Teacher Evaluation Questions from READY Meetings For more information about educator effectiveness, please visit http://www.ncpublicschools.org/educatoreffect/ Please send questions to educatoreffectiveness@dpi.nc.gov. 1. What is the North Carolina Educator Evaluation System? The North Carolina Educator Evaluation System (NCEES) sets out processes for the evaluation of educators on standards that reflect their professional performance. There are evaluation instruments for teachers and administrators, and instruments are in development for school counselors, school psychologists, school social workers, school instructional technology facilitators, and school library media coordinators. There are also optional evaluation instruments for instructional central office staff and superintendents. The Department of Public Instruction is facilitating the design of optional evaluation instruments for school‐based speech language pathologists, school nurses, school‐based occupational therapists, and school‐based physical therapists. 2. Why evaluate teachers based, in part, on the academic success of students? North Carolina teachers want success for all students. With the support of an effective teacher, each student can make academic growth each year. The teacher behaviors and characteristics embodied in the first five standards of the teacher evaluation instrument should produce academic gains for students if they are practiced well. That ultimate outcome – student growth – needs to be a part of the evaluation system so that the state can ensure that all children have effective educators. 3. What is the difference between a rating and a status? For teachers, there are 6 separate ratings to help teachers grow each year and for school administrators, there are 8 separate ratings to help facilitate growth each year. The rating categories for standards 1‐5 for teachers and standards 1‐7 for administrators are Not Demonstrated, Developing, Proficient, Accomplished, and Distinguished. For standards 6 and 8, there are only 3 rating categories: Does Not Meet Expected Growth, Meets Expected Growth, and Exceeds Expected Growth. Status is an overall designation that is determined once an administrator or teacher has three years of individual growth data to populate standard 6 or 8. The 3 categories for status are In Need of Improvement, Effective, or Highly Effective. 4. What role will EVAAS play in the growth standard for teacher evaluations? EVAAS will be used to populate standards 6 and 8 where possible. EVAAS is a value‐added model used to measure growth by predicting how well a student will perform on an assessment. The prediction is based on previous test scores and estimates how well a student should perform at the end of the year if he or she receives average instruction. EVAAS results are not available until the September following a school year. At that point, sixth and eighth standard ratings will be added into the teacher and administrator evaluation instruments. As they always have, districts should use available growth data and ratings on standards 1 – 5 when making tenure decisions and licensure recommendations for teachers. Beginning with the 2011 – 2012 reporting, North Carolina will shift to an EVAAS model that allows for the calculation of value‐added scores for fourth grade teachers. Beginning in 2013 – 2014, for K‐3 teachers, a standard, end‐of‐year running record will become part of the required Reading 3D program. Growth will then be measured using the end‐of‐year and beginning‐of‐
year results. 5. What are Measures of Student Learning? Measures of Student Learning (MSLs), sometimes called “common exams,” are a shared way to gauge student growth in all currently non‐tested grades and subjects in the Common Core State Standards for Math and ELA and in the NC Essential Standards. While these measures will be used statewide, they are not the same as our statewide summative assessments in the NC Testing Program: the End‐of‐Grade and End‐of‐Course assessments. Districts and charter schools will have flexibility to decide how to use the MSLs as part of students’ grades. The State Board of Education will NOT collect or publish the results of the MSLs, although the NCDPI will assist with scoring and data analysis. Eight hundred North Carolina teachers from more than 100 LEAs and 10 charter schools are involved in the design process for the Measures of Student Learning. The design group members began their work in October 2011 and will continue to provide feedback for the remainder of 2011‐12 school year. NC will implement the MSLs statewide during the 2012‐13 school year. For more information about the MSLs, please visit the website at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/educatoreffect/measures/. 6. When will standards 6 and 8 be populated in the Educator Evaluation System? Teachers and administrators will receive a sixth or eighth standard rating each year, but the determination of an educator’s effectiveness does not take place until there are three years of valid student growth data to attribute to the educator. Sixth Standard Ratings in 2011‐12: The only teachers who will receive individual sixth standard ratings are those who are currently teaching a subject area or grade assessed with End‐of‐Course, End‐of‐Grade, or CTE Post‐
Assessments. For the remainder of the teachers, school‐wide growth will determine the sixth standard rating. Eighth Standard Ratings in 2011‐12: All administrators will receive eighth standard ratings (when school‐wide growth data are available, for example, not at a K‐2 school). Any available years of school‐wide data will be displayed on that administrator’s evaluation, but do not result in an effectiveness determination until three years of data have been accumulated. 7.
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***Please note that 2012 – 13 is the first year that growth data count toward an educator’s overall effectiveness status. No teacher or administrator will receive a status until, at the earliest, the 2014 – 15 school year. Sixth and eighth standard ratings will be released in September 2012 for the 2011 – 12 school year. How will student surveys factor into the determination of teacher effectiveness? Student surveys are being considered as a potential part of the new sixth standard. In spring 2012, about 150,000 students in 47 LEAs completed a student survey as part of a pilot program. How will growth be determined without the use of a pre‐test? The EVAAS model uses student test scores in other grades and content areas to predict how they will perform on future assessments. A pre‐test is not necessary. What are you doing to aid teacher prep programs in helping future teachers understand these changes? The Department of Public Instruction regularly shares information about educator effectiveness with educator preparation programs. All teacher preparation programs evaluate their candidates with a rubric that has been intentionally aligned to the NCEES. Increasingly, teacher preparation programs are incorporating EVAAS into their training. What are the consequences for teachers who need improvement? Teachers whose students fail to meet academic growth targets over a three‐year rolling average will be rated as “Does Not Meet Expected Growth” on the three‐year, sixth standard of the evaluation instrument. The teachers’ effectiveness status is then “In Need of Improvement.” As is the case with a rating of not proficient on any of the standards, teachers recommended for continued employment will be required to complete a mandatory growth plan. The State Board of Education recommends that the evaluation be considered when teachers are considered for career status.