Position Statement and Guidelines on Demonstrating Educator Effectiveness
and Documenting Student Growth
Position Statement:
The educator is the conduit for developing learners’ language proficiency and global
competence so that learners are prepared to interact and communicate successfully in the
global community. Student growth and educator effectiveness are intrinsically connected. The
purpose of demonstrating student growth is to show learner’s progress toward higher levels of
using language and the educator’s impact on student language learning. Such evidence will also
demonstrate for multiple constituencies the value of successful language learning and teaching.
Educator effectiveness is best measured based on frequent and multiple measures of
performance over time, tied to and demonstrated by each learner, and indicating growth in
language performance that points toward proficiency levels.
Educator effectiveness is best measured through:
 multiple measures of student growth in language performance over time
 balanced evidence across the three modes of communication (Interpersonal,
Interpretive, and Presentational)
 performance assessments pointing toward proficiency levels, aligned to NCSSFL-ACTFL
Can-Do Statements (or progress indicators set by state standards)
Guidelines:
What data should be collected?
 Frequent and multiple measures of student growth based on evidence over time to
document progress toward the Student Growth Outcomes-SGOs (state-determined
terms also include Student Learning Objectives-SLOs; Learning Targets; Evidence of
Effectiveness)
 Pre- and post-assessments (Evidence is gathered from the same student at two
different points in time; establish a baseline and then measure overall growth)
 Both formative and summative assessments
 Snapshots of language competencies: review holistically and create a profile of what the
learner knows and is able to do with language. This may include interdisciplinary
projects or work outside the classroom that may be captured through “Can Do”
statements
 Authentic assessments in all three modes of communication, linked to proficiency levels
 Include feedback from rubrics (analyzed and reflected upon, creating a feedback loop)
 Learner self-evaluations to provide evidence of learners’ understanding of learning
targets (Student Growth Outcomes or specific state term)
 Portfolio of diverse evidence with classroom-based samples of student work: audio
files, videos, rubrics of both formative and summative assessments
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Position Statement on Demonstrating Educator Effectiveness and Documenting Student Growth
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These multiple measures may be verified/validated through standardized world
language assessment (using the results of external assessments aligned with standards
for learning languages, on small cohorts of students)
Anecdotal data
How does data impact student learning?
These multiple measures of student growth over time help learners
 establish goals for improvement in using the language
 focus their learning
 chart their progress toward reaching those goals
 be motivated to achieve higher levels of proficiency
Feedback needs to focus on what the learner can do and what communication strategies will
lead to improved performance. Such feedback empowers students to be reflective learners by
understanding the language goal (SGOs or state term) and deciding where they are and how to
get where they want to go with language.
These multiple measures of student growth over time enable educators to:
 make adjustments to planning and instruction
 make informed decisions in the classroom regarding instruction and assessment
 establish class goals to address skills that are weak.
A variety of data reflects student learning and empowers educators to develop subsequent
steps to achieve the stated SGOs (or state term). The data informs the educator’s planning,
instruction, assessment, feedback, and classroom environment. There should be a causal link
between student learning and educators’ instructional strategies.
Process:
How do educators collect, analyze, and use the right data for documenting student growth and
demonstrating educator effectiveness? The process should reflect the guiding principles of
Understanding by Design (Wiggins and McTighe):
1.
Identify desired results
The Student Growth Outcomes need to be based on the standards for learning languages and
functional use of language (not on the necessary tools of vocabulary, language functions, and
grammatical structures). Institutional support needs to be provided to educators for
collaborative learning around how to create appropriate learning targets, building common
knowledge and understanding of how performance points toward proficiency, what it takes to
move from Novice to the Intermediate level and then to the Advanced level of proficiency, and
designing effective feedback tools or rubrics.
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Position Statement on Demonstrating Educator Effectiveness and Documenting Student Growth
To measure growth, key principles include:
 Not all learners will move up a sub-level on the proficiency scale by the end of any given
period of instruction;
 Growth is documented when more learners have more evidence that was generated
more independently and spontaneously at the next proficiency sub-level (and
simultaneously less frequent evidence at the starting sub-level);
 All learners might not be able to demonstrate performance consistently at the next level
by the end of a course, but growth is demonstrated when more are showing more
evidence of that next level.
 Setting a range of performance for the SGO (or state term), such as Novice
High/Intermediate Low, provides a learning target that realistically accommodates
learners’ different profiles of strengths and weaknesses across the three modes of
communication;
 Not all learners will hit the higher target in all modes in the given time period measured,
but growth is indicated when more of each individual’s evidence is at a level higher than
when the learner began the course.
2.
Determine acceptable evidence
Evidence needs to include multiple measures, frequently collected, including portfolios with
samples of student work addressing all three modes of communication and the development of
global competence.
 The NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements and the online LinguaFolio tool provide a
template for collecting a balance of performance evidence that points toward the
targeted proficiency level.
 Highly effective strategies include empowering students to collect, reflect on, and
evaluate the evidence of their own learning.
 The responsibility of collecting data is shared between the learners (collect snapshots of
accomplished language tasks) and the educator who reviews the profile of
demonstrated learning and assists learners in identifying gaps in their language
development that need to be addressed.
 Student input provides evidence of how well learning targets have been communicated
and embedded in instruction.
 Use of assessments developed outside the local institution serve to validate how well
learners are meeting the performance learning targets, and may be carried out
strategically with random groups of students or assessment of different skills at
different points in the program sequence.
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Position Statement on Demonstrating Educator Effectiveness and Documenting Student Growth
3.
Plan learning experiences and instruction
Following the action research model, or a cycle of inquiry, educators use data to improve
student learning. This reflective practice provides another measure of educator effectiveness.
Effective practices include:
 Professional learning communities need to regularly collaborate around data;
 Data coaches and peer coaches provide feedback and guide reflection on that feedback;
 Educators adopt the same approach to provide feedback to learners on progress toward
the learning goals and guide learners’ reflection on what they need to do to improve
their performance;
 Feedback on learning targets informs educators and learners as to the next steps for
instruction and reflection for goal-setting;
 Frequent formative assessment informs curriculum, instruction, and feedback to
learners.
Concluding Statement:
The purpose for documenting student growth is to measure progress toward developing
learners’ global competence, which contributes to building a multi-lingual and multi-cultural
work force that can successfully compete and collaborate in the world. Learning languages is
an integral part of developing learners’ ability to continue learning, be college-, career-, and
world-ready, and be able to participate effectively in diverse communities at home and around
the world. Motivation and engagement are enhanced as language learners reflect on their own
progress and see language as a tool to help better achieve their learning goals and a
professional proficiency. The evidence that can be captured during a period of learning is only
one indicator to demonstrate educator effectiveness. Lifelong learning is the enduring
measure.
References:
TELL Domains
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