Colorado Department of Education, Educator Effectiveness: Pilot of new educator performance
evaluations
From:
TO:
Colorado School Districts Applying to be Educator Evaluation System Pilot Districts
SUBJECT:
Pilot District Selection Process
DATE:
July 25, 2011
Thank you for submitting an application for your district to participate in the pilot test of Colorado’s
model educator evaluation system. You are one of 41 applicants. As we move into the final selection
phase, we wish to remind you of the commitments that your district will be making if you are selected as
a pilot district. Please review the below information carefully and discuss it with relevant members of
your district team.
Commitments by Districts if Selected for Piloting
Based on the application to participate in the pilot submitted in June, your district committed to the
following:

Execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between your district and CDE regarding your
participation in the pilot and field tests.

Include, at a minimum, schools within the district from each level (elementary, middle and
secondary) in the pilot. District-wide participation is encouraged, but we acknowledge that this
may be difficult for larger districts.

Participate in training for the principal evaluation provided by CDE during September 2011
(approximately 1.5 days) and for teacher evaluation provided during late spring of 2012
(approximately 1.5 days) as well as some interim training during the initial pilot years.

Evaluate principals during the 2011-2012 academic year using the state model system.

Provide feedback on the teacher evaluation instruments and system during the 2011-2012
academic year.

Provide copies of all evaluation materials and other data identified in the MOU to CDE.

Participate in interviews and focus groups designed to determine needed changes and to gather
ideas for improvement of the system from you and your staff members.

Implement both the principal and teacher evaluation processes in your district during the 201213 and 2013-14 school years, and provide information and feedback requested by CDE.

Attend and actively participate in meetings conducted by CDE related to the development
process.
Below are additional requirements that selected districts must meet during the pilot period:

Complete a district review including surveys of teachers, principals and district leaders in August
2011, August 2012, August 2013, August 2014, August 2015 and August 2016.

Collect and report data to CDE about the pilot process and select outcomes for a 5-year period
from 2011-2016. Please note that much of the information collected during the 2013-14, 201415, and 2015-16 academic years will be data that districts will be required to report to CDE as
part of the new educator effectiveness law.

Provide student achievement data that is linked to teachers beginning in the 2012/13 school
year. These data may be provided directly to the researchers during 2012-13 in order to
determine the validity of the scores. However, your district may wish to consider participating
in the Standard Course Code and Teacher/Student Data link pilots in order to get CDE support in
providing the necessary validation data and preparing to address the requirement that all
districts map their courses to standard course codes and report teacher student data link
information. This information will be used for research purposed during the first three years of
the model evaluation system rollout. To help you understand the schedules for the three pilots
and how they are coordinated, please see the attached table.
All data collected as a part of this work will be used for research purposes only. Individually-identifiable
information will not be shared with anyone unless required by law.
To help CDE stay on schedule for selecting the pilot sites, please confirm your continued interest in
participating in the pilot test by sending an email to Ulcca Hansen no later than July 29, 2011. Your
continued interest in working closely with CDE staff to build an evaluation system that is focused on
continuous improvement and supporting all educators is greatly appreciated
Attachment: Schedules for Standard Course Code, Teacher/Student Data
Link and Model Educator Evaluation System Pilots
Date
Standard Course Codes
Teacher Student Data Link
January 2011
Project Kickoff
February 2011
Define process and course
code layout
March 2011
Identify pilot districts
Identify pilot districts
April 2011
EDAC approval
EDAC approval
May 2011
Develop system
Develop system
June 2011
Load state and local data for
pilot
July 2011
Course Codes pilot begins
Model Educator Evaluation
System
Development of principal
evaluation rubric and User’s
Guide.
August 2011
Develop training materials
Development of
Principal/Assistant Principal
evaluation training materials and
selection of pilot sites
September
2011
Teacher/student Data Link pilot
begins
Training pilot sites to use the
new system
October 2011
Pilot test principal/assistant
principal evaluation system
through April 2012/
November
2011
Development of teacher
evaluation system
December
2011
Data analysis from pilot
Data analysis from pilot
January 2012
Present findings from pilot
Present findings from pilot
February March 2012
Codes and collection
modifications
Collection modifications
April 2012
Final EDAC approval
Final EDAC approval
Finalize teacher materials and
share with pilot sites
June 2012
Train and assist additional
district adoption
Train and Assist additional
district adoption
Complete data collection on beta
test of principal/assistant
principal process
June September
2012
Course Codes System and
mappings begin for all
districts
Train pilot site districts to
Teacher/Student Data Link
implement teacher evaluation
Collection begins for all districts.
model
2010-13 school
year
Development of teacher
evaluation user’s guide
Feedback on all teacher materials
Collect course, teacher, and
student specific data from pilot
sites for validation purposes.