Date: 02/20/2013
Final
Teacher Effectiveness Presentation by CDE
COMMITTEE ON JOINT EDUCATION
| Votes: View--> | Action Taken: |
| <none> | <none> |
07:47 AM -- Teacher Effectiveness Presentation by CDE
Representative Hamner, Chair of the House Education Committee, welcomed the committee members and the audience. She did not take roll. Jill Hawley, Associate Commissioner; Dr. Katy Anthes, Executive Director of Educator Effectiveness; and Dr. Jami Goetz, Executive Director of Professional Services and Licensure, Colorado Department of Education (CDE), came to the table to present information on Teacher Effectiveness and Educator Licensure. A handout was provided to the members of the committee (Attachment A).
13JtEd0220AttachA.pdf
Ms. Hawley began by giving an overview of CDE's goals which include: preparing successful students; ensuring great teachers and leaders; building outstanding schools and districts; and being the best education system in the nation. She discussed the three driving questions that support CDE's goals for students, educators, schools, and school districts: what do we want students, educators, schools, and districts to know and be able to do; how will we know if expectations are being met; and how will we respond when help is needed and to support continued growth?
Dr. Anthes continued the presentation by discussing the core components of Senate Bill 10-191, concerning educator effectiveness. She stated that the bill established annual evaluations for all licensed school personnel including teachers, principals, counselors, and others. She stated that 50 percent of the educator evaluation is based on student growth, and the other 50 percent is based on professional practice. She stated that under the law, educator non-probationary status is removed if an educator rates ineffective on his or her review for two consecutive years. She stated that the law authorizes the State Board of Education (SBE) to consider the recommendations of the State Council on Educator Effectiveness and to promulgate rules. She continued to discuss the components of the bill. She stated that the purpose of the evaluation system is to provide meaningful and credible feedback to educators so that educators can improve their professional practices.
07:58 AM
Senator Todd asked how student achievement is measured in the subjects of physical education, music, and art. Dr. Anthes responded.
Dr. Anthes continued the presentation and discussed the implementation timeline for Senate Bill 10-191. She stated that the state is currently in full pilot mode, and using the system to evaluate teachers and principals. She stated that the 2013-14 school year will be the full statewide roll out of the system, but that the first year is a hold harmless year in terms of negative consequences for ineffective reviews. She explained that full statewide implementation and the first year that consequences for ineffective reviews will accrue is the 2014-15 school year.
Senator Hudak asked about the Educator Effectiveness Council and the timeline for getting recommendations regarding the pilot back to the legislature. Dr. Anthes stated that the council is reviewing the pilot data now regarding principal evaluations, and that they have not identified the need for policy chances at this time. She said that the data from the teacher pilot will be complete in June and then it will be delivered to the council to develop recommendations. Dr. Anthes stated that the system is being piloted in 27 demographically representative school districts across the state. She discussed the structure of the portion of the evaluation that will be based on professional practice and said that the evaluation areas will include: mastery of content; established learning environment; ability to facilitate learning; reflection on practice; and demonstration of leadership. She said that school districts can use a variety of methods to demonstrate these competencies.
08:11 AM
Dr. Anthes discussed the educator effectiveness training that is ongoing for school districts, and responded to questions from the committee about the training process being used. Dr. Anthes discussed the role of school principals in the successful implementation of the educator effectiveness system. She said that communication is key to the system's success, and that improvements to the evaluation system will be ongoing as more information is gathered through monitoring the process. She discussed the idea of procuring an online platform that would be accessible to school leaders and make the system more manageable.
08:17 AM
Dr. Anthes stated that school principals do not have to be the only ones completing the educator evaluations and that schools may chose to use peer evaluation systems as well. Ms. Hawley discussed the number of staff at CDE who are working on the educator evaluation system. Dr. Anthes responded to committee questions about the structure of the evaluation, and stated that meaningful evaluations need to be based on multiple measures. She stated that the goal of the system is educator growth, which results in student growth.