Welcome to
Lead Evaluator Training 3 –
Feedback and Coaching
June 26, 2012
With Barb Phillips and Pat Walsh
In Focus with Dr. Jon Saphier - “Say
Something”
• What was something that stood out to you as you listened to
Jon?
• If you quoted him, what quote did you choose to bring and
why?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQz69uz
A03Y
• What are you thinking about as you reflect on the clip? How
does it relate to the thinking of your district with respect to
your APPR conversations and your district areas of focus in
your APPR plans?
Leaders will…
• Describe current practices for responding to teacher performance
• Define the characteristics of praise, criticism and feedback
• Explain how feedback is related to Evidence Based Observation and to
the language of the rubric
• Describe how local decisions about scoring observations impact feedback
for improvement
• Use four criteria for evidence to label feedback
• Describe recommended components of action plans to improve
instruction
Thinking back to our earlier Lead Evaluator
work….
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The Third Grade ELL teacher…
The Biology lesson…
The Eighth Grade Social Studies teacher
The Sixth Grade Math teacher
The Ninth Grade Math lesson
The Global Studies lesson
The elementary writing lesson
The Socratic Seminar
The Sixth Grade Science lesson
So many of you wanted to “jump in” and “coach”,
talk with the teacher, respond to their teaching!
This gets to the heart of today!
How do you respond to teacher performance?
What is your current practice?
• The content of written documents?
written or unwritten “rules”?
What is your current practice?
• What is the nature of post-observation?
The evaluator’s role?
The teacher’s role?
We respond in writing or verbally in three
ways to practice.
Global Studies Lesson – Exit Activity for Lead Evaluator
Training 2 Feedback, criticism or praise? Which one is it?
Great job with
student
engagement! I
know you have
been working on
that and it
shows.
Praise
As a building we
have been
stressing
engagement of
students.
Keeping them in
pairs will engage
them more.
Criticism
T- “We are going
to do an activity
called triples
read. In triples,
one person will
read out loud
one column of
the chart, the
other two
students just
listen, and then
the two students
who listened will
verbally
summarize what
they think they
just heard”
Feedback
Praise, Criticism and Feedback
What are the characteristics of each?
Praise is…..
• Expressing approval or commending performance
Why do we praise?
 Build confidence and self-esteem
 Recognition for a job well done
 Positive feeling – tone
 Motivation
Criticism is…..
• Act of judgment – often takes on a negative
connotation
Why do we criticize?
• Frustration
• Feeling-tone
• We think we are changing practice…
• We want to give “constructive” criticism
Feedback is….
• Descriptive
• Specific
• Non-judgmental
Sounds like Evidence
Based Observation!
Adventures in weight training
Great job! Look how far you have come! You haven’t
lifted that much before.
If you keep doing it that way. You will hurt yourself.
When you place your hands on the bars and use this
grip, you will strengthen your trap muscles and not
injure your neck.
Global Studies Lesson – Exit Activity for Lead Evaluator
Training 2 Feedback, criticism or praise? Which one is it?
Great job with
student
engagement! I
know you have
been working on
that and it
shows.
Praise
As a building we
have been
stressing
engagement of
students.
Keeping them in
pairs will engage
them more.
Criticism
T- “We are going
to do an activity
called triples
read. In triples,
one person will
read out loud
one column of
the chart, the
other two
students just
listen, and then
the two students
who listened will
verbally
summarize what
they think they
just heard”
Feedback
I called it
engaged
learning
because the
triples read
put students
in roles
where all
students
were
engaged,
relevant to
your
outcome.
“Feedback is not about praise or blame,
approval or disappointment. Feedback is valueneutral. It describes what you did and did not
do. Praise is necessary but praise only keeps
you in the game. It doesn’t get you better.”
- Grant Wiggins
Feedback is most effective when…
• Recipient makes meaning from it
• It is provided in time to make a difference
• The culture influences perceptions about
improvement
• There is just enough- not too much!
Use the positive power of your position to
influence…
Describe strengths and missed opportunities
By
Giving objective, specific feedback
Based on
Multiple Areas of Performance
For the purpose of
Changing and Improving
Current Practice to
More Skillful Practice
What is the relationship between …
Evidence Based Observation practices we have been
learning and the rubrics your district’s have chosen?
Labeling teacher practice and eventually scoring it depends on the
agreed upon attributes of effective teaching practice and the language
and construct of the rubric.
Quality evidence is….OARS
• Objective and specific – free of bias/opinion,
quantified
• Aligned to indicators/elements of the rubric –
ie: 3.1c –NYSUT – Engages Students
• Representative – Evidence in all areas of
teacher performance
• Sufficient - Enough evidence to make a final
judgment
Teaching and Learning Solutions
Trends in evidence from the Lead Evaluator 2
evidence collection assignment:
• Increased objectivity, however, still some tendency
to summarize and to judge e.g.,
“teacher gave little wait time”
“teacher called on numerous students”
“teacher asked effective questions”
“transition was smooth”
“the objective was posted on the board”
Trends in evidence continued…..
• More balance between teacher words/actions and student
words and actions…keep this up! Especially
quotations….Having this information will help you give more
concrete/meaningful feedback to the teacher.
T -“As a refresher, look at the geography of Greece. How did
that contribute to the rise of city states?”
S – “mountains in Greece that created isolation”
T – “Anything else that created the city states?”
S2 – “surrounded by water”
T – “what’s going to be hindered by the isolation of city states?”
S3 – “isolation”
S4 – “trade”
Trends in evidence continued…
•
1.
2.
3.
4.
You were labeling your evidence correctly when you had to
sort it and label it as:
Check for understanding (all students, relevant observable
behavior so the teacher can see they “got it”)
Engaged learners ( all students, consistently, relevant to the
outcome)
Effective questions (range of questions, all invited to think,
time to think)
4. Teach to an Outcome (all (questions, activities, feedback)
relevant to outcome, time used efficiently)
Quality evidence is….OARS
• Objective and specific – free of bias/opinion,
quantified
• Aligned to indicators/elements of the rubric –
ie: 3.1c –NYSUT – Engages Students
• Representative – Evidence in all areas of
teacher performance – We picked 4 areas – 4 5 pieces of evidence for each area
• Sufficient - Enough evidence to make a final
Teaching and Learning Solutions
judgment –
Ready to observe, “script”, label and give
feedback?
Student engagement - What is the language in your rubric with
respect to student engagement?
Elida Gallegos – ELA Lesson
• Observe and take down evidence
ELA Lesson Outcomes
• Students will use listening, speaking, reading and writing to improve
comprehension
• Students will understand how to use key details to summarize
• Students will work collaboratively to summarize a chapter from the novel,
Bridge to Terabithia
• Students will think creatively
Next steps…
• “clean up” your evidence
• Sort through evidence – What evidence will you use
to give Elida feedback on student engagement?
• Create an additional word document you can sort
this into (copy and paste) or use the paper provided
if you choose
Giving verbal feedback
• What do you notice?
Giving Feedback - Practice
• Principal
• Teacher
• Observer
A B C
B C A
C A B
Gives verbal feedback
• The observer will give “feedback” - What did you
notice specifically about the “principal” as they
conveyed feedback.
Let’s debrief
Gallegos Evidence Collection
• With your partner or small group, review the written
evidence exemplar for Ms. Gallegos and compare it
with your own evidence and labeling
Recommended practices for the teacher improvement
process and planning
Fostering teacher ownership and providing focus and
support
“The principal owns the responsibility for defining the areas where
improvement is needed. The teacher must share ownership for the
development and implementation of the plan.” Michelle Howser
Recommended practices for the teacher
improvement process and planning
Establish Assistance team
• Shares in the setting of goals and developing the plan ( teacher,
primary supervisor, curriculum specialist, teacher mentor)
• Clearly communicates the school’s (districts’) commitment to
improvement and growth
Select Focus area(s)
•Objectively communicate area(s) of teacher’s practice that
are the focus of he plan.
Mrs. Friendly does not frame the learning (both the
objective and the sequence of activities) for students
and does not regularly communicate the reasons for
activities.
Recommended practices for the teacher
improvement process and planning
Develop Performance Goals
• Specific and measurable
Mrs. Friendly will communicate to students the
lesson and unit objectives and the sequence of
lesson and unit events.
Select strategies, Activities/w/timetable
• Targeted directly to goals and specific enough to
be implemented effectively
•They need to be measurable
•They assign the teacher responsibility for doing
the work.
•They specify a timetable
Recommended practices for the teacher
improvement process and planning
Determine need for support structures
Choose data collection sources
What will be collected and who will collect it?
Decide on evidence to document progress
Teacher Improvement Plan
• A way of laying out the process guided by the
recommendations… One Principal’s thinking
• What do the documents and process look like for
you? – District conversation
• Pair-up with colleagues from another district to
share thinking
Next steps….
Upcoming Events…..
• SLO Assessment Development Work
• Lead Evaluator Training – 1 – 3
• Principal evaluation work
• Rubric specific work
• Summer Network Team Institutes
July 9 – 13 and August 13 - 17
“I would like to suggest that the ‘first thing’, the most
important feature of our job description for each of us as
educators, is to discover and provide the conditions under
which people’s learning curves go off the chart. Sometimes
its other people’s learning curves: those of students,
teachers, parents, administrators. But at all times it is our
own learning curve. ’’ 
Roland Barth
Feedback to us on blue sheets.
Thank you so much. See you soon.