Andy Hegedus

Sr. Manager, PD Data Analytics

June 2012

Improving the Performance of Under-Performing

Teachers: Research Says . . .

Our nation has moved from a model of education reform that focused on fixing schools to a model that is focused on fixing the teaching profession

The policy world is shifting . . .

• We champion being evidence based, so we wanted to walk our talk

• MAP data being used more in teacher evaluations

• New, expanded, research based PD services• Desire to continue to support, not punish,

teachers

. . . and we were curious

• You need to identify which teachers are under-performing

• You need to identify why this is so . . . case by case

• You need to remedy the cause– Sustained and individualized professional learning

may be the path

We found a few things, none of which are simple or surprising . . .

How can we reliably judge a teacher’s performance anyway?

MET Project, Gathering Feedback for Teaching, Policy and Practice Brief, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2012

Let’s dive in a step at a time

• Defined “Competency”– Patterns of thinking, feeling, acting, or speaking — that

cause a person to be successful in a specific job or role

• Conducted formal research to identify patterns– Characterized the differences between the responses of

typical and top performers– Used primarily for a formative purpose of increasing

teacher competence rather than solely for the summative purpose of categorizing teachers

• Results are broad in scope and have strong emphasis on whole child

Defining expectations for teachers - Singapore style

Steiner, L., Using Competency-Based Evaluation to Drive Teacher Excellence: Lessons from Singapore, Public Impact, NC, 2010

Singapore exampleCompetency All Teachers Master Teachers

Subject Mastery • Active interest in subject matter

• Take initiative to keep abreast of education trends in subject

• Apply knowledge of trends• Get feedback to determine

effectiveness• Develop innovative

approaches• Provide thought

leadershipPartnering with Parents

• Keep parents informed about activities, student progress and policies

• Treat parents as partners• Encourage parental

involvement

• Work collaboratively with parents

• Build and nurture long-term relationships with parents

• Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project studies five instruments– Requires a common vision of effective instruction– Non-trivial aspects of practices– Requires understanding and judgment

• Some instruments correlated strongly with each other, some didn’t

• Couldn’t tease out higher leverage competencies

A wide variety of constructs are in use here

• Create a standard for accuracy• Train observers

– Skilled in identifying each competency at each performance level

• Require a performance demonstration– Observe and meet the pre-defined standard

• Refresh periodically– Judgment of cost vs. rating integrity

Attention must be paid to ensuring accuracy of observers

• Two biggest obstacles are:– Teacher variation lesson to lesson– Observer variation in watching the same lesson

• In MET study and their unique circumstances, – One lesson with one observer – Poor reliability– Four lessons with four different observers –

teacher was ~66% of variation

Reliable results can be elusive

• Need multiple observations and multiple people– Need independent sampling to ensure fairness

• How can you deal with this?– Train more people to be observers– Tier the number of observations– Tier the type and duration

Some practical ideas might be . . .

• Student achievement alone is a poor judge of teacher effectiveness

• Combining observations with student perceptions and student academic growth is a much better indicator of teacher performance– A plug for Friday

Use multiple measures to determine your reliable conclusion

• What is “far below” a district’s expectation is subjective

• What about• Obligation to help teachers improve?• Quality and quantity of replacement

teachers?

Some things to consider as rating process is finalized

• Many factors can contribute significantly to low levels of performance– Curriculum: Design and implementation– Instruction: Methods, materials, and resources– Teachers: Knowledge, Skills, Dispositions– Students: Knowledge, Skills, Dispositions– Infrastructure: Schedules, Programming,

Resources• Gather data across classrooms to help focus

How to approach improving performance starts with “Why”?

Lipton, L. and Wellman, B., Got Data? Now What? Creating and leading cultures of inquiry, Solution Tree Press, IN, 2012

There are many reasons why some teachers are not effective. The continuum of inadequate performance includes a wide range of pedagogical deficiencies and behavioral anomalies. It requires time and effort to understand why a teacher is not effective, whether professional development is a potential remedy, and how to organize a set of learning experiences that may significantly improve the teacher's performance.

Although we default to PD often, it may not be a solution

Mizel, H., PD not a quick fix for under-performing teachers, Learning Forward Learning Blog, 5/2010, http://www.nsdc.org/learningBlog/post.cfm/pd-not-a-quick-fix-for-low-performing-teachers accessed 6/2012

If learning is the answer, let’s consider how the brain works

Database

Executive System

Behaviors

Where the results of learning become visible

Me We

Systems of the brain

Error Detection System Social System

Sheckley, B., The Brain, Experience, and Adult Learning: A Tribute to the Life and Work of David Justice, Pre-publication draft, obtained from author 5/2012

1. Create the structure and environment that allows for the “Surprise” to occur

2. Make the environment social and supportive3. Focus environment, activities, and people to

ensure they reason about what we want them to learn

Professional learning needs to create learning efficiently

Teacher Learning Communities

• Learning intentions and success criteria

• How’s it going?• New ideas (lowest priority)• Personal Action Planning• Review of learning

intentions and assessing success

One on one coaching

• Trust• Competence as a Coach• Providing feedback

respectfully and with specificity

• Don’t make assumptions about individual’s abilities

• Consider learning styles• Meaningful opportunity for

input• Quality of the relationship

Two main options

Wise & Sundstrom, Power of Coaching: Teachers and Teaching, OR, 2011

Thompson & Wiliam, Tight but Loose: A Conceptual Framework for Scaling Up School Reforms, AERA, Vol 9, Chicago, 2007

• Focus teacher learning on areas shown to have a substantial impact on student learning

• Key coaching attributes, along with the learner’s safety needs, may be best served with independent support

• Educating children is complex, difficult work – there are no quick and easy ways to help all teachers perform at high levels all the time

Several key final thoughts

Hattie, J., Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement, Taylor & Francis, 2009Childress, Doyle, & Thomas, Leading for Equity The Pursuit of Excellence in the Montgomery County Public Schools, Harvard Education Press, 2009MCPS Teacher Professional Growth System Handbook, 2011, obtained 6/2012 from http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/development