System focuses on continuous improvement to better prepare students for success in college and careers.
Lisa Rossi is a fifth grade teacher at Bethke Elementary in the Poudre School District in Fort Collins, Colorado. She has taught elementary school in the same district for 25 years and, for 20 of those years, has served as a mentor for her colleagues, helping them hone their craft.
The Colorado State Model Evaluation System is used to provide annual performance evaluations for teachers.
Three years ago, as a member of Bethke’s School Improvement Team, she took on a larger challenge: leading an effort to help her school district develop a new system for evaluating and supporting teachers. Her work has focused on implementing a framework for teaching and learning that provides a shared definition of what it means to be an effective teacher as well as the tools to measure this. The framework, which was developed by the Center for Educational Leadership at the University of Washington, is being used to help all teachers in the district analyze and improve their practices. Among the framework’s elements are student engagement, classroom culture and assessing student learning. “We all have areas we’re really strong in and areas we need to grow in,” Rossi said. “Now, we can be much more specific about what our growth areas are.”
Hundreds of teachers like Rossi across Colorado have been similarly engaged, working with their local districts on the details of new evaluation and support systems designed to give teachers better feedback on how to help prepare their students for success in college and careers. Thousands more have participated in surveys, feedback sessions and focus groups, or served on a statewide advisory council. By listening closely to feedback and proactively enlisting key stakeholders in the design process, Colorado has created an evaluation system by educators for educators.
A 2010 State law, Senate Bill 10-191, required districts to develop new systems for strengthening the connection between teachers’ performance and student learning. Like other States, Colorado used part of its Federal Race to the Top grant to develop and implement its new system and conduct extensive stakeholder outreach.
Engaging Teachers Increases Support
Colorado teachers were invaluable partners in leading the development of the new model for evaluating and supporting teachers, and, because of that, they are now becoming invaluable partners in implementing the system they designed. Katy Anthes, executive director of educator effectiveness at the Colorado Department of Education, said collaborating with educators, districts and statewide education organizations is a top priority for the State and the system will be more effective and transparent because teachers were involved. “Because we worked so closely with our educators and partners to build the system, and they see us taking their feedback seriously and making changes based on their suggestions, it goes a long way toward creating understanding and engagement,” Anthes said.
The new evaluation model was used throughout the State for the first time during school year 2013–2014. The Colorado Education Association (CEA), a union that represents 40,000 educators, also worked with the State to ensure teachers had opportunities to shape the system.
“I tell the teachers, ‘This system isn’t about you, it’s about your practice,’” Linda Barker, director of teaching and learning for the CEA, said. “In the past, evaluations were almost like a personal judgment, not about professional practice and how to improve. The new system has really changed the culture of how we look at professional practice.”
A Culture Focused on Continuous Improvement
Carrie Harper, a second grade teacher at Sunnyside Elementary School in Durango, helped pilot the new model at her school beginning in school year 2012–2013. She said she is excited by the focus on continuous improvement and higher expectations for great teaching and learning.
“[It has] really raised the bar,” she said. “It’s not just about a teacher lecturing in front of the room. It’s about student engagement and getting kids to take ownership of their learning.”
Harper is pushing herself to create a learning environment that encourages her students to be more active thinkers and group problem-solvers. During a recent lesson on root words, for example, she introduced the concept and asked groups of students to research the words’ meaning. Students could decide whether to use dictionaries, other print materials, or online resources to find the information they needed. The goal is to have students take more ownership of their learning.
Teachers Take Ownership of Professional Learning
Just as students are being encouraged to take greater ownership of their learning, teachers are taking more ownership when it comes to their professional growth.
“We’re really encouraging teachers to be strong advocates of their professional practice,” Barker said. This means reflecting honestly on their strengths and weaknesses, setting goals for professional growth and asking for support.
Photo Credit: U.S. Department of Education
This has led to a more collaborative relationship between teachers and principals. “There’s a real mental shift that’s happening,” Paul Jebe, former principal of La Junta Junior/Senior High School who now works for the state on implementation of the evaluation model, said. “Teachers used to just teach and then get an evaluation at the end of the year. Now, my teachers are much more proactively engaged in their own professional growth.” He says his teachers now ask him to come into their classrooms to observe and provide feedback on a particular practice or skill they are trying to develop, such as daily learning targets. Feedback is much more specific and targeted as a result, says Jebe.
Teacher leadership in the design and implementation of the new evaluation system has been crucial for creating that culture, said Lisa Rossi. “Teachers feel empowered when they can have a voice,” she said. “I think this can help teachers be the best that they can be.”
Collaborative Discussions of Teaching
Curtis Garcia, a principal in the Centennial School District, a small district near the New Mexico border, said the new approach to evaluation and support is leading to rich, productive professional interactions. “We now have a process that’s based on continuous growth, ongoing collection of evidence and lots of points for conversations around what’s being observed in teacher practice and what areas teachers can improve upon,” he said.
Garcia recently had a discussion with a fourth grade teacher who was struggling to integrate reading and writing into science, social studies and other subjects. “By us conversing about her challenges, we were able to generate some really good ideas,” he said. “Integrating multiple disciplines then became the basis for her professional growth plan.” These types of interactions are happening all over the state as a result of the new evaluation system, says Linda Barker. “We’ve seen incredible, deep conversations between teachers and principals around how to bring their practice to a higher level. These conversations have been really powerful.”
Teachers say they appreciate the emphasis on greater collaboration and open dialogue. “I support this, I think it’s a great idea,” Andrew Burns, who teaches eighth grade U.S. history and civics at West Middle School in the Cherry Creek School District, said. “These conversations are the key to this process—making it a meaningful conversation and giving it enough time so it can happen several times in a school year.”
But scheduling the time for observations and feedback has been difficult to do, he said. He’d like more. “That’s where I’ve done some of my best professional growth.”
Challenges Ahead
Principals acknowledge time is a significant challenge. “To get into classrooms and observe teachers multiple times, and then to capture my thinking and give teachers feedback—it’s a huge time commitment,” Jebe said. “But it’s definitely the right thing to do.” State officials are well aware that time is a challenge, and are developing a number of resources to support evaluators. “We’re putting together a variety of toolkits and systems, such as a rubric guide for principals, an online professional development platform, and an online performance management system to help with data collection and performance reports,” said Katy Anthes.
Determining measures of student learning to be used in combination with State assessments has also been a challenge. “We’re trying to start from ‘What are you already doing in your classroom to measure student learning, and what is it you need to do to get your students to mastery?’” Barker said. “When districts let teachers and principals build a common understanding of what assessments they already use, teachers are much more relaxed. This is much more helpful than starting from a big overview of data and metrics.”
Takeaways
- Invest in Stakeholder Engagement: Create multiple channels for gathering input from teachers and other key stakeholders.
- Engage Educators in Building the System: Create ongoing opportunities for teachers to be actively involved in the design and implementation process.
- Focus on Continuous Improvement: Clearly communicate that the evaluation process is about improving professional practice, not about judgment.
- Take Time to Build Relationships: Building teacher trust requires ongoing communication and meaningful feedback. Strong relationships between teachers and principals are critical.
Q & A with Linda Barker, Director of Teaching and Learning, Colorado Education Association
Q: What has worked well in the design and implementation of the new evaluation model?
A: We’ve really been strategic about working with our members across the State. We’ve run trainings where teachers, principals and school board members come together around the professional practice side of the evaluation. Now we’re focusing on learning measures. We’ve seen incredible, deep conversations between teachers and principals around how to bring their practices to higher levels. Those conversations have been really powerful.
Q: Where are you experiencing the biggest challenges?
A: In some cases, the feedback conversations are not happening. If there isn’t time for those feedback conversations, it quickly becomes a checklist rubric, and that isn’t helpful at all. Also, the student learning measures side is harder to grasp because there’s less clarity around what these should be. We need to be thoughtful and take small incremental steps to figure out how to measure student learning. When a district builds common knowledge of what it’s currently doing to measure student learning, teachers are much more relaxed. This is much more helpful than starting from a big overview of data and metrics.
Q: What advice do you have for other States about educator evaluation and support?
A: I have several pieces of advice:
- Go slow, and focus on the professional practice side first.
- Build a collaborative relationship with the State. I meet with the Colorado Department of Education staff frequently to make sure we’re on the same page. I attend their trainings, and they attend ours. I think that’s helped a lot.
- Make sure teachers have a common understanding that it’s about continuous improvement. I truly believe that if you focus on practice, the measures of student learning will match the professional practice side.
- Engage teachers early and often.
Q&A with Lisa Rossi, Bethke Elementary, Poudre School District, who has taught for 25 years and served as a mentor to her colleagues for 20.
Q: What is the biggest difference you see in the new evaluation system?
A: Now, we can be much more specific about what our growth areas are.
For example, I know what it will take to be considered highly effective in engaging students. I know when my principal is evaluating me, it’s very targeted and objective. To hit bulls-eye, I know this is where I have to be. It takes the questioning and guessing out of it.
Q: Are you seeing any changes in teacher practice as a result of the new model?
A: Yes. I’m seeing that teachers are much more intentional about the kind of learning environment they’re creating because they know this is a dimension on which they’re being evaluated. I notice them asking themselves questions like ‘ how are my desks arranged?’ ‘Are kids afraid to speak up in class, or do they feel safe and respected?’
Q: Building a positive classroom environment can very challenging. Are teachers receiving any support in this area?
A: Yes. This is a topic we’re talking a lot about in our teacher in-service days. Our Professional Development coordinator is also offering a class on all of the sub-dimensions of classroom environment and culture this year. And, as a mentor, I work with my teachers on climate and culture issues too. All of the little routines have to be taught at the beginning. Some teachers who struggle in classroom environment often haven’t had the support at the outset to develop these routines.
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