Winter 2002
All students have the right to be taught by competent teachers who have a clear understanding of how students learn and who have been provided with the appropriate resources of instructional materials and on-going professional development. Certainly, educational leaders have the responsibility to provide teachers with tangible support that will lead to improvements in their teaching.
The move to standards based education (SBE) has led to a shift in our assumptions about the role of teachers and students, as SBE holds students, teachers and schools accountable for results. Students are held accountable for their work through multiple measures of performance, while teachers are held accountable for the quality of student work and the continuous improvement in student performance.
In addition, Massachusetts has taken significant steps to implement rigorous standards based teaching and learning and to hold students, teachers, and administrators accountable. For example, the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks establish the standards for student learning and performance, while the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests measure student knowledge and skills. Additionally, the “Principles of Effective Teaching” can be used to guide teacher supervision and evaluation, which, in turn, assists teachers in the improvement of their effectiveness in the classroom.
Current models of supervision and evaluation de-emphasize the role of the evaluator as an observer and, instead, emphasize the role of the teacher as a reflective practitioner. Central to these models is the importance of continuous improvement - both for the student and the teacher, because teachers must reflect on their work from a variety of perspectives if they expect to continually modify what they do and what they ask students to do. Collaboration, teaming, self-reflection, peer review, mentoring, and coaching are critical components of professional development efforts to improve teaching. Schools that foster a culture structured around results and continuous improvement offer the capacity to enhance student achievement and teacher professional growth.
Through the support of efforts to improve curriculum and instructional leadership, MASCD is committed to the improvement of teaching and learning. In this issue of FOCUS, we present and discuss practices that MASCD believes will successfully contribute to an effective model of supervision and evaluation that promotes teacher reflection on student performance and achievement.
As we think about the issue of high quality teaching and models of supervision and evaluation, MASCD poses some questions that educators need to resolve. MASCD believes that an on-going focus on student results leads to continuous improvement in teaching.
1. Should the quality of student work and the growth in student performance serve as one way to judge teacher performance?
We need to define what is meant by quality. What are the standards for student performance? How do we measure growth in performance and what are the exemplars of quality work? Should we hold teachers accountable when students fail to demonstrate growth in learning? Teachers should have a clear understanding of what students need to know and be able to do, as well as a clear plan for gathering evidence of student learning.
2. How can student work be used to shape teacher performance?
On-going discussions by teachers about their students' work can provide teachers important information about the results of their instruction. When teachers reflect on what and how students learn and modify their instruction accordingly, better teaching and learning occur. Such feedback can serve as an effective tool for teacher improvement. What can we learn from the results of a particular assessment or the examples of student work? What evidence do we have that students understand what has been taught? What teaching strategies contribute to successful learning and understanding? What impact does the inclusion of student work have on the process of supervision and evaluation?
3. Should varying approaches to teacher supervision be employed at different stages in a teacher's career? And, if so, when is it most appropriate for a teacher to reflect on student work?
The professional needs of teachers vary considerably, but teachers at all stages need to feel supported as they work and grow professionally. Mentoring and coaching are critical elements of professional growth and development. Ultimately, each teacher needs to become self-reflective about his/her work. How can we help teachers reach that goal through student work? Do we first need to teach mentors and coaches how to use discussions and reflections on student work as a technique of professional development? How many of our schools currently have veteran teachers formally using the examination of student work to reflect on their teaching? How often does it occur? What do the elements and procedures of this type of professional development look like in practice? Are there more ways than one to examine student work? Are some ways better than others?
4. What conditions should exist in schools in order to allow the use of student work as the basis for judgments about teacher performance?
Teachers need to feel equally comfortable with a discussion about student performance and a discussion of effective teaching strategies. How do we have conversations about student performance that lead to improvements in teaching practice? What are the elements of school climate that promote an emphasis on reflective teaching? School climate is an important variable in the success of student performance. Schools that emphasize collaboration, teaming, collegiality, and reflective teaching are more apt to develop the conditions necessary for teachers to feel comfortable about discussing and sharing their students' work. There needs to be an expectation that teachers are self-reflective about teaching and the student work that results. What models of professional development promote productive reflection on student work?
5. Can a focus on the use of student work as a measure of teacher performance lead to an improvement in student achievement?
We need to agree on the exemplars of quality student work so that teachers can be taught to analyze student work in order to determine ways to improve instruction. When teachers view the growth in student performance as their responsibility, teachers need to align lessons and student work with curriculum frameworks and assessment. Teachers will also need to design work for students that is engaging and satisfying and that results in student learning.
A comprehensive supervision and evaluation system is composed of many interacting elements that complement and reinforce one another. Together, these elements contribute to a culture of continuous improvement of teaching and guard against ineffective instruction.
A comprehensive supervision and evaluation system includes:
The use of student work as part of teacher supervision and evaluation is only one of many elements in the process. In the summary below student work is highlighted in order to indicate its value to the whole enterprise.
Both school systems described below provide a comprehensive handbook with forms and rubrics so that teachers can see how the parts are articulated and what is expected of them and their supervisors.
Montgomery County Public Schools (MD) have developed an evaluation system (2001) designed to “elevate learning results for all students…by improving the teaching of all teachers, not some.”
The system supports and contributes to a culture of continuous improvement and includes as one of the components of teacher growth the use of student results from state tests, departmental exams, class tests, written papers, quizzes and project work as data to modify practice. “Teachers set quantifiable learning outcomes for students and hold the students and themselves accountable for meeting those objectives…a teacher’s analysis of student results is an integral part of a teacher’s final evaluation summary.” Also included in the analysis are the numbers of students who are promoted or those who are at risk who show they are now focused and learning, as well as student attendance.
Coventry Public Schools’ (RI) evaluation system (September 2000) is “governed by what the individual does every day…and allows for multiple forms of assessment in documenting competency and growth…of which student performance is one form. It is reflective of the actual work of teachers…to improve the craft and the practice of the profession.”
The process is based as much as possible on a body of research that seeks to identify principles of effective practice and classroom organization, which maximize student learning and promote student engagement.
For more information contact the Coventry Public Schools, 401-822-9400
Looking at Student Work (LASW) is a project of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform. Check their web site for ways in which teachers:
An example is the “tuning protocol” where teachers bring a student paper or a video of a student's performance and discuss it with a group of colleagues, starting with a description, followed by a focusing question, discussion, feedback, reflection and debriefing.
Evaluation Checklist
Does the district's evaluation process include the following?
A four year evaluation/professional development cycle
An alternative to the four-year evaluation cycle if the supervisor determines that there are concerns about a teacher's performance
The use of a variety of data sources by the supervisor to insure a comprehensive understanding of the teacher's work which include: student work, interaction with others, activities, and other data provided by the teacher and structured conferences
Classroom visits/observations
Conferences
Clearly defined categories and indicators of effective teaching
Students are more likely to engage in the task if you:
Work Focus Focus on a product or performance of significance to them
Work Expectations Tell students exactly what is expected of them, and how your expectations relate to something about which they care.
Work Culture Create a classroom culture where students can try tasks without fear.
Work Visibility Make student work more available for parents, teachers, and fellow students to see.
Work Independence Permit, encourage, and support opportunities for students to work interdependently with others.
Work Novelty Continually expose students to new and different ways of doing things.
Work Choice Give students choices in what they do to learn.
Work Authenticity Give tasks that are meaningful, natural, and consequential.
Work Knowledge Arrange information and knowledge in clear, accessible ways, and in ways that let students use the information and knowledge to address tasks that are important to them.
Work Substance Assign work that helps students to attain rich and profound knowledge.
The above is a condensed version of comments made by Phil Schlechty (10 Qualities of Student Work) that appears along with his interview published by the National Staff Development Council, The Educators Examined (Summer 1998). Journal of Staff Development
Coaching / Peer Consultation:
Process of one
teacher assisting another to look objectively at his/her own teaching in terms
of whether or not it is producing the intended results. Coaching is data
oriented. The coach makes observations and gives
objective feedback that both participants discuss and assess.
Collaboration:
Opportunities that
schools create for teachers to meet together and engage in self-study and
improvement of their practice. Study
groups, school and department meetings, and workshops all provide opportunities
for collaboration.
Continuous
Improvement:
Steady progress in
student learning that occurs when teachers use data from the analysis of
student work to make their teaching more helpful to the student. Continuous improvement may also refer to the
progress teachers make in their teaching practice through the use of data.
Learning
Communities:
Groups of teachers
who regularly engage in the study of their practice and, as a result, increase
the range of strategies they know, and how they are able to teach
students. School leaders have the
responsibility to create learning communities.
Professional
Growth Cycle / Developmental Stages of Teaching:
The developmental
stages in a teacher's career range from novice through experienced. As described by Charlotte Danielson and
Thomas McGreal, novice teachers are engaged in intense learning of basic
teaching skills; experienced teachers have control of their teaching and can
devote attention to refining their skills; and experienced, but struggling teachers
need to renew themselves in terms of current practice.
Self-Reflection /
Reflective Teaching:
Analysis of one's own
practice as a teacher. The
self-reflective teacher regularly looks at the links among objectives, learning
activities, and student results to determine whether or not his/her teaching is
producing the desired outcomes. This
ongoing process is used to improve teaching.
Standards-Based
Education (SBE):
An approach to
education in which standards, or expected student learning, are the driving
force behind curriculum, instruction, and assessment. In SBE, both students and teachers are held accountable for
progress made toward reaching standards.
Teachers are expected to collect data about students’ learning and use
it to improve instruction.
The following list of citations is condensed from the Annenberg Institute for School Reform's Looking at Student Work Project web site.
As a professional organization committed to the improvement of education in Massachusetts, MASCD advocates for practices that ensure high standards for teacher quality. MASCD believes that models of evaluation and supervision that incorporate opportunities for teachers to reflect on student work contribute to the overall improvement of teaching and learning.
MASCD continues to support the improvement of education through high quality programs and services to educators and schools that help teachers reflect on their practice, learn new skills and develop new programs designed to improve student performance. There are promising practices in Massachusetts, which need to be validated and shared with other educators in the Commonwealth.
MASCD believes that the ideas presented in this issue of FOCUS should serve as the framework for discussion about quality teaching in Massachusetts. MASCD advocates for the inclusion of these ideas into statewide policy decisions about teacher evaluation and supervision and recommends that local school districts include teacher reflection on student work in their models of supervision and evaluation.