Winter Summits Q & As
General Questions about the Professional Growth and Effectiveness System (PGES)
Based on the field test thus far, will this system change or has it already changed since last
July?
Yes. Feedback from the Field Test has informed changes - Student Voice, Self-Reflection,
and Professional Growth Plans are three areas that changed this year. Any adjustments
to the systems are the result of feedback from the field.
Are the Power Point and materials available to us?
We will post the Power Point, handouts and other resources from the summits on the
PGES page on the KDE website.
Has the PGES been passed by the General Assembly? What will happen if the General
Assembly doesn't pass the PGES?
State legislation for PGES has been introduced and is under consideration. If Kentucky
does not create an evaluation to focus on effectiveness and aligned with federal
requirements, the state ESEA/No Child Left Behind waiver is in jeopardy as is more than
$480-million in federal funding.
Does the Teacher Professional Growth and Effectiveness System (TPGES) add additional
paperwork for teachers?
TPGES will occur within CIITS in a module called the Educator Development Suite. The
goal is to create a system that is efficient without adding to the paperwork.
Is TPGES counted in our accountability for the 2013-14 school year?
It is not in accountability in 2013-14, but will be a part of the accountability system in
the 2014-15 schoolyear.
Will you develop a new evaluation system for counselors, librarians, assistant principals,
central office staff, and superintendents?
There is also a Principal PGES system being piloted. Systems for other certified
personnel are being investigated. The commissioner has established a new minimum
requirements for superintendent evaluation plans.
Does "statewide pilot" mean every district will participate and every principal needs to be
certified for the 2013-14 school year?
Each district will select a minimum of 10 percent of its schools to participate (minimum
of one school). Within each participating school, the minimum number of administrators
and teachers participating will be:
Principals: 1
ELA: 1-2
Math: 1-2
ELL/SWD: 1-2
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Non-Assessed: 2-3
The total number of participating teachers per participating school is five to nine. This
represents the minimum participation. Some districts are including more participants in
order to support scaling efforts in their district.
Do the five to nine teachers participating in the statewide pilot at each school need to be
different from those currently participating in the field test?
Districts may select any teachers that they would like for the pilot. Those could be in the
field test, not in the field test or a combination.
Are teachers supposed to donate time to be trained for this?
Teacher leader networks are working with their participants so they can return to
districts to help other teachers understand the system. Professional Learning
Communities can engage in this work during the work day. Training for the new system
should be included in the school/district plans for professional development (PD).
When will the four day “face-to-face” training be?
Planning is still underway for the training but it will be in the summer. In addition, there
are currently training materials online; more training materials (both self-paced and
facilitated) are in development. Education cooperatives have also committed to
supporting statewide implementation by providing regional training.
Student Growth
If a teacher is in a non-assessed area such as kindergarten will a student growth goal need to
be set for the field test year?
All teachers in the field test, both assessed and non-assessed grades and subjects, will
develop student growth goals.
Will multiple measures of student growth be used to evaluate teachers in assessed areas in
addition to the state assessment scores?
The growth measure will consist of a local contribution for all teachers (student growth
goals) and a state contribution for teachers of grades and subjects where state growth
data are available (Student Growth Percentiles).
I am concerned about my teachers that teach in non-assessed subjects? Will they create their
own assessments? Is there an equity issue between teachers in an assessed area and those
that are not and being able to set their own growth goal?
Teacher growth goals in non-assessed subjects will have minimum requirements for the
assessments. Some of these may include common assessments created across a school,
district, region, co-op, etc. The criteria for selecting or developing assessments to be
used in student growth goals are currently in development.
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How do student growth goals work with semester-long classes at the high school level?
Student growth goals are set for the year or the course.
What is an example of a measure that could be used with student growth goals?
Currently, there are several online resources for the development of SGGs. Additional
resources will be provided as field test districts provide additional feedback.
Peer Observation
Who selects the peer observers?
Peer observers are selected by the school or district based on the criteria the school or
district has established for selecting peer observers. Guidance on models for
implementation will be available on the KDE website.
Are peer observers trained in Teachscape as well?
No, peers observers do not have to be certified because they are not evaluating. Their
observations are for feedback only. However, while certification is not required of peer
observers, the Teachscape system provides valuable training for observers - peer or
otherwise.
Does the principal see the peer observers notes and feedback?
In the current field test, the principal does not see the peer observers notes and
feedback. That feedback is formative and only for the teacher.
How will we pay for peer observers' training days and subs for their classes when they are
observing?
In the current field test, peer observers can get PD for training and observe on their
planning period. However, districts will need to establish a peer observation process
that works within their context. Models for peer observer implementation will be
available on the KDE website.
How often will observations be conducted?
The Teacher Effectiveness Steering Committee will be making recommendations on the
frequency of observations conducted by adminsitrators as well as peers.
How many peer observers should schools have next year?
That is a district option based on what each district feels works best for them. A district
may want one peer observer for each teacher in the pilot. Another district may want to
assign one peer observer to multiple teachers. Others may have a teacher serve dual
roles in collaboration with a second teacher with both being observed by the other and
both observing the other. Ultimately, each district has flexibility when it comes to this
decision.
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Student Voice Survey
Who administers the student survey?
Teachers have administered Student Voice. This can be a local decision. The Student
Voice implementation guide and resources are on the Student Voice page of the PGES
area of the KDE website.
How often will students complete the Student Voice Survey?
The student voice survey will occur once a year.
Is there an existing on-line version of the student survey that our district could use this year?
The Student Voice Survey will be administered through Infinite Campus (IC) and is
available for all schools to use. The student portal in IC must be turned on.
What if you are not a pilot district for the student voice survey? Can we still gain access in
Infinite Campus?
Current field test districts can provide access to the Student Voice survey to all their
teachers. For the 2013-14 statewide pilot, all teachers will be invited to participate in
the Student Voice Survey in IC. A copy of the Student Voice survey is available on the
KDE website and districts are encouraged to share broadly with their teachers.
Is there a student voice survey for K-2 teachers?
We are still investigating a tool for K-2 surveys outside of Infinite Campus.
How will teachers get results of Student Voice Surveys?
Student Voice results will be available to teachers in CIITS in a new module called
Educator Development Suite (EDS).
How will the student surveys be administered?
Surveys will be conducted through IC Student Portal.
How do you gather student voice for those teachers who are itinerant for a district (speech,
hearing impaired, vision, OT, PT)?
The Student Voice Survey is designed to provide classroom teachers with feedback.
Currently, there is no Student Voice survey for teachers who are not considered the
teacher of record. However, KDE is working with stakeholder groups to develop
effectiveness systems for other certified professionals.
Has anyone done the student voice part with P-2? How was this managed?
The Student Voice survey is not designed for P-2; however, the developers of the Tripod
survey are working to draft a Student Voice survey to include all primary grades.
Will schools/districts be able to use a different survey for student voice?
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By adopting the Kentucky Professional Growth and Effectiveness System, districts are
adopting the instruments and measures used within the system.
Principal Professional Growth and Effectiveness System (PPGES)
When will the Principal Professional Growth and Effectiveness System be available?
Principal Effectiveness is in field test now and is rolling out parallel to the Teacher
Growth and Effectiveness System. Next year, all districts will participate in the Principal
Growth and Effectiveness System using the following criteria:
- 10 percent of the principals within the district will participate in the 2013-14
statewide Principal Growth and Effectiveness System pilot
What positions at the district level will need to receive the principal evaluation training? Is it
done through Teachscape?
Training on the Principal Growth and Effectiveness System will be for superintendents
and/or central office plus principal. There is no observation certification for
Superintendents, thus the training will not be done through Teachscape. Teachscape is
required only for classroom observation certification for the Teacher Professional
Growth and Effectiveness System.
When will training for the PPGES occur?
PPGES training is in development. Information will be coming as soon as possible.
Do the Continuous Instructional Improvement Technology System (CIITS) and Teachscape
have the ability to communicate?
Teachscape is for observer certification only. Once a principal is certified through the
Teachscape process, observations will be conducted through the EDS module within
CIITS. The two systems are designed for different purposes and do not need to
communicate.
Do we already have access to Teachscape?
Yes. Teachscape licenses are available through KASA; email - shirley@kasa.org. The
Early Bird special is $349 until June 30; it is $399 beginning July 1.
Principal Observation Certification
What is the pass rate for principals who have completed the training?
The current pass rate is 93.9 percent. As of Feb.22, 2013, 139 principals and
administrators out of 148 have attempted and successfully passed the Proficiency exam.
What are the scoring criteria for passing the exams/assessments? What percentage must we
get correct to pass?
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Participants must score 143 out of 205 (approximately 70 percent correct).
What is the deadline for principals to pass observation certification for next year’s pilot?
Observers must be certified prior to conducting observations, so deadlines for observer
certification are driven by observation windows. Districts should anticipate the first
observation window will occur on or near September 1-October 15 for the 2013-14
statewide pilot. Participating principals will need to be certified prior to this date range.
What window of time should principals allow for themselves in preparing and becoming
certified?
Principals should allow 18-36 hours for module completion in Teachscape. Each
assessment should be 3-6 hours. There are two assessments that principals must
complete.
Is there a time limit from the time a principal begins the assessment to completion?
Principals have one calendar year to pass the two assessments. If a principal does not
pass the assessment the first time, he or she will be given feedback through the system
and provided a second opportunity to pass the assessments. If the principal does not
pass the assessments the second time, he or she will be locked out of the system for a
period of 90 days.
If the license itself is good for a year, how long does principal certification last?
The length of certification for individuals who pass has still not been finalized, but
current conversations revolve around a 3-year certification with a yearly refresher. The
refresher would prevent drift, but would not be as extensive as the certification process.
Is there a point at which a principal, who fails the test twice, must pay the fee again?
If proficiency isn't completed in one calendar year, a new license would need to be
purchased to allow access to Teachscape.
Will principals need to be re-certified annually through the proficiency system? Will there be
an addition yearly cost for yearly updates?
Currently there is anticipation that rater drift is likely. To address this, a recertification
for principals is expected. It will not require the same type of cost or time as initial
certification. Teachscape and Danielson are providing guidance on this to KDE and other
states at this time.
Waiver and Other Questions
Is there is a district that has a good plan in place?
Districts are not required to submit their evaluation plan to KDE for approval until
December 15, 2013.
Will Program Review growth be part of the applicable teachers' multiple measures?
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Program Review data are at a school level, not at the teacher level. However, because
evidence supporting a school's Program Review rating is the result of student learning in
classrooms, the aggregate evidence of student growth goals for those subject areas
should serve naturally as the evidence for Program Review ratings.
Would evaluation include non-tenured and a few tenured teachers each year or all teachers
every year? Will every teacher have to be evaluated every year or continue the schedule we
currently follow (tenure teachers every three years)
The Teacher Effectiveness Steering Committee has not made a recommendation for this
yet. However, current conversations revolve around a three-year evaluation cycle
(minimum) for tenured teachers, and a yearly evaluation cycle for non-tenured
teachers.
What happens with tenured teachers who do not demonstrate student growth and evidence
shows them to be ineffective?
Local districts will follow their systems of supporting teacher growth through PGES.
Will there be a waiver for the local district evaluation process during next year's pilot?
Districts will use their current evaluation system for those teachers within their
evaluation cycle. As much as possible, districts should select teachers to participate in
the statewide pilot who are not in their summative cycle. However, because the
proposed system does not yet provide a summative rating, districts will be using two
systems for the 2013-14 year: one for the pilot and one for evaluation purposes.
How active will cooperatives be in training teachers during the pilot year 2013-14?
Through a strong partnership with KDE, the cooperatives are committed to providing
regional support for the implementation of the statewide pilot.
Districts need guidance in working with their evaluation committees on the roll out of this
system; where can we gain this assistance?
Currently, a large amount of information is posted to the PGES pages of the KDE
website. This includes training from last summer as well as PGES Updates. Training
opportunities will continue to roll out in electronic and face-to-face options over the
next few months.
Concern: Technology is inconsistent across the state affecting student instruction. How can
we have consistent evaluations when some teacher can't access the same materials?
Teacher evaluations are based on the teacher, not the technology available to the
teacher. Not all districts have the same types of technology, textbooks, graduation
requirements, etc. However, effective teaching can still be observed in all classrooms.
I see dollar signs associated with training, dollar signs associated with assessments...but
fewer funds. Any plans to restore PD funding?
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This is a legislative question; however, KDE is committed to working toward greater
flexibility of funds related to professional development.
We have talked a lot about data today. What impact does this evaluation system have on
improving student achievement? More specifically, what was the impact on student
achievement for the Kentucky teachers that were involved in the 2011-12 pilot?
The current research design seeks to identify correlations between each measure and
student achievement. As soon as these correlations are available, KDE will disseminate
the results to the field.
Is the Kentucky Teacher Internship Program (KTIP) process of evaluations going to be in line
with the new PGES?
KDE and EPSB are in discussion about this now. The goal is to ensure teachers have a
seamless, integrated systems of support based on individual teacher needs.
Is there a checklist of recommended activities to be done for the statewide pilot?
A timeline is in development and will be posted very soon.
Is there a summative evaluation with this new system?
The summative rating is not in place at this time. The Teacher Effectiveness Steering
Committee will be making recommendations based on data from the field test and the
statewide pilot.
How is a principal to manage the different training components needed to evaluate APs, SLP,
counselor, preschool?
Currently, principals will be required to be trained on the teacher and principal
effectiveness systems. Evaluation of other certified personnel is a district decision.
Has anyone monitored the average time needed per teacher for each component of this
process?
Focus groups conducted during the 2012-13 field test should provide some data around
this topic. As those data are available, they will be shared with the field.
At the last meeting that we attended, it was stated that only K-8 teachers would receive
growth percentiles. Will high school teachers receive them?
The ESEA/No Child Left Behind waiver requires that, where state data are available, they
must be used in the system. KDE is investigating how the available state data at the high
school level can provide growth data for teachers in those grades and subjects.
If it is a one-on one-survey with an adult, how much time and manpower will that require?
Focus groups conducted during the 2012-13 field test should provide some data around
this topic. As those data are available, they will be shared with the field.
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