The Skillful Leader: A focus on
meaningful informal observation
feedback using the
Progress Adviser Tool
Palm Springs Unified School District 10/9/14
Agenda
District Perspective on Evaluation
Philosophy of the Skillful Leader
Identifying the Mediocre Teacher
Common Language
Focus on Informal Feedback (Progress Adviser)
District Perspective
 Districts were looking for the perfect evaluation tool
to enhance the evaluation process.
 Districts were needing to negotiate changes to the
evaluation process and forms as it fell within the scope
of bargaining.
 Superintendent and Board of Education pressuring to
include student achievement data as part of the
evaluation.
 Teacher’s Union declaring that evaluation is worthless
and nothing more than something to check off the list
of things to do each year.
District Perspective
 The “tool” does not make evaluation better or more
meaningful.
 The “tool” is only as good as the supervisor’s ability to
identify good instruction, speak to good instruction
and write to good instruction.
 A meaningful evaluation only happens if the person
receiving the feedback understands the message and
can refer back to the message upon reflection.
 Why negotiate “language” that already exists either in
the bargained process and/or Education Code.
District Perspective
 Standard Five of the California Standards for the
Teaching Profession (CSTP)
 Establishes and communicates learning goals for all
students.
 Collects and uses multiple sources of information
to assess student learning
 Involves and guides students in assessing their own
learning.
 Uses the results of assessment to guide instruction.
District Perspective
 Standard 5 continued….
 Communicates with students and families about student
progress.
 Evidence of students progress towards appropriate
standards and/or IEP goals.
Standard 5 Assessment Data
 Student Data has always been allowed under Standard 5
(excluding norm referenced exams per the Ed. Code)
 Very important on how to communicate the use of student data
in the evaluation to avoid resistance and fear.
 Crucial to not use the data alone as EBN….but to connect the
poor data to strategies/systems that were poorly utilized or not
utilized to improve the data/student learning.
Standard 5 Assessment Data
 5.2
Collects and uses multiple sources of
information to assess student learning
 “Multiple sources” is not strictly defined
 “Collects and uses” is directly connected to “assess student
learning”
 One has to support the other (Evidenced Based)



Formal Assessment (Tests, Quizzes)
Informal Assessment (Checking for Understanding)
Summative (Grade Distribution, Grade Patterns)
Standard 5 Assessment Data
 5.4
Uses the results of the assessment to guide
instruction
 What specific strategies were used (and why) to get the
student(s) to mastery?
 What specific intervention was implemented (and why) to
get the student (s) to mastery?
 What grading pattern and at what point did the instructor
make appropriate changes to the delivery of instruction to
get students(s) to mastery? (Was the timing of the change
efficient and appropriate or too late?)
Standard 5 Assessment Data
 5.5
Communicated with students and families
about student progress.
 Is there evidence the teacher communicated with the student
regarding their lack of progress in a timely manner?
 Is there evidence the teacher communicated with the parent
regarding their child’s lack of progress in a timely manner?
 Did the communication include effective “home to school”
strategies or availability of “beyond the school day” support?
Philosophy of the
Skillful Leader
The Skillful Leader by Alexandre Platt & Caroline Tripp
“If the teacher is performing poorly, I can better deal with
that than I can deal with a teacher who is just doing their
job.”
Harvard Study: Value-added teacher ranking compared to
Principal informal teacher ranking:
Top/Bottom 10% - Strong Correlation
Middle 80% - Very Little Correlation
(Jacobs & Lefgren 2006)
Philosophy of the
Skillful Leader
Excellent teachers & incompetent teachers share one
quality - they are easy to identify - *See Profiles
Middle 80% hard to identify – Mediocre Teacher
Skillful Leader definition of a Mediocre Teacher:
The inability to provide reliable, consistent and
high quality teaching in every classroom.
Sally Friendly
 Sally Friendly profile
Positives
 Solid management and routines
 Nice to all – well liked by staff
 Motivated and hard worker
 Contributes to life of school
Sally Friendly
Challenges
 Enormous effort – but ineffective
 Truly believes she’s doing the right thing for students
 Well liked by everyone
 System has failed to provide effective feedback
Perfect example of generation of teachers focused on
what teachers teach – not on what students learn.
Identifying the
Mediocre Teacher
They can be pleasant, caring, organized, beautiful
classroom - But do not provide opportunities for higher
level thinking
They have minimal disruptions in class, students
always quiet and busy - But focus is on activities
(worksheets) not on learning outcomes
Additional MT Profiles
“Whim Winger” – Lacks expertise in subject matter &
planning (plans lessons on the fly; assesses sporadically)
“Frank Steel” – Coach with an attitude (excellent coach,
mediocre teacher; teaching driven by control, not passion)
“Peter Passable” – Union activist, competent but resistant
(sees no need to expand repertoire; active union
representation)
How does Mediocre Teaching
Happen?
Institutional Shortcomings
Supervisor Shortcomings
Individual Teacher
Problems
Don’t point fingers:
Institutional & Supervisor
shortcomings have
insulated Mediocre
Teaching
All of us must own the
problem!
Debilitating Beliefs
Debilitating Belief #1
Diminished expectations for adult learning.
“What can you expect? That’s just the way she is, she’s
been like that for 20 years.”
Debilitating Beliefs
Debilitating Belief #2
Diminished aspirations for achievement and
opportunity.
“That may work for Richtown School. They have all the
money and parent support.”
Debilitating Beliefs
Debilitating Belief #3
Inappropriate problem definition & unrealistic
goal setting
“I wish I could fire them all.”
“If we could only get rid of tenure and unions.”
Debilitating Beliefs
Debilitating Belief #4
Negative assumptions about costs and benefits.
Supervisor’s fear of fracturing relationships with staff,
disrupting the positive climate of the school – leading
the supervisor to ‘back off’ or ‘look the other way’
Unpromising Practices
 Unpromising Practice 1: Transferring problems
 Tailoring classes
 Transferring staff
 Results:
 Short-term solution
 Transferring problems creates resentment
 Temporarily ‘minimizes damage’ – but mediocrity continues
Unpromising Practices
 Unpromising Practice 2: Enabling mediocrity through
work assignments
 Assigning fewer/easier duties for the mediocre teacher
 Assigning ‘high profile’ duties for reliable/responsible teacher
 Results:
 Work assignments reveal the supervisor’s performance
expectations – not all staff are held to same accountability
Unpromising Practices
 Unpromising Practice 3: Evaluations based on limited data
 Evaluating based on 1 or 2 visits all year/using vague and
general/interchangeable feedback
“Mrs. Smith creates a comfortable environment”
“Mr. Gomez is a real veteran teacher”
 Results:
 Vague writing & limited data promote & protect mediocrity
Evaluator Impressions
Unpromising Practices
 Unpromising Practice 4: Assigning inappropriate weight to data
unrelated to instruction & learning
 Socially active – Sunshine Committee; distributes birthday cards; brings
doughnuts on Fridays
 Prioritizes activities – after-school programs; coaching; talent show
director
 Results:
 The ‘Halo Error’ & ‘Leniency Effect’
Almost inevitably, teachers whose classroom performance is mediocre, but
who sustain the extracurricular or social life of the school, will have received
good to excellent evaluations.
Unpromising Practices
 Unpromising Practice 5: Evaluations with mixed
messages and tentative writing
“The teacher’s warm rapport and quickness to praise made for a happy
environment. While they love being called on, it would seem that children are
somewhat reluctant to give reasons for their answers and may need to be
stretched. It is suggested that you try popsicle sticks and maybe rewards for
thinking, which would be entirely consistent with the delightful way in which
you motivate youngsters.”
 Results:
 Communicates everyone is excellent
 No urgency to change
 Negatively impacts supervisor’s credibility
Confronting Mediocrity
The Three C’s
1. Conviction
 Institutional belief that EVERY child deserves and can have expert
instruction
2.
Competence
 Develop supervisory competence, utilize multiple data sources,
avoid fluff - use Evidence Based Narratives
3.
Control
 Take control of your time, nothing is more important than
instructional improvement
PSUSD Process
Initial training of Skillful Leader concepts
Employee Roster, Selection of 2 Mediocre Teachers for the year
Skillful Reflection, & Skillful Road Map
Training focused on observation feedback - Evidence Based Narratives
Principal review of colleague observation summaries
Feedback from HR on Mediocre Teacher final evaluations
2014-15 Focus on Informal Feedback/Progress Adviser
Skillful Evaluation Process
Formal Observation
#1
Final Evaluation
Formal Observation
#2
Progress Adviser
Progress Adviser
Progress Adviser Data & Conference Summaries
Progress Adviser
 Program Demonstration:
Mr. Brad Sauer – Principal/James Workman Middle
School (PSUSD)
Mr. Kevin Crye – Vice President of Client Services
(Progress Adviser)
Skillful Leader
The reality is, the only thing that stands
between a student and a mediocre teacher is
the evaluator.
Thank you!
Mr. Mauricio Arellano, Asst. Supt. HR – Palm Springs Unified
marellano@psusd.us
Mr. Kevin Crye, Vice President of Client Services – Progress Adviser
kevin@progressadviser.com
Tony Signoret, Ed.D., Director of Certificated Human Resources – Palm Springs Unified
tsignoret@psusd.us
Mr. Brad Sauer, Principal James Workman Middle School – Palm Springs Unified
bsauer@psusd.us