Frequently Asked Questions regarding Teacher Evaluations In Dearborn
1. Question: Is the evaluation strictly limited to the goals?
1. Answer: No, all areas in the rubric can be evaluated at year end unless not observed throughout the year. Includes observation protocol, student growth (25%), all standards of the rubric including professional responsibilities and other forms of data that is collected. Ex. parent/student input.
2. Question: What is the difference between growth and achievement data?
2. Answer: Growth data uses a starting point and measures gains overtime. There is usually a pre-test and post test or an annual assessment where data is compared. Achievement data simply measures overall scores of students without taking into consideration pre-test data.
3. Question: What are value added measures?
3. Answer: They capture how much students learn during the school year, thereby putting teachers on a more level playing field. Individual student gains are measured against each other. scores are statistically manipulated to count for other factors that may impact learning, such as SES, ELL, learning disabilities, etc. so that the remaining score is more related directly to the teacher.
4. Question: What if classroom growth and building growth are the same for some teachers? Like, maybe interventionists who don’t have an actual class list?
4.Answer: They would service specific students and they have data. They would create their own data list. They should already be doing that as I know that all interventionist that worked for me were required to both on a building and district basis.
5. Question: What if the district and/or building growth data isn’t available in time for the year end evals?
5. Answer: If it is not available for the current year we will have to use the multiple years of data that is in the state report. Thus the 5% might be behind by a year. However, that is what the state does to us now. The students take the test in October and we get the accountability reports the year after. In the future this is supposed to change but for now we will have to use the most recent available accountability data.
6. Question: Can the 5% be a reflection of the building scorecard instead of the district?
6. Answer: The 5% will be district as this was what the committee wanted to do so that we work together as one district/team.
7. Question: Do we have to have three measures for every single goal?
7. Answer: Multiple measures are recommended in alignment with the MCEE committee but no set amount.
8. Question: Can a goal include both reading and math?
8. Answer: They would probably be separate goals but I guess it would depend on how it is worded.
9. Question: Is a pre-conference required?
9. Answer: Yes, for Plan I but not for Plan II. However a teacher or administrator can always request a pre-conference.
10. Question: Is a post-conference required?
10. Answer: No, however, timely feedback is required per our evaluation document and recommended timelines. Teachers can always request a conference if one is not scheduled. With the use of stages and on-line dialogue some of the feedback is being exchanged electronically. However, a face to face meeting is the recommended best format/method.
11. Question: Does a signature on the evaluation document signify agreement with what is written in the observation or evaluation document?
11. Answer: No, this signifies that an individual has received the document.
12. Question: Should we back date signatures to meet timelines?
12. Answer: No, all timelines are recommended and the date should reflect the actual date of the signature.
13.Question: If a teacher does not receive an evaluation document is the teacher deemed to be effective?
13. Answer: No, it is important that both the teacher and administrator take initiative to complete the evaluation. Both have an equal responsibility.
14. Question: On the plan II documents and year end evaluation, does the administrator fill out all of the forms?
14. Answer: No, the teacher would fill out most of the boxes and the administrator can ask for some changes. This should be completed jointly. However, the box titled administrator comments is only for the administrator and the box titled teacher comments is only for the teacher. Teachers always have the right to submit a written response to their file and so does an administrator.
15. Question: Is attendance weighted in the formula?
15. Answer: No, however, if attendance is a concern the absence verification process should be used. In addition, it is possible to consider attendance in standard 5 but this would be done on an individual basis. This would not be included in most evaluations.
16. Question: The Growth Measures seem complicated, do we have any examples?
16. Answer: Yes, We have examples on the HR website. We do not have a clear direction from the state or the MCEE committee. Thus we will need to create examples and models from our own faculty. We welcome any samples from employees that we can share.
17. Question: Who can give us support in creating student growth data measures?
17. Answer: We are going to ask the curriculum committees to assist with this process and thus we will get input from the curricular experts
18. Question: When using the MEAP as a measure in the schoolwide building growth or the second part of the achievement data, will teachers be using this years test? which would be last year’s students. Correct? Can that data be traced back to a teacher?
18. Answer: We can use the most recent data. You would have to find out where the students were if you using the previous year data for the 10% margin. This can be done via an excel spreadsheet or other software. The MEAP data sheet that you download from the state should have a teacher code as long as you provided one when the students took the test. For the 10% building data you would just take the overall building growth scores(compare means) from each year. The state is coming up with a teacher-student data link.
19. Question: Does the 5% from the district have to be written into the student achievement goal?
19. Answer: no, the committee is working on that. We have some time with that and will send out information.
20. Question: Where will teachers get the final percentage for the district? When will they get it? Who will give it to them?
20. Answer: The committee will get them or the assessment department once we determine the specifics with interpreting the state report card.
21. Question: How can teachers use end of the year assessments to determine their 10% building and 10%classroom when the majority of the assessments are given and should be given after the May 7th deadline?
21. State law calls for multiple years of assessment data. At some point the scores would be used regardless of what teacher evaluation cycle the teacher is currently in. Right now Meap comes out much later in the year and thus we would use the most recent data available. Goals should be written and assessments chosen with the timelines in mind.
22. Question: If teachers assess before this then what does that do to instruction?
22. Answer: Teachers should be assessing all the time to gauge the level of improvement of their students. With summative assessment this just means that we are on a different cycle. ex. if an assessment is used in June then that data can be used for the evaluation for the subsequent year. Teachers will be required to create goals and June data can be relevant for that. Overall, It should be a positive impact because now these assessment would have more direct meaning/impact not just for the students but also for the teachers with a direct correlation to performance evaluations. They would also have the ability to collect the same data sets for both evaluations and the SIP
23. Question: If I am using SRI as part of the language arts team as for the 10% building measure, can I still use my classroom pre and post SRI as my classroom measure?
23. Answer: Yes
24. Question: I am a social studies teacher, can the building 10% be the SRI measure and my social studies pre and post be my classroom?
24. Answer: Yes.
25. Question: I teach the groups of students for one semester, can I set my goal based on one semester growth?
25. Answer: It is recommended to set a goal that includes a percentage growth for each of the groups each semester.
26. Question: Is there a limit to the number of times administrators can enter a classroom for walkthroughs or formal observations?
26. Answer: No, Administrators must complete at least two observations but they can enter classrooms as many times as needed. They may choose to enter certain classroom more frequently than others when concerns arise or when there are areas identified for improvement or professional development
27. Question: Can a teacher appeal an evaluation?
27. Yes, teachers rated ineffective have the right to appeal to the superintendent level per state law. Evaluations are prohibited subjects of bargaining so they would not be subject to contractual grievance protocol. However, a teacher could request to use the non-grievable procedures process if they believed that their evaluation was not accurate. They could use this procedure for any rating. Here is the link to the process. https://humanresources.dearbornschools.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/103/2013/09/plan-of-assistance-finalsummaryform.docx