Annual EvaluationSome Considerations

ems&tl Core GroupSeptember 13, 2013

Who are you – Teaching Experience

Who are you – Experience as an EMIL

Wow!

• All survey participants were involved in CCSS implementation efforts (2012-2013).

• 78% of the respondents spent at least 1/3 of their time on CCSS-related issues.

• 41% of the respondents spent over 50% of their time on CCSS-related issues.

What do you do?

• Service to teachers – 34%

• Professional development – 25%

• Service to students – 17%

• Administrative duties – 14%

• Other – 9%

Help us…

• What is meant by ‘administrative duties?’

• What is meant by ‘other?’– NOTE: Two participants noted that 50% and 40%

of their time was spent in this category!

One more time…

• Job descriptions – particularly now

– Baltimore– Carroll– Frederick – Howard

Greatest Achievement

• Aiding teachers’ implementation of the CCSS– “Providing teachers with the knowledge and tools

to implement the common core standards in grades 1-5 has been a great experience and accomplishments for me.”

Greatest Achievement

• Seeing noticeable improvement in teachers’ mathematics instruction:– “Now I see students investigating and developing their own

thoughts about math as opposed to the teachers telling them how to do the math.”

– “Walking into the classrooms and seeing more hands-on materials and technologies used to help students to understand concepts. They (the students) are working in groups and discussing concepts among themselves, coming up with alternative solution strategies and defending their reasoning. Teachers are posing problems that lead students to make mathematical connections across concepts.”

Greatest Achievement

• Providing professional development– “Offering voluntary school-wide professional

development opportunities and having many of the staff members participate . . . and THEN seeing ideas from the professional development being utilized in mathematics instruction.”

Greatest Achievement• Building teachers’ conceptual understanding

– “Coaching teachers with building their own conceptual understandings of mathematics concepts”

– “I put up a ‘conjecture board’ in a central location. On the board I would make a conjecture about fractions that was a common misconception. For example - all fractions are between 0 and 1. The teachers then had to prove or disprove the conjecture and post their response on a note card. At the end of the week I had a drawing for a small prize. I had many teachers participate, but even the teachers that didn't write a response were caught reading the other responses on the board. I heard many conversations about math in the halls and lunch room among teachers! By the time my PD came around a few months later, the teachers had a better understanding of fractions. This gave them more confidence and helped them be ready for the curriculum I was presenting them with."

Greatest Frustration

• Teachers’ resistance to change– “My greatest frustration has been my work with one

particular team. While all the other teams are generally open to learning, it is hard to build any momentum with this team.”

– “It is a struggle trying to find the time to meet with the people at the next tier. The people who need to meet with you but think they are okay on their own. Just okay is not good enough in education.”

– “The few teachers that are not willing to be flexible with their mathematics approach and would rather continue to teach the way they have always taught.”

Greatest Frustration

• Lack of time– “lack of time to plan with teachers & lack of time to explore concepts

with teachers to build adult understanding”– “Time - Time for effective planning and Time building teacher

capacity"• Difficulties navigating between more than 1 school

– “Not having enough time in either of my schools to support teachers as much as they need - I don't have enough time to do the job 100% in either school”

• Competing roles – having to be both an instructional leader and a classroom teacher– “Trying to be an instructional leader while also being a classroom

teacher.”

Greatest Frustration

• Understanding the nuances of the CCSS at EVERY grade level– “Personally learning/understanding the Common

Core Standards at so many grade levels.”– “With changes at most grade levels, it's becoming

harder to keep it all straight. I need time to synthesize the curriculum in order to support teachers.”

– “Understanding and keeping track of curriculum changes in EVERY grade level.”

Requested

• A sample of weekly logs to validate what’s done.

• Asking school-based administrators to validate actual duties of the specialist/instructional leader.

Recommendations – Further Inquiry

1. Examining the impact of your work on student understanding of mathematics (achievement scores)

2. Examining the impact of your work on the pedagogical practices and mathematics understandings of your teachers.

3. Determining your school/district’s impressions of your contributions to your faculty and the school district’s overall profile in mathematics.

YOU

Comments?Questions?