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Role Group Strategies
Policymakers
Create an evaluation plan based on recognized standards of professional practice that promotes accountability for student achievement and professional growth and stratifies the teaching profession. Involve teachers in the development of this plan and include peer-review as a component of teacher evaluation systems.
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District Profile: A Commitment to Craft, Rochester (N.Y.) City School District Career in Teaching Program
Scarpa, S. (n.d.) District Administration Magazine.
http://www.districtadministration.com/page.cfm?p=743
The Rochester City School District established a Career in Teaching Program over 16 years ago with the support of the Rochester Teachersí Association. This comprehensive overview of the program explains the mentoring and peer review components of the program, as well as the levels that have been created within the teaching profession in Rochester. This resource is valuable for district-level administrators or policymakers interested in designing a system of support for new and struggling teachers, a method of stratifying the teaching profession, or a system of peer-review and evaluation.
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Outstanding Teacher Program
Douglas County School System
http://www1.dcsdk12.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/DCSD.woa/10/wa/staticPage?
wosid=YHatM8nNWmkq3v1tWQDrXg&pageName=hr_lic_PerfPay
The Douglas County School System, just outside of Denver, Colorado, was one of the first school systems in America to adopt a pay for performance plan in the recent wave of school reform. This website outlines the pay for performance plan and describes the district's Outstanding Teacher Program, in which teachers create portfolios documenting their accomplishments in the classroom. The detailed descriptions of these portfolios provide schools and communities with adaptable tools to use to improve their own teacher evaluation systems.
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Professional Compensation System for Teachers
Denver Public School System. (2004, April).
http://www.denverteachercompensation.org/ProCompBrochure_4-26-04.pdf
With the adoption of ProComp, a new compensation system for teachers, the Denver Public Schools and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association have become leaders in revolutionizing the way that teachers are evaluated and compensated. This brochure outlines the components of the ProComp plan, including ways that teachers can advance within the profession while not leaving the classroom and a fictional description of three teachers who take advantage of the opportunities provided by ProComp and increase their professional standing and salary.
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Professional Development Dossier Field Test Materials
New Mexico Public Education Department (2004).
http://www.teachnm.org/prof_dev_opportunities/dossier_pdd.htm
In setting up its new 3-Tiered Licensure System, New Mexico has created a system of teacher evaluation known as the Professional Development Dossier. Teachers hoping to advance to either the professional or master teacher levels have to create a dossier that outlines their work in three areas: Instruction, Student Learning and Professional Learning. This site guides teachers through the process of creating a dossier and would be of value to any administrator or community looking to improve their system of teacher evaluation.
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Teacher Standards and Assessment Systems Case Studies and Papers
Consortium for Policy Research in Education.
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/cpre/tcomp/research/standards/district/studies.asp
This website provides access to case studies of school districts in Minnesota, Virginia, and Nevada that have implemented standards-based teacher evaluation systems and papers investigating the relationship between standards-based evaluation scores and student learning.
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Core Standards for Teachers in North Carolina
The North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards Commission. (1999).
http://www.ncptsc.org/EveryTeacher.htm
The state of North Carolina, working with administrators, policymakers, teachers and parents, developed a set of core standards for professional teaching practice based on the work of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium. This website describes the six standards that should be used by schools and districts to guide teacher evaluation and professional development.
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Improving Teacher Evaluation to Improve Teaching Quality
Goldrick, L. (2002, December 9). Issue Brief. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices.
http://www.nga.org/cda/files/1202IMPROVINGTEACHEVAL.pdf
This issue brief looks at the current nature of the teacher evaluation system and discusses changes that need to be made. The author notes that currently teacher evaluations are typically personnel based actions, examining teacher performance in very superficial ways, and recommends that evaluations become outcome driven processes focused on the improvement of instructional practices. Evaluations can provide a starting point for identifying the types of professional growth opportunities that teachers need to improve instructionally, thereby improving the success rate of students in our schools and communities.
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What is the Teacher Advancement Program
Milken Family Foundation
http://www.mff.org/tap/tap.taf?page=whatistap
Recognizing that American schools were failing to attract and retain highly qualified teachers to their classrooms, the Milken Family Foundation developed a program known as the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) to increase teaching quality in schools. The program outlines three career positions teachers advance through while staying in the classroom: career, mentor, and master teacher. It restructures the school day to provide teachers time for professional learning and collaboration and rewards teachers with a performance-based compensation system. The website also lists states with TAP schools and provides answers to frequently asked questions about the program.
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Policymakers
Provide incentives and support for teachers pursuing certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
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Virginia School Sees Board-Certified Teachers As Key to Turnaround
Archer, J. (2001, May 30). Education Week.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=38leadboard.h20&keywords=Fairfax
This article describes how National Board Certified Teachers in one Virginia school are taking on leadership roles by providing professional training for their colleagues. The school aims to become a model of how National Board Certified Teachers can help an entire school improve student learning.
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Better Assessment for Better Teaching
Castor, B. (2002, December 11). Education Week
http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=15castor.h22&
keywords=national%20board%20certification
This article from Education Week examines many of the weaknesses of standard teacher evaluation systems and describes the benefits of encouraging teachers to earn certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards as a method of improving teaching quality and student learning.
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NBPTS: Building better teachers
Starr, L. (2004, April). Education World.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat100.shtml
This Education World interview with Joseph A. Aguerrebere Jr., President of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, outlines the process of board certification, as well as the benefits for teachers and students. It is a brief and informative look at the potential that board certification has for changing teaching and learning in America.
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Supporting National Board Certification: School Board Members
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
http://www.nbpts.org/iam/board.cfm
This article from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards introduces Board Certification to school board members, detailing the advantages of the program and ways that it can be supported from the policymakerís position. It includes a list of incentives being offered to teachers pursuing Board Certification at the state and local level nationwide and a downloadable brochure entitled, ďA Distinction that Matters: What School Board Members Should Know about National Board Certification.Ē
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Policymakers
Engage community members in conversations related to the development of teacher evaluation systems that are based on recognized standards for professional practice and designed to enhance a teacherís knowledge and skills.
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Core Standards for Teachers in North Carolina
The North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards Commission. (1999).
http://www.ncptsc.org/EveryTeacher.htm
The state of North Carolina, working with administrators, policymakers, teachers and parents, developed a set of core standards for professional teaching practice based on the work of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium. This website describes the six standards that should be used by schools and districts to guide teacher evaluation and professional development.
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INTASC Standards Development
Council of Chief State School Officers
http://www.ccsso.org/projects/Interstate_New_Teacher_Assess
ment_and_Support_Consortium/Projects/Standards_Development/
The Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium was established in the early 1990ís by the Council of Chief State School Officers to help define standards of professional teaching practice. This website displays the standards defined by INTASC for teachers in nine different areas of education. These standards provide a foundational understanding of what good teachers should know and be able to do.
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Making the Connection: A Guide to Involving Policymakers in a Community Dialogue on Education
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
http://www.sedl.org/pubs/policy93/policy93.pdf
Engaging policymakers in dialogue on education is a practical action step that communities can take to influence school reform. This resource provides step by step instructions on engaging policymakers in dialogue on education issues. The authors provide a description of different roles for participants, advice on how to make the most of participation both during and after the dialogue, and a recruiting planner to assist in inviting policymakers to the discussion.
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Calling the Role: Study Circles for Better Schools
Pan, D.T. and Mutchler, S.E. (2000).
The Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL)
http://www.sedl.org/pubs/policy96/callingrole.pdf
Engaging policymakers in conversations with community members related to school issues is critical for communities interested in school reform. Many have advocated for the implementation of community study circles as a strategy for engagement. This policy research report discusses the potential of the study circles method to enhance communication between policymakers and the community. The authors describe SEDL's implementation of the study circles model in their "Calling the Role" program, review literature pertaining to deliberative dialogues, and discuss policymakers' perceptions of the process.
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