3/20/12
As a follow-up, how would an itinerant teacher (working across DISTRICTS--perhaps a
BOCES employee) create an SLO? Who would be the evaluator responsible for planning
the SLO with the teacher?
Can a district tie a teacher’s SLO to an SLO for a different grade?
For example, could a 9th grade Global Studies teacher’s SLO be the same as the SLO for the
10th grade teacher?
In this example, each year, there would be no unique assessment for the 9 th grade teacher?
If the answer is yes to this, could that “rule” be extrapolated to ELA 9 and 10 ; that is the
SLO for the 9th and 10th grade teachers are the same as that of the 11th grade teacher? (no
unique 9th or 10th grade assessment, nor performance target).
3/19/12
As a follow-up to the question about a teacher shared across buildings, would it be safe
to say that the principal with the most students involved in the teacher's SLO would be
the principal assigned to plan with the teacher/assess the SLO?
3/14/12
When we consider student population, are we REALLY considering student by student data?
This is not what was reflected in the Spanish example that has been posted on EngageNY.
This also seems to be incongruent with the “Purple Memo.”
Teachers should consider student by student data in order to make a rigorous SLO target. Principals are
more interested in seeing the aggregate data to determine if a teacher has met his/her target.
3/2/12
Does a push in “consultant special education teacher” receive a growth score for students in
grades 4-8 ELA and Math in 2011-2012?
If no, would they next year?
Or do they have a SLO?
If they have a SLO, are the objectives to be aligned with the IEP or with a state test?
Is this teacher in the classroom with the teacher as a co-teacher or is this a push-in/pull-out model? If
the former, the two teachers will have the same growth score. If the latter, the teacher will have SLOs
focused on the area they push-in/pull-out for, and it may be more appropriate for the teacher to have a
school-wide, group, or team measure based on state assessments. Please see:
http://usny.nysed.gov/rttt/teachers-leaders/slo/home.html. IEPs cannot be used for APPR purposes.
2/27/12 (sent to Engageny.org)
Could graduation rates be considered a valid measure for the local assessment piece of a
teacher evaluation? We have a district in our area considering this. We are just looking for
validation that it is acceptable.
2/24/12
We have 12:1:1 classrooms at our MS and HS. All the students are NYSAA. My
understanding is the teachers would have 1 SLO for NYSAA and 1 SLO for Math,
English, Science and Social Studies
For the content level classes they teach would they use a local assessment or a 3rd
party assessment. If 3rd party, would they use the same assessment for all four
content areas?
Teachers with students who all take the NYSAA will have 1 SLO for NYSAA and then additional SLOs are
set based on the subject area taught (i.e., 1 SLO for ELA and 1 SLO for Math along with the SLO for
NYSAA). The assessment options for the other subject areas are as follows:
-
State assessment (or Regent equivalents) [must use if State assessment exists]
-List of State-approved 3rd party assessments
-District, regional, or BOCES-developed assessments provided that the District or BOCES
verifies comparability and rigor
-School- or BOCES-wide, group or team results based on State assessments
2/23/12 (sent to Engageny.org)
1. Is the rubric used to create the ENTIRE score for the 60 points--or is it used to
create a part of the 60 points?
2. Do you have to give a "score" for each indicator of the rubric?
3. In scoring the rubrics, can a school provide a holistic score for the entire
document--or does each indicator within a domain have to be leveled (4-3-2-1)?
4. Does every rubric domain need to be addressed or can a domain be eliminated
or stated as N/A?
2/23/12
Can a district use the identical test for a pre and post measure for a SLO?
Yes, if that is what the superintendent decides.
2/16/12
1. How do SLO’s work for teachers who are shared across buildings? Are these
treated any differently…or would we still look at the teacher’s entire student
population (across buildings) to ensure that at least 50% of the teacher’s
total population is accounted for using SLO or a SPGS?
2. How will SLO’s work for teachers such as AIS teachers—who on BEDS day
often have a much different student population than they do throughout the
school year? Often, these teachers have student populations that change
frequently based on need. How will this be dealt with?
3. Do professionals such as guidance counselors and speech therapists—who fall
under a teacher’s contract—need SLOs? If so, what type of assessment
would be used in their SLOs?
Please see:
http://usny.nysed.gov/rttt/teachers-leaders/fieldguidance.pdf for
information as to who is covered under APPR. Please see:
http://usny.nysed.gov/rttt/teachers-leaders/slo/ for further details and
guidance on SLOs.
1.
For teachers who work across buildings, you would look at the entire
student population to ensure that at least 50% of course sections taught
(starting with those with the largest numbers of students) are covered.
AIS teachers may eventually have state-provided growth scores depending
on teacher of record rules for dosage * until then, AIS teachers will
have SLOs. If your AIS teachers see many different students, you may
wish to consider the use of school-wide, group, or team results based on
State assessments if that is more applicable; or use collaborative
goal-setting with classroom teachers.
2/10/12
The "Assessment Options for SLOs" Reference Guide states:
For 9-12 Core Subjects, Regents Subjects and Regents Equivalents
Core Subjects: High school ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies courses associated in
2010-11 with Regents or, in the future, with other State assessments must use a State
assessment as evidence if one exists (or Regents equivalents). If not, SLO must use
assessment from list of State-approved 3rdparty assessments and Regents
equivalents.
I have highlighted the last sentence -- please confirm that this means (or does not mean)
that assessments must be purchased from the list for all the core subjects in HS except
those with a state test.
I know that you have received this question repeatedly. We REALLY need clarity on this
because of the enormous budget implications on schools.
2/7/12
You addressed the first part of question #1, but not the second part. Who is counted at
the end of the year? I realize it would not include students not currently enrolled, but
what about those new to enrollment? Are they accounted for--even partially? Please
clarify.
All of the students who are included in the SLO at the start of the year and who are still
in the course/section at the end of the year are included. Further, during the year, new
arrivals should be included in a new SLO if the previous SLOs no longer cover a
majority (*50%) of the students.
2/6/12
When counting students in classes, at what point in the year does the enrollment count
start in order to compute where the SPGL or SLO is required? Do only the students
who are in that count actually count toward your goal...meaning, if you start the year
with 25 students, only those same students remaining at the end of the year (likely 18
or fewer in Binghamton) would be counted in terms of growth?
Your SLO should include all students in the course as of BEDS day. If student drop out
of the course by the end of the year, the SLO will only take into account those that are
in the course still.
We are told that we are required to use a 3rd party assessment for some SLO's. When
looking at the list of approved 3rd party assessments, it is clear that many of these
assessments take time to be "scored" by the company. How will this "turn-around"
time be factored into an SLO? Will the assessment need to be administered much
earlier in the school year than the actual "end" of the year?
With 3rd party assessments, districts will have a number of timing issues to work out
with evaluations. We encourage districts to speak directly with their vendors about
these situations.
OK...what happens if the courses are semestered and start in late January?
If a course is a semester long then the teacher will have SLOs that are set at the start
of each semester.
If a teacher has a fall course and a spring course of the same
course (i.e. Health) are they considered two different courses because the assessment
is given at a different time even though it might be the same assessment?
If a teacher is teaching different students in the fall than in the spring then the teacher
would have 2 SLOs: 1 SLO for their fall students and 1 SLO for their spring students.
SLOs measure the growth of students in a course over two points in time, while this
teacher may use the same final assessment for the students in both semesters, these
are different groups of students that will have a pre-test and post-test.
If considered different courses and the teacher has 51 students
in the fall and 49 students in the spring, is one SLO for the fall the only one necessary?
No. See above. The teacher will have 1 SLO for the 51 students that start in the fall and
end in the winter and a second SLO will be set for the students that start in the winter
and end in the spring.
Instead of standards, could a district initiative be the learning content instead?
I am not sure what you mean by a “district initiative, however the rules for SLOs
require that the learning content include Common Core, State, or National Standards.
In some grades/subject areas, District leaders may decide that certain power standards
are most representative of the most important learning for the year/semester of that
course.
Can you use the interval determined by the assessment - i.e.
NYSAA (February), 3rd grade ELA/math (April)? And if you use this interval, is it
appropriate to have a lower target because of the amount of time available for
instruction?
No. The interval of instruction time is one academic year, or semester, depending on
the course. The SLO is using learning content that represents the most important
learning for the year. The target should always be rigorous and ambitious and represent
an adequate amount of student learning for the interval of instruction. The District may
wish to set the targets for certain grades/subjects based upon rate of progress norms,
when available/appropriate.
For Kindergarten, maybe 1st grade and the subjects that may
have a performance assessment, is there a way to create/write an assessment so that
someone besides the teacher can administer and score without having the skills and
knowledge of the teacher * i.e. assessment for K will probably be one on one with
student * possibly an aide would administer and score assessment. Art or phys ed. *
the growth should be in the performance task * what are ways that it can be
administered and scored if not by the teacher of record? Is it okay, if there were
multiple teachers, if the assessment was broken up into parts that each teacher would
score one part of all students * then all the parts would be combined for a composite
score * at least for the baseline assessment?
K-2 teachers must all have an SLO for ELA and an SLO for Math. There are a number of
different assessment options that can be used as evidence of student learning within
the SLO. An approved 3rd party assessments, a District/BOCES developed assessment,
school or teacher created assessment are all examples of assessments that could be
used within an SLO for State growth for these teachers. If a teacher in Kindergarten
only teaches art or physical education, then they will have an SLO for their particular
subject area focus. If a performance task is created by the District/BOCES or the
teacher, for example, then the assessment cannot be scored by the teacher of record
for the students. Other teachers may assess the students’ final assessments. As noted
in 30.2.3(b) (3), each District's/BOCES' APPR plan must describe the assessment
development, security, and scoring processes utilized by the school district or BOCES.
The processes must ensure that any assessments are not disseminated to students
prior to the administration and that teachers do not have a vested interest in the
outcome of the assessments they score.
Special Ed and General Ed should have the same target (according to the special ed
people we asked). However, the percentage of students that make that target may be
less for special ed.
Special education and general education teachers in co-teaching classrooms must have
the exact same growth measures for the State portion. The target for students may be
differentiated based on the starting point; however, targets should be differentiated
based on baseline starting points and not because of any special education
classification. Further, all students that take a course/section that is covered by the SLO
must be included in the SLO; teachers cannot leave certain students out of the target,
although they may decide to differentiate the target based on starting points.
Most if not all of the people asked what a reasonable target would be. Are there any
guidelines on targets?
The setting of ambitious and rigorous targets is something that District leaders will
need to determine. In some instances, District leaders may determine targets based on
growth progress norms for the grade/subject. In other instances, the District may be
using an approved 3rd party assessment that provides expected targets. Further,
District leaders may wish to determine what the minimum expected growth is (e.g., 1
year grade level growth as a minimum). These are all decisions, however, that District
leaders will need to make prior to principals and teachers getting started on the SLO
work.
When there are more than one score being collected, how do you determine their
weight *do they have to be proportionate or can one be weighted more heavily than
the others? The math needs to make sense.
Each SLO will be weighted proportionately based on the number of students included in
both SLOs. The scores from the two SLOs will combine into one overall growth
component score (0-20 points). Please see the SLO Guidance document (beginning on
page14) and the SLO Road Map for further details:
http://engageny.org/news/student-learning-objectives/
It (SLO) must be specific and measurable, based on available prior student learning
data. When it states prior, is that referring to the baseline that is to be described in the
SLO?
Prior refers to as much historical data as possible (i.e., prior course results) as well as
the baseline data from the current course.
In the case of course with labs, do the students count once toward the count to
establish the 50% or twice?
If the students in the course are the same ones as those in the lab (and the lab is
associated with the course) then the teacher will have 1 SLO to cover the students in
the course and the lab. The teacher must cover 50%+ of his/her students so if the
majority of students are in the course/lab combination then any electives do not require
an SLO for the State growth; however, the District may wish to consider covering those
students under locally-selected measures.
In the definition of SLO at the top of page4, it states that it will be based on standards
as well as any other school and district priorities but the examples of what the basic
elements include states that the learning content is based on specific standards. Do the
school and district priorities go here (or instead of) with the standards as long as they
are measurable?
SLOs are based on standards (CCSS, State, or National). The District’s academic
priorities and needs are used to inform the SLO, particularly the amount of growth
expected. The District may decide they wish to take the SLO template and include an
additional row for District and School priorities and fill that in for teachers ahead of
time.
Interval of Time (if not a year, rationale for semester/quarter/etc)?
SLOs are generally a year long, unless a teacher teaches a semester/quarter long
course.
NYSAA assessment is assessed in February. Is it appropriate for the interval of time to
be September and February? Grade 3 ELA and Math is in April. Is it appropriate for the
interval of time to be September and April?
The interval of instruction is always one academic year for an SLO, regardless of when
the assessment is given. Districts will have to consider how test results and their
evaluation cycles can work together.
Page 6
LOCALLY SELECTED MEASURES (20%) verifies comparability or rigor. Is it really or”
instead of and?
That is an error. Thank you for pointing this out to us: it should read and, not or.”
Page 7
Because of the financial restraints the districts are under, is it possible that schools be
able to create their own assessments in those grades/subjects instead of purchasing a
third-party product (i.e. 6-7 science & 6-8 social studies)? Right now there are only
two choices for 6th grade social studies - one isn't aligned to the standards and the
other one doesn't have the assessment completed at this time(even when they do have
them completed, at $35.00 per student, it will be cost prohibitive to purchase this
product).
We were told that SED is asking the vendors to certify that their product is aligned to
the standards. Are you also asking them to certify the extent in which they are
aligned? Districts find all of the time that vendors state that their product is aligned to
the standards but in actuality, their product doesn’t contain all of the standards,
sometimes this includes the omission of some of the most important learning
objectives. If a district determines the most important learning standards for a year for
a subject/grade in which the approved 3rd party vendors don’t cover, may they create
their own assessment to cover those learning objectives and not use an assessment
they have to pay for that won’t give them the data that is needed?
Within the State growth portion, all core subjects that do not have a State assessment
currently available will have to use a 3rd party assessment off of the State approved
list. Core subjects are defined as the following: 6-8 science and social studies, high
school ELA, math, science and social studies courses associated in 2010-11 with
Regents exams or, in the future, with other State assessments. Also, where a State
assessment exists for a course, but there is no State-provided growth measure, the
State assessment must be used as evidence within the SLO (e.g., 3rd grade ELA/Math,
4th grade Science, NYSAA). Districts must use an approved 3rd party assessment from
the State list for grades 6-8 Social Studies and 6-7 Science.
Please see http://engageny.org/resource/student-learning-objectives-webinar-series/
for resources that can help District leaders to determine which assessments will be used
for grades and subjects that have SLOs. Also, please see
http://usny.nysed.gov/rttt/teachers-leaders/assessments/ for a full list of NYSED’s
currently approved 3rd party assessments.
Further, assessments included in the List of Assessments were required by the RFQ to
be aligned to the current New York State Learning Standards (adopted in 2005).
Beginning in school year 2012-13, student achievement expectations in ELA and
mathematics for grades 3-8 will be based on the New York State P-12 Common Core
Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy and Mathematics and
applicable assessments in grades 3-8and Algebra I (“Regents Integrated Algebra”) that
year will test achievement of these standards. Vendors who have assessments on the
List of Assessments for school year 2011-12 must submit alignment charts (if they have
not done so already) that show the assessment is aligned to the standards that are in
effect for the applicable grade/subject for a given year. The List of Assessments will be
updated to reflect the assessments’ status regarding alignment with theP-12 Common
Core Learning Standards.
Page 10
In table under Growth is State-provided Growth or Value-added Measure”
What does and is > minimum N size required for valid result mean?
There will be minimum numbers of students required for a growth score to be
generated. The specific number will be determined by NYSED in consultation with the
provider of the growth and/or value-added model based on empirical and policy
considerations.
In table under Comparable SLO for Growth Requirements
What does School-wide, group or team SLO based on State assessment growth may
substitute or supplement any of the below outside Core subjects mean?
Outside of core subject areas, school-wide, group or team results based on State
assessments may be used within an SLO for the State growth measure. Please see
page 12 of the SLO Guidance Documents for how this could work.
Page 11
In table under Growth is State-provided Growth or Value-added
Measure or Comparable SLO for Growth Requirements.
When referring to “Core Subjects: High school ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies
courses associated in 2010-11 with Regents or, in the future, with other State
assessments must use a State assessment as evidence if one exists (or Regents
equivalents). If not, SLO must use assessment from list of State-approved 3rdparty
assessments and Regents equivalents. “ mean? Does this mean that the only
assessments that must come from a 3rd party vendor are Algebra, Geometry, Algebra
II/Trig, ELA 11, World History, US History, Earth Science, Living Environment,
Chemistry, and Physics if no state assessment is available because of funding?
This means that if for any reason a Regents exam were not available for any of these
core subjects, then an approved 3rd party assessment would need to be used. There
are Regents exams currently available for these courses.
Currently, does Teachers with a Mix of Sections/Courses With/Without State-Provided
Growth Measures refer to only those teachers teaching grades 4-8 ELA and math?
This refers to teachers who teach some 4-8 ELA/Math courses and some additional
areas (e.g., 7th grade Math and 7th grade Science).
What does “As applicable, NYSED has teacher of record rules for dosage mean for any
push-in, pull-out (AIS, SWD, ESL etc) “
NYSED is developing with districts the capability to track multiple teachers of record for
students and to associate a share of instructional time or dosage” to the push-in or
pull-out teachers for evaluations conducted in the 2012-2013 school year and
thereafter.
2/2/12
We have the following scenarios where we could use some guidance as to what (if any) SLO would have
to be employed.
High school resource teacher with a total of 25 students
 2 groups of 9th grade students
 2 groups of 10th grade students
 1 group of 11th/12th grade students
K-6 art teacher with a total of 480 students
 4 sections of K (80 students)
 4 sections of 1st grade (100 students)
 4 sections of 2nd grade (100 student)
 3 sections of 3rd grade (90 students)
 4 sections of 4th grade (110 students)
th
5 and 6th grade AIS/reading teacher with a total of 80
students
 6 groups of 5th grade students who meet every
other day (35 students total)
11th
 6 groups of 6th grade students (45 students total)
grade special education teacher
 2 sections of co-taught ELA (class size 20 each
with 6 SWD in each)
 3 sections of 11th grade resource room (total of 15
students)
K-6 instrumental music teacher
 4th grade lessons (30 students who meet once per
week in lessons of 3 students each)
 5th grade band (35 students who meet every other
day)
 5th grade lessons (35 students who meet once per
week in lessons of 5 students each)
 6th grade band (35 students who meet every other
day)
 6th grade lessons (35 students who meet once per
week in lessons of 5 students each)
Middle-level library/media specialist (600 students in
school)
 5th grade classes (150 students attend library
class once per week in 6 groups of 25)
 6th – 8th grade students use library as needed or
as scheduled in conjunction with teachers.
A resource room teacher and the AIS teacher will have SLOs for their subject area focus, or a District
may wish to consider having these teachers use an SLO with a school-wide, group, or team result based
on State assessment, or set a collaborative goal with classroom teachers.
This K-6 art teacher will set SLOs for their largest sections until 50%+ of their students are covered. In
this case, they would have 1 SLO for the 4th grade sections; 1 SLO for the 2nd grade sections; 1 SLO for
the 1st grade sections. The District may wish to cover the other sections under local, but that is a local
decision.
The 11th grade special education co-teacher will have the same growth measure as the general
education teacher. If this is a Regents course, the SLO will use the Regents assessment as evidence of
student learning.
K-6 -- are the students in band the same as lessons? If so, the teacher should have 1 SLO for each
grade.
Middle level library teacher -- 1 SLO for the 5th grade class, or a District may wish to consider having
these teachers use an SLO with a school-wide, group, or team result based on State assessment, or set a
collaborative goal with classroom teachers.