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.

1. "I get it!" (:

I’ve got this!

This we believe (NMSA, 2010).

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

This we believe (NMSA, 2010) provides sixteen characteristics of exemplary middle schools. This is the first characteristic and falls under the category of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. 

Have you heard this comment: when students “get it,”  when the proverbial “light bulb goes on.” It is magical. Today, I was reviewing a tape (I tape myself teaching occasionally.) in which one of my students was working on a problem with his classmate. Students were working in small groups to practice problem-solving strategies of drawing a picture and communicating their thinking. While I was talking to a small group of students, he snuck in next to me to give me his whiteboard. In the video, I am shown looking at his work. When I nod, yes, you got it right, his face and body language looked like Tiger Woods when he made a putt at the Masters. “Yes, I’ve got this,” you hear him say. In the video, he then goes over to his partner to begin to share his knowledge.

Earlier in the day, I used a technique that builds background knowledge. Students sit in pairs or trios. I have eleven problems with multiple-choice answers taped individually to eleven sheets of construction paper. The questions are related to Scatterplots. Students number a whiteboard one to eleven and pass the sheets around from group to group. Together students read the problem and try to figure out the answer. Once they get an answer, they look on the back of the construction paper to see if they are correct. If they are correct, they write the answer down. If they are not correct, they look to see what the correct answer is and see if they can figure out why that answer is right. Once they understand, they write the correct answer on the whiteboard. I was standing next to two students who struggle. They were looking at a question that asked which graph had an outlier. One of the girls burst with energy and says, “I know this,” and her smile, her joy, and her enthusiasm were heart-warming.  She and her partner agreed on the answer, and both were excited to get it right.

In the first scenario, students were working on an extension to their knowledge. They were using graphing, the midpoint and distance formulas to determine where helicopters were and, using Pythagorean’s Theorem, were calculating how long each helicopter would take to get to a given point. In the second scenario, students have not been given formal instruction on scatter plots, outliers, or lines of best fit, but the process of looking at information and making educated guesses provided a positive backdrop for beginning a more in-depth at these standards. In both scenarios there was “student-talk” and “student-engagement.”

When students have opportunities to work independently, and when students are successful in their own learning, motivation and discipline problems diminish.

Advice

1)   Background knowledge does not have to be a series of notes from a power point presentation or a list of vocabulary words. Students can be given visual images, or models to examine and see what they see. I was looking at math resources and the first questions were always: “What do you think is going on here?”

2)   I often use pairs and trios to have students work together to consider problems. I find that if they have a chance to talk to one another, there is a chance for them to be able to articulate their knowledge. Especially in math, when the question can be the most challenging part of a word problem.

3)   Realize that when students are asked to work together, there may be a tendency for them to be “off-task.” When you give independent work, you must constantly move around the room and monitor them. This becomes even more important when students have a computer in front of them. (:

4)   Finally, finding ways to give immediate feedback is critical when students are working on independent work. The first activity had the answers on the back of the sheet and while some students looked at the answer first, the process allowed them to gain and/or reinforce their knowledge of scatterplots. In the video I was moving around checking students’ work as they finished each problem.