Stepping Toward Sensible, Valid Teacher Evaluations

I was recently interviewed for BAM Radio's Rae Pica along James Popham who wrote, “Everything School Leaders Should Know about Assessment.”  
In this show we look at formative and summative teacher evaluations and discuss what teachers can do to support more valid and effective assessments.

I talk about how teacher effectiveness gives teachers the opportunity to know only toot their own horn, but also toot the horns of their students.  I also discuss why it is important for innovative educators to helping those who are evaluating them understand the role of technology and social media in increasing effectiveness. 

You can listen to the program on the BAM Radio! site here. 

Showcase #TeacherEffectiveness using Padlet

Last week I shared ways to showcase teacher effectiveness via digital portfolios using a wiki and eduClipper.  This week I bring you another great tool to showcase teacher effectiveness courtesy of  elementary school teacher Rodney Schneider.  The tool is called Padlet.  Padlet is a free tool that gives you a blank wall on which to share files, videos, photos, videos, and more. You can choose the visibility and share with the world, a small group of people or just one or two others.  

Rodney created one Padlet for each domain in the Charlotte Danielson framework. (You can download the full evaluation instrument here). Then he created a master Padlet onto which he embedded each of the Padlets allowing one spot to collect all the artifacts and evidence of his effectiveness as a teacher.

This is what it looks like.

A view of #TeacherEffectiveness in the literacy classroom

Across the nation teacher effectiveness is being evaluated according to the four domains of the Charlotte Danielson framework. (You can download the full evaluation instrument here.) This model is valuable because it provides a shared language for effective teaching, however, while many teachers being evaluated are familiar with the evaluation rubric, they may not have seen what this looks like in practice.

If you are one of those teachers, that's about to change.

Showcasing artifacts & evidence to demonstrate #TeacherEffectiveness with #Danielson Domains

Crossposted at Smartblogs

Districts across the nation are determining teacher effectiveness in part using a rubric created by Charlotte Danielson. The rubric contains four domains and 22 components. You can download the full evaluation instrument here. The framework below outlines exactly what administrators will look for when evaluating teacher practice.

With four domains and 22 components, teachers might want to come up with a way to beautifully showcase and celebrate the work they are doing.  To do that teachers must be familiar with what they are being asked to showcase. Teachers are responsible for demonstrating effectiveness through evidence and artifacts. In places like New York City, up to eight artifacts may be used to demonstrate effectiveness. They can only be used in domains one and four. Teachers should keep in mind however, that one artifact may demonstrate effectiveness in multiple components.  For example, if you have a class Facebook page that you use to interact with students and their families, that Facebook page can serve as an artifact for both 4c - Communicating with Families as well as 1b - Demonstrating Knowledge of Students. This means, that should a teacher choose, they can use eight artifacts to demonstrate 12 components.

For domains two and three teachers must provide evidence of effectiveness. This evidence is generally collected during formal or informal classroom observations.  Teachers also have the option to choose to videotape a lesson for their formal evaluation to provide evidence. It might be helpful for teachers to document, and have readily accessible, examples indicating how they are effectively engaging in each component.

Here are some ideas for showcasing and celebrating work using the Danielson Framework.  

NYC DOE paves the way to embrace social media for learning

While places like New Jersey, who the New York Daily News recently reported, have passed a bill requiring schools to teach acceptable use of social media, cyber safety, cyber security, ethics, and cyberbullying, the NYC Department of Education goes even further. As evidenced in their newly released student social media guidelines, they recognize the importance of social media beyond just using social media responsibly. They understand that students can embrace social media for social good, as a way to celebrate our stories, as a tool to create a positive online identity leading to college and career success, and as a way to build powerful learning networks.  

What makes these guidelines even more unique is that they were not only created for students, but also with students across New York City. Teachers and parents contributed as well. As DNAinfo recently shared, Jane Pook, the DOE’s executive director for digital communication policy and strategy explained, “It was the students who wanted this.”

This has not only been good for NYC DOE students and staff, but it's also been a relief to the Department's legal office as reported in DNAinfo.