1. NC Teacher Evaluation Instrument: A tool for improvement

1. Teacher Evaluation Instrument as a Tool for Improvement

This we believe (NMSA, 2010).

* Educators value young adolescents and are prepared to teach them. Value Young Adolescents

In North Carolina, teachers are evaluated formally on five standards:

Standard I:  Teachers Demonstrate Leadership

Standard II:  Teachers Establish a Respectful Environment for a Diverse Population of Students

Standard III:  Teachers Know the Content They Teach

Standard IV:  Teachers Facilitate Learning for Their Students

Standard V:  Teachers Reflect on Their Practice

Each standard is composed of observable criteria and each standard consists of a series of elements. We are evaluated using a scale: ranging from emerging to distinguished. This week, my administrator reviewed his observation with me from an unannounced, twenty-minute visit he conducted a week ago. It was my third evaluation and focused on Standard IV: Teachers facilitate learning for their students. The evaluation is used throughout North Carolina. (A copy of the policy is at the end of this post.) 

I remember my first and only evaluation, a long time ago, in which I was told I was doing a great job. I was a brand new teacher, and I needed more specific feedback. This year I have had three observations; and while my current administrator shared a concern that all evaluations hold an element of is subjectivity, the subjectivity of this instrument, is at least aligned with very clear expectations as addressed by NC State Standards. Each standard includes detailed evidences to look for in the classroom.

When this instrument was initially introduced, teachers who had been rated as distinguished for years were somewhat uncomfortable to be rated proficient and accomplished, I see why it happened. This instrument is comprehensive. I believe that if the instrument is seen as an opportunity to look at the elements associated with exemplary teaching, we can all benefit from them. Isn’t that the purpose of evaluations?

I believe it is very difficult to be distinguished in all areas and find the format very insightful. The following is an example.

Element IVd. Teachers integrate and utilize technology in their instruction.

Observable

Teachers know when and how to use technology to maximize student learning. Teachers help students use technology to learn content, think critically, solve problems, discern reliability, use information, communicate, innovate, and collaborate. 

When the administrator was in my class, we were working on a review of spheres and discussing the NCAA basketball championship game. Students were using graphing calculators and analyzing word problems. I will share with you that I know the language and the power and necessity of critical and higher-order thinking. In the lesson he viewed, this was not a higher-order, deeper thinking activity.

In our post-conference, we talked about technology engagement and deeper thinking. While I know the language, I could not say, that most of the time, students are engaged in discovering their mathematical knowledge using technology that engages them deeply into critical problem solving. There is a teacher down the hall whose children are completely immersed in the use of Gizmos (an interactive, problem-solving program. I admire her work with young people and believe her approach will warrant exemplary learning in science (Standard VI is on student achievement…). I have been in math classes where students are immersed in Geogebra and exploration of mathematical concepts. There are technologies that are available and we need to learn how to use them.

And While you would think that a college professor should be distinguished in all areas; it isn’t true. When one reaches such a level of expertise, he/she would do well to apply for National Board Certification.  These are the teachers to follow.

Advice

1)   Study the standards; study them with your mentor or a colleaguelook at what you are doing weekly with the standards. Post them on your refrigerator (Okay, that could be over the top.).

2)   Before creating your professional development plan (PDP – see 2. Professional Development Plans and Personal Commitments), choose one of the standards as a main focus.

3)   Realize you are a work in progress. We can all grow; we can all get better.

4)   After each evaluation, consider what you can do to improve. Our state offers on-line professional development; districts support teachers’ needs, and the regional alliances (WRESA in our region) provide in-service and workshops to support learning. Local, State, and national conferences provide support for each of the standards. The internet and national organizations such as AMLE.org (Association for Middle-Level Education) are full of resources.

5)   Finally, teaching is multi-faceted; it is difficult; it is challenging; always be looking for ways to improve. Teaching is a journey. One observation does not define you.

NORTH CAROLINA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
Policy Manual

Policy Identification
Priority:  Twenty-first Century Professionals
Category:  Qualifications and Evaluations
Policy ID Number:  TCP-C-004

Policy Title:  Policy establishing the Teacher Performance Appraisal process

Current Policy Date:  04/07/2016

Other Historical Information:  Previous Board dates: 07/07/1987, 07/11/1996, 11/05/1998,10/02/2008, 08/04/2011, 09/01/2011, 02/05/2015, 12/03/2015

Statutory Reference:  GS 115C-333

Administrative Procedures Act (APA) Reference Number and Category:  

Purpose

The intended purpose of the North Carolina Teacher Evaluation Process is to assess the teacher’s performance in relation to the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards and to design a plan for professional growth.  The principal or a designee (hereinafter “principal”) will conduct the evaluation process in which the teacher will actively participate through the use of self-assessment, reflection, presentation of artifacts, and classroom demonstration(s).

A local board shall use the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards and North Carolina Teacher Evaluation Process unless it develops an alternative evaluation that is properly validated and that includes standards and criteria similar to those in the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards and North Carolina Teacher Evaluation Process.

The North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards are:

Standard I:  Teachers Demonstrate Leadership

Standard II:  Teachers Establish a Respectful Environment for a Diverse Population of Students

Standard III:  Teachers Know the Content They Teach

Standard IV:  Teachers Facilitate Learning for Their Students

Standard V:  Teachers Reflect on Their Practice

The North Carolina Teacher Evaluation Process shall be conducted annually, according to one of the following cycle types:

Comprehensive Evaluation Cycle

·       Teacher Self-Assessment

·       Professional Development Plan

·       Formal Observation (with pre and post-conference)

·       Formal Observation (with post-conference)

·       Formal Observation (with post-conference)

·       Peer Observation (with post-conference)

·       Summative Evaluation Conference

·       Summary Rating Form

Standard Evaluation Cycle

·       Teacher Self-Assessment

·       Professional Development Plan

·       Formal Observation (with pre and post-conference)

·       Observation (Formal or Informal)

·       Observation (Formal or Informal)

·       Summative Evaluation Conference

·       Summary Rating Form

Abbreviated Evaluation Cycle

·       Teacher Self-Assessment

·       Professional Development Plan

·       Observation on Standards 1 and 4 (Formal or Informal)

·       Observation on Standards 1 and 4 (Formal or Informal)

·       Summative Evaluation Conference on Standards 1 and 4

·       Summary Rating Form on Standards 1 and 4

Beginning Teachers

Effective with the 2015-2016-2017 school year, initially licensed beginning teachers must teach three years in order to move from an Initial to Continuing license.  

Process for Abbreviated Annual Evaluations

The annual evaluation requirement for experienced teachers (including those with career status), who have been employed for three or more years can be met through either, a comprehensive, standard, or an abbreviated evaluation cycle.

An abbreviated evaluation cycle consists of evaluator ratings only on Standards One and Four of the Teacher Evaluation Process.

The abbreviated evaluation process for Standards One and Four remains consistent with the Teacher Evaluation Process described above with the exception of the requirement for observations.

Teachers receiving an abbreviated evaluation should receive two informal observations of a minimum of twenty minutes each.  Observers shall note the teacher’s performance in relationship to Standards One and Four on the Rubric for Evaluating North Carolina Teachers.

Teachers receiving an abbreviated evaluation may request that the evaluator conducts a formal observation as described above.

2. Connecting Culture and Community: Earth Day 2016

Connecting Culture and Community: Earth Day 2016

This we believe (NMSA, 2010).

*Students and teachers are engaged in active, purposeful learning. Active Learning

I heard the director of “In Real Life,” a middle school community partnership program in Asheville, North Carolina speak. She asked my students to think about something they love to do, or participate in, or watch. She shared that many of us became interested in a hobby or skill we love today when we were in middle school. We may have learned to sew or cook, or fish, or fell in love with football, or music, or reading when we were in middle school. Middle school is a breeding ground for life -interests! By focusing on students’ culture and community, we can make learning more engaging.

This week one of my students shared that he is learning to fly fish. He loves fishing and decided to teach himself. He said, “I didn’t catch anything, but it was fun.” At the end of the day, another student, several actually, are learning to play the guitar and are learning to paint with watercolors. On our team, other students are running track and playing city league. These activities and experiences are enhanced by community organizations, the local park service, and county events. One of the features of our region is the quilt. On buildings throughout the county and western North Carolina there are quilts. In fact, there are quilt trails throughout western North Carolina (http://www.quilttrailswnc.org/). We have quilt squares on all of our schools and the school board, on businesses, and on buildings throughout our community.

I used this cultural element of our community as to engage my students in an Earth Day banner competition. I shifted the focus of EOG Boot Camp to geometry so students could work together to design an Earth Day banner. Each design included a one-inch border. Students worked in pairs or in teams to design their banners. They had four days. Every day about fifteen minutes was devoted to working on the banners. At the end of the week, all of the banners were displayed and students in each class voted for the top three banners and then voted for a banner from a different class. Sixteen banners were selected.

Using the muslin fabric, each banner design was traced. We created a coloring book of the images.

Students then painted the fabric using watered-down acrylic. A total of thirty-five students were working on the sixteen panels. (It was a little crowded.) We worked with the art teacher. On Friday, we used “Club Time” to allow students to trace their banners and began painting with shades of blue. During lunch and advisory over the next three days, students and their partners painted. On Wednesday, while students were being assessed, I sat at the back of the room and began to sew the panels together. I found out that many of my students’ have family members who sew. We ended up with a quilt top.

Our next piece will be to have every student on our team create a quilt square to put around the border. We will use their initials, find the angles of the letters and have them decorate their own quilt square. We will then, in theory, sew the border on the quilt top and actually quilt the banner. (There is a lot of math in quilting!)

Since this project, at the end of the day, between car rider dismissal and bus dismissal, I have students say, "Can we paint?" 

"You bet we can!" I say... but we use water colors instead of acrylics. (:

Advice

1)   Middle school is a time when our students will develop habits and interests for life; we must embrace opportunities to inspire our students. Electives, clubs, sharing your own interests and hobbies that are beyond academics will make a difference.

2)   When you are in a city, look up the Chamber of Commerce to find out what events are planned.

3)   Find out what activities your students are engaged in. Use their interests to make connections with them as people and to make connections with your content.

4)   Use community events as a focus for learning. Find out what competitions are available. This information can be found through the district office or your local administration team.

5)   Collaborate with other teachers. This project would not have happened without the support of the art teacher.