessments to measure student learning, growth and understanding, and make necessary adjustments to their practice when students are not learning

4Statewide

Standards and Indicators

4Statewide

Standards and Indicators

Educator Evaluation Standards

Aligned to Licensure Performance Standards:2. Management and Operations: Promotes the learning and growth of

all students and the success of all staff by ensuring a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment

3. Family and Community Engagement: Promotes the learning and growth of all students and the success of all staff through partnerships with families, community members, and other stakeholders that support the mission of the school and district.

4. Professional Culture: Promotes success for all students by nurturing and sustaining a school culture of professional growth, high expectations, and continuous learning for staff.

4Statewide Standards

and Indicators

4Statewide Standards

and Indicators

Three categories of evidence

1. Multiple Measures of Student Learning, Growth and Achievement. Measures of student progress on school-based learning goals set

between administrator and evaluator for the academic year.– State-wide growth measure(s) where applicable, including MCAS

Student Growth Percentile and Massachusetts English Proficiency Assessment (MEPA)

– District-determined measure(s) of student learning, comparable across grade or subject district-wide.

2. Judgments based on Observation and Artifacts of Professional Practice, including announced and unannounced observations of practice of any duration

3. Additional evidence relevant to one or more Standards of Effective Administrative Leadership, with the educator assuming the responsibility of compiling and presenting to the evaluator evidence

3 Categories

of Evidence

3 Categories

of Evidence

Four Statewide Ratings4

Statewide Performance

Ratings

4Statewide

Performance Ratings

Statewide Performance Rating Scale

Category Definition

Exemplary Practice is consistently and significantly above proficiency on the Standard or overall

Proficient Practice demonstrates skilled performance on the Standard or overall

Needs Improvement

Practice demonstrates lack of proficiency on the Standard or overall

Unsatisfactory Practice demonstrates lack of competence on the Standard or overall

Five –Step Evaluation Cycle

The Evaluation Cycle includes these stages:

5Step

Evaluation Cycle

5Step

Evaluation Cycle

Four Plans/Four Paths4

Plans

4 Paths

4 Plans

4 Paths

4 Paths, 4 Plans for Educators, Differentiated by Career State and PerformancePlan Path Description: All Plans include

measurable goals, both for learning, growth, and achievement of students under the educator’s responsibility, and for improvement of the educator’s practice, as evaluated against the Standards.

Administrators in first 3 Years

Developing Administrator Plans

Educators and evaluators work together to develop a Developing Teacher/Administrator Plan.

Administrators rated “Proficient” and “Exemplary”

Self-directed Growth Plans Educators develop a Self-Directed Growth Plan.

Administrators rated “Needs Improvement”

Directed Growth Plans Educators and evaluators work together to develop a Directed Growth Plan that focuses on specific areas for improvement.

Administrators “Needs Improvement”

Improvement Plans Educators and evaluators work together to Improvement Plan that focuses on areas in which the educator must improve during a specific time period.

District Challenges in Massachusetts in implementing new Evaluation System

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First Challenge:Evaluation Roll Out

Spring 2011 – Department is developing a Model Evaluation System (process that will be on-going for two to three years

June 2011 – Board of Education approves new evaluation FrameworkFall 2011 – 35 Low Performing schools (Level 4 Schools) must adopt either

the model Evaluation System or adopt one that is consistent with state regulations

Fall 2012 – All Race to the Top Districts must adopt either the model Evaluation System or adopt one that is consistent with state regulations

Fall 2012 – All Districts must adopt either the model Evaluation System or adopt one that is consistent with state regulations

Related Challenges

1. Information: All educators need to be fully informed about the new system, which

includes helping them understand that the system is intended mostly to be about on-going growth and development of educators, not about “gotcha”

2. Training: All evaluators must be fully trained in the new system, and for many the

new system is a major change, requiring new knowledge in data analysis, goals setting, plan development, targeted PD

3. Collective Bargaining: There will be areas that must be collectively bargained and this includes

decisions regarding student growth measures, use of peer reviewers, collecting student and parent input

4. Increase in Evaluations for Evaluators:New system will require evaluations be completed every year for every

educator