Candidates Assessment Handbook Handbook-Manu… · The handbook was produced by Bank Street College of Education, New York City, New York on behalf of the Massachusetts Department

October 2013

Candidates Assessment Handbook

2

This handbook was developed and written by Margaret Terry Orr, Ray Pecheone, Jon Snyder, Joe Murphy, Barbara Beaudin, Joan Buttram and Liz Hollingworth. Input and guidance was provided by:

Design Team members including Eric Docter and Ameetha Palanki (ShowEvidence), Ken Montgomery, Eileen S. Howley (educational consultants), Massachusetts Educational Leaders: Matthew Malone, Mary Cjzakowski, Stacy Scott, Steve Murray, and Mary Driscoll; representatives of Massachusetts Leadership Preparation Pathways: Anna Bradfield, Tom Payzant, Richard Pearson and Rebecca Woodland.

Content Validity Team members including Massachusetts Educational Leaders: Jason DiCarlo, Patty Barrett, Jeff Szymaniak, Daniel Gutekanst, and Brian Salzer; and Massachusetts Leadership Preparation Pathways faculty Denise Fronius, Jake Eberwein, Lee Tietel, and Steve Gould.

Bias Review Committee members including Massachusetts Educational Leaders: Ellen Stockdale, Gerald Yung, Mark Wood, Melinda Boone, and Isabelina Rodriguez; and Massachusetts Leadership Preparation Pathways faculty Lauri Johnson, Bennie Agbarha, Dan French, and Casel Walker.

Additional guidance and support for the project and all three committees was provided by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education including Heather Peske, Claudia Bach, Liz Losee, Preeya Pandya, Margaret Regan, and Emily Ackman.

The handbook was edited by Wendy Schwartz.

The handbook was produced by Bank Street College of Education, New York City, New York on behalf of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. For more information about the handbook, contact Afton Battle, project administrator, at [email protected].

Copyright @ 2013 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

mailto:[email protected]

3

Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................5

Overview .......................................................................................................................... 5 PAL Development Process ............................................................................................... 6 The PAL Assessment Tasks .............................................................................................. 7

Artifacts, Documents and Commentary ...................................................................... 8 Guidelines for Each Task.............................................................................................. 9 Evaluation Criteria ....................................................................................................... 9 Organization of this Handbook.................................................................................. 10

Task 1 ........................................................................................................................ 12

Leadership through a Vision for High Student Achievement ........................................ 12 What do school leaders need to think about when realizing their vision for student achievement? ............................................................................................................ 12 What do you need to consider to complete this task? ............................................. 13 What do you need to do to complete this task? ....................................................... 13

The Components of the Task ......................................................................................... 14 Artifacts, Documents and Commentary ........................................................................ 17

What materials do you need to submit for review? ................................................. 17 Task 1: Leadership through a Vision for High Student Achievement Rubrics............... 19

How will the evidence of your leadership practice be assessed? ............................. 19 Task 2 ........................................................................................................................ 26

Instructional Leadership for a Professional Learning Culture ....................................... 26 What do school leaders need to think about when creating a professional learning culture? ...................................................................................................................... 26 What do you need to consider to complete this task? ............................................. 26 What do you need to do to complete this task?....................................................... 27


What do you need to submit for review? ................................................................. 31 Task 2 –Instructional Leadership for Professional Learning Culture Rubrics ................ 34

How will the evidence of your leadership practice be assessed? ............................. 34 Task 3 ........................................................................................................................ 39

Leadership in Observing, Assessing, and Supporting Individual Teacher Effectiveness ....................................................................................................................................... 39

What do school leaders need to think about when improving teacher effectiveness? ............................................................................................................ 39 What do you need to consider to complete this task? ............................................. 39

4

What do you need to do to complete this task? ....................................................... 40 The Components of the Task ......................................................................................... 41 Artifacts, Documents and Commentary ........................................................................ 44

What do you need to submit for review? ................................................................. 44 Task 3: Leadership in Observing, Assessing, and Supporting Individual Teacher Effectiveness Rubrics ..................................................................................................... 46

How will the evidence of your leadership practice be assessed? ............................. 46 Task 4: ....................................................................................................................... 53

Leadership for Family Engagement and Community Involvement ............................... 53 What do school leaders need to think about when promoting family engagement and community involvement?................................................................................... 53 What do you need to consider to complete the task?.............................................. 54 What do you need to do to complete this task? ....................................................... 55


What do you need to submit for review? ................................................................. 58 Task Four: Leadership for Family Engagement and Community Involvement Rubrics 61

How will the evidence of your leadership practice be assessed? ............................. 61 Chapter 5 ................................................................................................................... 67

Implementation of the Massachusetts Performance Assessment for Leaders ............ 67 Access ........................................................................................................................ 67 Confidentiality ........................................................................................................... 67 Assessment Platform ................................................................................................. 68

Appendix A: ............................................................................................................... 69

Relevant State Policy Websites ..................................................................................... 69 Policies and guidelines for educational leadership preparation:.............................. 69 Office of Licensure: .................................................................................................... 69 Educator Leadership Development: .......................................................................... 69 Professional Standards and Indicators for Administrative Leadership:.................... 69 Educator Evaluation: ................................................................................................. 69

Appendix B: ............................................................................................................... 70

Task 3 Template ............................................................................................................. 70 Appendix C ................................................................................................................ 72

Hardware and Browser Support ................................................................................ 72 Network Bandwidth................................................................................................... 74 Security ...................................................................................................................... 74

5

Introduction Overview

All leadership preparation candidates seeking principal/assistant principal licensure in Massachusetts need to meet state performance assessment requirements. To ensure that candidates do so, the Commonwealth is supporting the development of the Massachusetts Performance Assessment for Leaders (PAL). The PAL assessment system is designed to provide clear evidence of a candidate’s readiness for an initial school leadership position and, also, evidence for preparation programs on a candidates’ performance. The system builds on new Commonwealth regulations for preparation program approval. Finally, the assessment system is aligned with other Commonwealth leadership development efforts to support and evaluate principals and assistant principals.

The tasks that comprise the PAL system are aligned to the revised Professional Standards for Administrative Leadership, approved by the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in December 2011. The system is also aligned to the Educator Licensure and Preparation Program Approval regulations (603 CMR 7.00) which were amended and approved by the Board on June 26, 2012. (For additional information see http://www.doe.mass.edu/boe/docs/2012-06/item4.html; see also Appendix A, which provides the links to websites containing relevant state policy resources.)

PAL is also aligned with the national performance assessment requirements of the Educational Leadership Constituents Council (ELCC), as enumerated in their national accreditation program standards (http://npbea.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/ELCC- Building-Level-Standards-2011.pdf), and the national educational leadership policy standards, the Interstate School Leadership Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) 2008 standards, http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2008/Educational_Leadership_Policy_Standards_200 8.pdf.

http://www.doe.mass.edu/boe/docs/2012-06/item4.html

http://npbea.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/ELCC-Building-Level-Standards-2011.pdf



http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2008/Educational_Leadership_Policy_Standards_200

http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2008/Educational_Leadership_Policy_Standards_200

6

PAL Development Process

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is working in partnership with Bank Street College of Education to design PAL, under the direction of Margaret Terry Orr and Jon Snyder and in collaboration with Ray Pecheone of Stanford University and Joseph Murphy of Vanderbilt University. To support this effort, lead project staff from Bank Street College and key consultants formed the MA-PAL development leadership team. The team in turn brought together a group of national leadership and performance assessment experts, representatives from a number of Massachusetts preparation programs and pathways, and K-12 education leaders to work with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to develop PAL. Team members serve on one of four committees: Design, Content Validity, Bias Review, and Technical Advisory.

The development of the PAL system consists of the following three-stage process:

Stage 1

The first stage comprised the drafting of possible performance assessment tasks, work products and rubrics that reflect the authentic work of school leaders. This involved the review of state and national leadership preparation standards and current research on principal effectiveness and school improvement. The Design Committee then generated possible tasks and work products and reviewed the nature, quality, and feasibility of each. The Content Validity Committee and

Bias Review Committee reviewed the draft tasks and work products to ensure their relevance and fairness. The design team then created draft rubrics to score candidate work products and created a web-based system for candidates to upload their completed work products and for scorers to evaluate them.

Stage 2

The PAL pilot study begins in September 2013. Leadership candidates will be asked to complete just one task to test its feasibility and usefulness and to generate results to help set scoring benchmarks and exemplars. Candidates will be recruited through their preparation programs or through website enrollment. They will each be assigned one task to complete, and it will be scored by trained scorers, who will be recruited and trained throughout the fall. Candidates, scorers,

preparation program faculty and the three review committees, will provide feedback on the tasks, work products and rubrics and assessment infrastructure. After the pilot is

7

completed, the performance tasks, work products, and rubrics for scoring, as well as the assessment system and materials will be revised.

Stage 3

For the field test, candidates will be asked to complete all four tasks. The field test will begin in Fall 2014 and enable the development team to evaluate and refine the tasks and assessment system for statewide implementation. It will be administered in conjunction with each of the preparation programs with candidates recommended by program faculty. The development team will continue to recruit and train scorers, who will in turn score the completed tasks. The development

team will analyze the task outcomes, solicit feedback from candidates, pathways, and scorers, and complete a content analysis of the task products for quality, relevance and rigor, as well as assessment of the feasibility, ease of use, and reliability. The team will also evaluate the results to identify possible bias among candidates and pathways.

The PAL Assessment Tasks

PAL is a performance assessment for which candidates demonstrates their leadership knowledge and skills by setting direction for school improvement, creating a professional learning culture among school staff, supporting individual teacher development, and engaging families and community in improving student learning.

These are the four tasks:

Task 1: Leadership through a Vision for High Student Achievement.

Task 2: Instructional Leadership for a Professional Learning Culture.

Task 3: Leadership in Observing, Assessing and Supporting Individual Teacher Effectiveness.

Task 4: Leadership for Family Engagement and Community Involvement.

8

Each task is divided into four components of leadership action that reflect the cycle of leadership inquiry and learning, as shown on Figure 1.

Figure 1. The Components of Leadership Action Artifacts, Documents and Commentary

For each task, candidates will submit artifacts, other documents, and commentaries as evidence of planning, implementing, and analyzing leadership practices and engagement of others in improving student learning. They will all be considered part of the assessment.

Artifacts

The artifacts represent authentic work completed by the candidate and work groups formed for each task. They can include plans, proposals, reports, video clips of observations and post-observation feedback, memos and other media to demonstrate work, as well as samples of group work and other related evidence.

Other Documents

Other documents can include supporting materials used by the candidate and work groups to complete each task, such as student performance data, school and district demographic information, observation guides and rubrics, meeting agendas and

9

minutes, school vision statements, strategic plans and improvement plans, curriculum guides and program information.

Commentaries

Commentaries describe the candidate’s artifacts; and explain their choices, analyses, and reasoning, drawing on the other documents. Further, they analyze what was learned from undertaking the tasks. Commentaries must be clearly presented and well focused.

Guidelines for Each Task

The requirements for the four tasks are summarized on Table 1, at the end of this Introduction. In general, the task instructions for leadership candidates are organized in five sections:

1) What do you, as a school leader, need to think about in order to complete the task? 2) What do you, as a school leader candidate, need to do to complete the task? 3) What materials do you need to prepare? 4) What evidence will you need to submit when you complete a task? 5) How will the evidence of your leadership practice be assessed?

Evaluation Criteria

The evidence submitted will be judged according to five primary components of leadership practice:

1) Setting direction for school improvement. 2) Creating a professional learning culture among staff. 3) Supporting individual teacher development. 4) Engaging families and community in improving student learning. 5) Analyzing leadership practices.

Candidates will provide evidence for the first four components when they complete the corresponding tasks, through the artifacts they produce and other relevant documents. Candidates will provide evidence for analyzing leadership practices, the last component, in their commentaries.

10

Organization of this Handbook The tasks, instructions for their completion, work product expectations, and the rubric that will be used to score candidate performance on the task are presented in the following four chapters, one per task. The handbook concludes with logistical information for access and use.

11

Table 1: Summary of the Four PAL Assessment Tasks Task 1: Leadership through a Vision for High Student Achievement

This task asks candidates to focus on two pillars of highly effective schools: the instructional program (curriculum, instruction, and assessment) and school culture (student culture, professional culture, and the culture of family engagement and community involvement). The candidate develops a school vision and improvement plan for one school-based priority area. Specifically, the candidate collects and analyzes quantitative and qualitative data on student performance, student and teacher relationships, and student and school culture; selects a priority area for focus; documents existing school programs, services, and practices; and develops a set of goals, objectives, and action strategies with input from school leaders and key stakeholder groups. The candidate also presents and receives feedback on the plan from relevant stakeholders.

Task 2: Instructional Leadership for a Professional Learning Culture

In this task, a candidate demonstrates the capacity to foster a professional learning culture to improve student learning by working with a small group of teachers using structured learning activities to improve the teachers’ knowledge and skills. The candidate supports teachers in improving an existing curriculum, instructional approach, or assessment strategy. The candidate also documents the process, teachers’ teamwork, and changes in practice.

Task 3: Leadership in Observing, Assessing and Supporting Individual Teacher Effectiveness

In this task, a candidate demonstrates instructional leadership skills by planning for a teacher observation, conducting the observation, analyzing the observation and student performance data, providing feedback, and planning support for an individual teacher. A candidate also documents the observation cycle as well as teacher feedback on the quality and use of the process.

Task 4: Leadership for Family Engagement and Community Involvement

Here, a candidate gathers information related to family engagement and community involvement needs, develops a proposal, and implements one component of it with work group supportA candidate works collaboratively with a work group representing school leadership, staff, families and community members, and students (where appropriate) to select a priority area based on evidence of student strengths, interests, and needs. The candidate, with the work group, develops a comprehensive improvement proposal and implements and monitors the outcomes for one strategy.

12

Task 1 Leadership through a Vision for High Student Achievement

What do school leaders need to think about when realizing their vision for student achievement?

School leaders have the ability to create a school where all students, particularly federally and locally designated priority student group members, increase their academic performance and reach ambitious learning targets. Central to the realization of a universally shared vision of high student achievement is the establishment of high quality goals and expectations; respectful and trusting relationships among and between the adults and the students; and effective programs and strategies based on data, research, and stakeholder interests. Leaders can act to ensure that this vision is reflected in both the school’s instructional program (curriculum, instruction and assessment) and its culture.

School culture has three components and corresponding relationships among relevant individuals: (1) the professional learning culture (teacher-teacher relationships), (2) the student culture (teacher-student relationships), and (3) the culture of family and community engagement (school staff-family-community relationships). For a positive school culture that promotes learning, all three components must be actively promoted and maintained.

Task 1 assesses the capacity of a school leader candidate to provide effective leadership by demonstrating an ability to develop a vision of high quality student achievement and a plan for improving learning in a priority academic area. To develop improvement strategies, you need to analyze relevant school and community data and solicit input from students, teachers, families, and other stakeholders in order to acquire explicit information and knowledge about the following:

How performance and experiences may vary among students within and across

grade levels and designated groups. Your school’s context and culture. The effectiveness of school practices and strategies for improving the performance

of all students.

13

As you complete this task, please take into consideration MA Standards and Indicators for Administrative Leadership and the Massachusetts Conditions for School Effectiveness http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/ucd/CSE.pdf and http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/general/

What do you need to consider to complete this task?

What school and district indicators exist on student performance and school culture? Who are the most relevant stakeholders to advise on selection of a priority academic

area and the ways to improve learning in it? What strategies can be employed to avoid overlooking possible stakeholders to gain diverse perspectives?

What information should leaders obtain from observations and interviews with stakeholders, relevant to the selection and improvement of a priority academic area?

What evidence makes an argument persuasive when advocating for educational changes on behalf of federally and locally designated priority students?

Each school has a unique set of attributes that make up its context, including scope, size, staffing, resources, and demographic characteristics of students and staff. Consider the school context attributes that are relevant to the school vision and priority academic area.

What do you need to do to complete this task? Access, collect, and analyze three to five years of quantitative student performance

indicators, qualitative indicators, and school context information on the school as a whole.

Identify a priority academic area of interest where improved student performance is desired, with attention to federally and locally designated priority student groups based on information collected above.

Collect qualitative and quantitative information, including the findings from observations and staff and student interviews/focus groups, pertaining to student and teacher cultures, including their relationships, as well as school culture in the priority academic area.

Document existing school programs, services, and practices that are related to the priority area.

Develop a set of action strategies to improve learning in the priority area.

http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/ucd/CSE.pdf

http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/general/

14

Solicit feedback about the need for attention to the proposed priority area from other school leaders and key stakeholder groups in the school and its community.

The Components of the Task

Component 1: Investigate

Do the following:

1) Review three to five years of available or new student (whole group and subgroup)

performance data (from MCAS or other standardized measures, grade promotion rates, course completion rates, dropout rates, AP scores, graduation rates, and college going rates).

2) Review three to five years of available student engagement indicators (e.g., attendance and program participation rates), teacher proficiency and engagement indicators (e.g., years of teaching, retention, attendance, qualification, and degrees earned), and school culture indicators (culture and climate surveys).

3) Elicit rich, qualitative information from either existing or original data collection as needed (e.g., interviews and focus groups with students, teachers, and other representative stakeholders as well as observations, visits to view classroom practice).

4) Identify the selected priority academic area, aligned with school and district priorities, and one or more designated priority student groups.

5) Review relevant research on school improvement for the priority academic area and designated priority student group(s).

6) Audit school processes and practices and evidence of effectiveness that relate to the priority area (e.g., scheduling, academic intervention, team time, family participation, and professional development opportunities).

Consider the differences in student performance, based on federally designated priority student groups (students with disabilities, English language learners, Black and Hispanic students, low-income students, and students performing below state proficiency levels), English Language Learners, and other student priority groups in the school.

Candidates can access Massachusetts school district data collection and analysis tools to assist in collecting qualitative and quantitative information: http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/dart/lg.html

http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/dart/lg.html

15

Component 2: Prepare Gather further input from stakeholders (school leaders, teachers, students, family members, and community members) about the strengths, interests, and needs relative to the priority academic area of all students and/or of a specific subgroup that addresses the following:

1) Curriculum (see the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks or the District Curriculum

Accommodation Plan, [https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXII/Chapter71/Section38Q1 ~2).

2) Instruction (see indicators of proficient and exemplary teaching in the Massachusetts Model System Educator Evaluation: Teacher Rubric, [http://www.doe.mass.edu/edeval/model/PartIII_AppxC.pdf]).

3) Assessment (formative and/or summative). 4) Student culture (e.g., engagement, attendance, grade completion, course taking,

extracurricular activities, “discipline” statistics, and other indicators of student culture and student engagement gathered through observations, interviews and focus groups).

Consider what school improvement planning process currently exists in the school and what formal reporting is required. Determine how this task might build on, contribute to, or be part of this planning.

Consider school level conditions that contribute to the school’s existing school improvement or strategic plan.

Component 3: Act

Design and present an integrated set of action strategies to develop, implement, and monitor improvement in the priority academic area. This plan must reflect the school context and culture as well as the scope and nature of the improvement desired and be built around a coherent theory of action about how these strategies will lead to improved outcomes. The plan must include avenues to improve student learning and engagement by strengthening the following:

1) The instructional program. 2) Individual teacher capacity and effectiveness.

http://www.doe.mass.edu/edeval/model/PartIII_AppxC.pdf

16

3) The professional learning culture (one component of the school culture). 4) The culture of family and community engagement (another component of the school

culture). 5) The student culture (the third component of the school culture).

The products for this task can include a presentation, a videotaped “performance,” or a written plan submitted to the school’s leadership team for review and assessment before the submission. The products should include feedback from the leadership team on the relevance and quality of the proposed strategies for the school’s priorities, student learning priority, and the three components of the school culture.

Each school has one or more leaders (principal, assistant principal, and teacher leaders) and may also have a leadership team that represents the school’s primary stakeholders. Any proposal developed for improvement in the school would need their input and support. They in turn can provide critical feedback to strengthen a proposal for improvement strategies.

Component 4: Assess

Evaluate your experience in conducting the analysis of the priority academic area, engaging in the planning process, and developing the proposed plan and persuasive argument to gain support for the proposed action by working with school stakeholders. The assessment should comprise the following:

1) An evaluation of the effectiveness of the planning process for the proposed action

strategies that includes evidence of the leadership demonstrated by the candidate and input from other stakeholder groups.

2) An evaluation of the quality and potential relevance of the proposed plan and its connections to research, leadership theory, and best practices in vision building, school improvement and the strengthening of the school culture.

In addition, describe the nature of support received from school and district leadership in undertaking this task and how the support contributed to the process and successfully completing the task.

17

Artifacts, Documents and Commentary This section provides instructions on what should be submitted for review.

What materials do you need to submit for review?

For this task, you are asked to submit the following:

• three files that present your artifacts (i.e., analysis, plan and feedback) • other documents that support your artifacts, and • a narrative of your commentary in response to the prompts

Artifacts

Below are all the artifacts that must be submitted for scoring. They are to be submitted as three files—an analysis of data and description of the priority area; the plan; and feedback on the plan. Once prepared, each can be submitted in the form of a report or memo to the principal or superintendent, a presentation (e.g., powerpoint), or other media:

1. Analysis of Data and Description of Priority Area and Existing Programs a) Analysis of three to five years of quantitative performance indicators b) Analysis of three to five years of available student engagement indicators (e.g.,

attendance and program participation rates), teacher proficiency and engagement indicators (e.g., years of teaching, retention, attendance, qualification, and degrees earned), and school culture indicators (culture and climate surveys).

c) Analysis of available measures of student and school culture (student, teacher and other stakeholder culture and climate surveys, focus groups and interviews).

d) Description of a priority academic area of interest where improved student performance is desired, with attention to federally and locally designated priority student groups.

e) Description of existing school programs, services, and practices that are related to the priority area.

2. Plan f) A set of action strategies to improve learning in the priority area and theory of action

of how these strategies will lead to improved student performance. 3. Feedback g) The experiences and results of implementing the selected strategy

18

Other Documents In addition to the above files, you must also include the following documents (one file per document): School demographic and other relevant context information. a) School’s existing vision, mission, and school improvement plan. b) Data collection forms, data and analysis of qualitative and quantitative information,

including student interviews, pertaining to student and school culture in the priority academic area.

Commentary

In addition to providing the above artifacts, prepare a narrative summary for each of the following:

Planning

a) Provide a compelling research and practice based rationale for the selected priority academic area and for the student groups selected for focus. The rationale should be and aligned with school and district priorities, and draw on qualitative and quantitative information presented in the artifacts.

b) Clarify how student culture, as grounded in contemporary research and practice, informs your planning and vision building.

Acting

a) Explain how the plan for a vision, goals, theory of action and an integrated set of action strategies will develop and sustain improvement in the priority academic area.

b) Justify how the vision and plan responds to the school context and student culture and includes avenues to improve student learning and engagement.

c) Document how the plan incorporates feedback from the building leadership team on the relevance and quality of the proposal for the school’s priorities, student learning priority, and school culture.

Assessing

a) Evaluate the effectiveness of your work in conducting the analysis of the priority academic area, engaging in the planning process, and developing the proposed theory of action, plan and persuasive argument to gain support for the proposed action.

b) Explain the quality and potential relevance of the vision and proposed plan. In your explanation, address how the vision and proposed action strategies align with

19

research, leadership theory, and best practices in vision building and school improvement.

c) Present implications of this experience for future school leadership work, including proposing areas and strategies to improve your leadership practice.

Task 1: Leadership through a Vision for High Student Achievement Rubrics

How will the evidence of your leadership practice be assessed?

As you prepare your artifacts and commentary, use the following rubrics to guide your thinking, planning, action, analysis and presenting.

20

Rubric 1.a: Planning to Create a Vision

MA Standards Alignment: IV.E. Shared Vision.

How does the candidate gather and analyze data to identify a priority area and student group?

Develop ing Meetin g Exce edin g MA P AL Component, Artifact , Commentar y

Data collection

Gathers some school and student data with little or no attention to students’ perceptions about school’s learning culture.

Or

Uses only existing student interview, observation, and survey data

Gathers existing school and student data across multiple years and collects some data through observations, interviews, focus groups, or surveys from students, teachers, and other relevant stakeholders that documents school’s learning environment.

Collects relevant data through observations, interviews, focus groups, or surveys from students, teachers and other relevant stakeholders. That documents different student experiences within the school’s learning environment. Connects these data to other multi-year evidence of school culture and student performance.

Components1, 2

Artifacts b, f

Data analysis and priority definition

Analyzes test scores for one or more years. Attempts to define a priority academic area or student group.

Or

Does not integrate qualitative data in

Uses appropriate methods, analyzes and interprets multiple sources of quantitative and qualitative data including observations, interviews, focus groups, or surveys from students, teachers, and other relevant stakeholders across multiple years. Identifies a priority academic area and priority

Coherently analyzes and interprets multiple sources of quantitative and qualitative data across multiple years. Analysis is grounded in the school culture and clearly defines priority academic area and priority student group to extend the school’s improvement efforts.

Components 1, 2

Artifacts a, b, c, d, e, f, g

Commentary 1

21

relationship to quantitative

indicators (or vice versa).

Attempts to define priority area with little or no connection to analyzed data and school and district goals.

student group based on the analysis results and school and district goals.

22

Rubric 1.b: Designing an Integrated Plan for Strategies to Develop and Implement Improvement in the Priority Academic Area

MA Standards Alignment: Standard I: Instructional Leadership

How does the candidate design a vision and plan to improve student learning?


Vision and plan focus

Creates vision, goals and plan that are not specific or grounded in school and state data or analysis of school processes and research.

Creates vision and plan that poorly reflects school context and student culture, does not outline scope and nature of improvement desired, and does not include avenues to improve student learning and engagement.

Creates vision, goals and plan that address the priority area and priority student group. Provides evidence that vision and plan reflect school culture and existing school processes.

The proposed vision and plan focus include a set of guiding principles that justifies the scope and nature of improvement desired. Includes strategies to improve student learning and engagement drawing on research.

Creates focused vision, goals, and plan that address the priority area and priority student group. Provides clear, persuasive and consistent evidence that vision and plan are organized around a clearly articulated and research-grounded theory of action that reflects school culture. Analyzes the gaps and opportunities in existing school processes, outlines scope and nature of improvement desired, and includes strategies to improve student learning and engagement.

Component 3

Artifact h

Commentary 2

Plan details

Proposed plan’s strategies, responsibilities and resources are disconnected from

Proposed plan generally details research-based strategies, responsibilities

Proposed plan details integrated and coherent research-based strategies,

Component 3 Artifact h

23

proposed outcomes or are

not aligned to school context or are sketchy and poorly articulated.

and resources required to accomplish proposed outcomes. Plan is aligned to school context and culture.

responsibilities and resources required to accomplish proposed outcomes. Plan is aligned to school context. and student culture and provides clear evidence of feasibility.

Makes clear and coherent connections between the analysis of the data and the defined vision, including a deep understanding of the school culture, theory of action and strategies to improve teaching and learning for the priority area.

Commentary 2

24

Rubric 1.c: Assessing and Analyzing Feedback from Participants

MA Standards Alignment: Standard 1.E. Data-Driven Decision Making

How does the candidate evaluate the experience analyzing and planning for the priority academic area?


Plan feedback

Informally collects and describes school leaders’ feedback. Feedback is supported by minimal data.

Or

Feedback lacks attention to plan’s quality or relevance for student learning priorities and school culture..

Collects, analyzes and interprets school leaders’ feedback in light of the data on quality and relevance of proposed vision and plan for student learning priorities and school culture to draw implications for plan revision.

Bases the nature of feedback around research-based expectations for school improvement, and how stakeholder input shaped the final plan.

Systematically collects, analyzes, and interprets school leaders’ and other stakeholders’ feedback on quality and relevance of proposed vision and plan and its relevance for school change.

Draws implications for plan revision, grounded in research, school data and the broader school context.

Component 4

Artifact a, e, f, g, h, i

Commentary 2, 3

Planning analysis

Conducts cursory analysis of candidate’s leadership skills and practices to realize vision for improved student achievement. with little or no insight.

Identifies candidate’s leadership skills and practices required to realize vision for improved student achievement through planning and engaging stakeholders. Draws on

Analyzes candidate’s leadership skills and practices to realize vision for improved student achievement through planning and engaging stakeholders. Draws on

Component 4 Artifact i Commentary 2, 3

25

specific experiences and

stakeholders’ feedback in completing this task. Makes links to relevant research literature. Proposes strategies to improve candidate practice.

specific experiences and stakeholders’ feedback in completing this task. Is grounded in relevant research literature. Proposes areas and detailed strategies to improve candidate’s practice.

26

Task 2 Instructional Leadership for a Professional Learning Culture

What do school leaders need to think about when creating a professional learning culture?

School leaders have the ability to foster school improvement in part through developing and supporting teachers as components of a professional learning culture, both through teams and school-wide. In Task 2, candidates work with a small group of teachers in their schools to engage as a team in structured learning activities. The goal is to improve their ability to address an academic performance priority. As part of this task, leadership candidates work with a group of teachers to define a focus area and try out a new curriculum, instructional approach, assessment procedure, or student engagement strategy. Using structured team building and group process activities, candidates prepare, support, and assess the team’s learning.

Task 2 assesses your capacity to prepare, use, and evaluate your instructional leadership skills to create a professional learning culture among a group of teachers with the goal of improving student performance. Candidates will make connections to relevant research on the role of effective school leadership and the creation of a professional learning culture that fosters team productivity and teacher learning.

This task assesses your ability to demonstrate an understanding of how the teacher team’s work relates to the district’s current teacher evaluation and professional development expectations. Completion of this task should be informed by the Massachusetts Standards and Indicators for Administrative Leadership. Candidates can draw on Massachusetts recommended guidelines for professional learning communities and protocols to facilitate team development and inquiry work http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/ucd/PLCguidance.pdf


What is the school culture for teacher teams and team-based professional learning? How should you identify the teachers to participate in this task as a team, since you

are strongly encouraged to work with an existing group or a subset of an existing group in order to sustain the work after completing this task?

http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/ucd/PLCguidance.pdf

http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/ucd/PLCguidance.pdf

27

What is the focus of the team’s professional learning and how does it relate to school and district priorities and student performance?

What research-based team learning activities should you introduce to the teacher team? How should you support team learning?

What teaching and learning practices does the team try out or seek to improve, and how do changes in practice improve learning for all students? How does the team learn about these practices and prepare to try them?

What implementation evidence and initial impact on student performance is needed to assess the benefits of this professional learning experience?

Schools have three interrelated cultures: professional culture, student culture, and the culture of family engagement and community involvement. This task focuses on developing a learning orientation within the school’s professional culture to improve student learning and the student culture. Consider the school’s professional culture with respect to teams and group process. Schools use different approaches to structure and support teachers’ work in teams and groups. Some approaches are administrative, such as departments or grade level teams, while others are ad hoc or informal. Some staff are trained in norms and practices and supported as learning communities, using models such as Professional Learning Community or Community of Practice, while others are not. The nature of the school’s professional learning culture around teams and learning will bear on how new or existing teacher groups work on a problem of practice in the priority area

What do you need to do to complete this task?

Document relevant school context information, including school and district goals

and vision, and policies that support professional learning. Map out the types of teacher teams, their membership, and how they are used in

the school. Identify members for the professional learning team and provide a rationale for their

inclusion. Select a school-based priority academic area for improvement. Collect evidence of the team members’ roles in selecting the priority area; the

team’s learning activities; and the curriculum, instruction, assessment, or engagement strategies to try out for new or improved practice.

Prepare for facilitating team-learning activities.

28

Collect evidence on the implementation of new or improved practices and analyze their initial impact on student performance (e.g., student behavior, student work samples).

Analyze the teachers’ professional learning and collect team member feedback on the effectiveness of the group regarding teaching learning and improvement

The Components of the Task Component 1: Investigate

Select a potential priority academic area for this task by identifying a student performance problem or need. It should relate to school and district priorities and take account of existing student subgroup performance differences. Further, identify existing teacher teams (grade level, department, content area, special interest, or other) and their members in the school community. With input from one or more school and teacher leaders, select a teacher team with which to work on the priority area.

Based on the priority area, work with a team of two to five teachers (teaching a common grade or content area) and support them in learning about how to improve student performance, particularly for federally- and locally-designated priority student groups. Specifically, work with the team to determine the members’ strengths, interests, and needs related to the priority area; and to assess their related prior knowledge and skills, their norms and expectations for team learning, and relevant school and student cultural influences. Arrange a meeting time (during or outside the school day) and work with the team to determine which group learning approach it will use (for example, professional learning community, collaborative action research or other action-oriented learning approaches).

A priority area should be based on student performance indicators. Consider how the team’s work addresses student performance for federally designated priority student groups (students with disabilities, English language learners, Black and Hispanic students, low-income students, and students performing below state proficiency levels), English Language Learners, or other student priority groups in the school.

29

Teachers can improve student learning by focusing on and strengthening one or more of the following: their instructional content knowledge, their pedagogical practices, their understanding of students, and their integration of the relationship among these critical instructional components.

Component 2: Prepare

Help the team to narrow its focus on a specific student performance priority and then help the team to identify a meaningful professional learning goal, targeting a classroom practice that each teacher will implement or improve, with attention to students with different instructional needs. Then provide a research-based rationale for the focus area and identify the key ideas the team needs to pursue and action strategies that need to be taken, relating them to the school context and desired outcomes.

Consider the team members’ individual and collective strengths, interests, and needs in relation to the priority area, drawing on relevant professional learning and adult development theory and research.

Consider a professional learning goal that enables team members to give constructive feedback to each other, take the initiative in trying out new practices, and/or engage students in new opportunities for learning around the priority area.

Consider school level conditions that hinder or foster opportunities for teachers to work together on curriculum, instruction, and assessment; ways to establish a common planning time for this task; and how frequently the team can meet.

Component 3: Act

Facilitate a group of teachers to improve their practice (and thus student learning) through a team learning process of preparing, acting, and assessing.

The team’s learning is directed at implementing a new practice or improving on an existing practice, such as:

a) A form of its own professional learning (such as looking at student work or engaging

in lesson study). b) A new or revised curricular unit (such as a unit related to the Massachusetts

Curriculum Frameworks), instructional practice (such as performance-based learning or literacy instruction embedded within a subject-matter curriculum), or assessment

30

practice (such as formative and summative assessment aligned to the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks or a performance assessment).

c) Strategies to improve student engagement through more effective differentiated instruction and support for positive student behavior and performance.

Your role as facilitator and support provider are critical to the team learning process. Your support to the team includes the following:

a) Convening regular meetings for teachers to prepare, implement, and assess their

work. b) Coaching the team process and reinforcing appropriate norms for team learning. c) Facilitating problem solving. d) Documenting implementation experiences. e) Assisting in implementing and assessing new strategies. f) Maintaining the group’s focus and energy. g) Assessing progress, change, and impact, including evaluating the team’s capacity to

learn as a group.

Consider which aspects of changing practice are, or may be, the most difficult for teachers to accomplish, and determine how to engage the team, particularly the teachers who support struggling, disengaged, or gifted and talented students.

Component 4: Assess

Assess whether and how the practices of the participating teachers improve through the team learning process, describe your own and the team members’ roles in the team learning, document implementation of new or changed practices, and provide feedback on their performance in the facilitation process. Through a feedback form or group discussion, ask the members to rate the quality of the professional feedback they received from each other and you, what they believe is the change in their knowledge and skills as a result of the learning activities, and the new knowledge and skills they developed as a result of the learning activities and tryout work.

Consider how the team’s professional learning activities enhanced each member’s professional growth and development as an individual and a team member related to improving student performance. How can the team sustain the work and use it as a foundation to build team and school capacity?

31

Further, analyze what you learned from the team building and group learning experiences and solicit feedback from the teachers about their team building and group learning facilitation skills. Where relevant, you can draw on theory and research on leadership development, professional team building and group learning, and the role of interpersonal skills in group facilitation. Lastly, identify problems and successes in facilitating team building and group learning, including enabling teachers to take the lead in initiating change, and drawing implications for improving team building and group learning for the future.

Artifacts, Documents and Commentary This section provides instructions to the leadership candidate on what should be submitted for review.

What do you need to submit for review?


• three files that present your artifacts (i.e., priority description, presentation on the plan and its implementation and feedback;

• other documents that support your artifacts; and • a narrative of your commentary in response to the prompts

Artifacts

Below are all the artifacts that must be submitted for scoring. They are to be submitted as three files—description of the priority area and team; a presentation or report on the team learning plan; its implementation and team experiences; and feedback on the team learning. Once prepared, each can be submitted in the form of a report or memo to the principal or superintendent, a presentation (e.g., powerpoint), or other media:

1. Description of the priority area and team. The first file should include all of the following information about the priority area for team learning, background on team learning in your school and a description of the team: a) Evidence on the priority area and connections to student learning. b) Identification of the types of teams in the school; include information on which

teams have had recent formal training on professional learning community, team building, or group process and what this training was.

32

c) A description of the team selected for this task, including a list of the members and

the reasons for their inclusion. 2. Team learning findings. The second file is a presentation or report that should include the following information: d) A presentation (video or other media) about the team’s learning experiences and

benefits for teacher practice and student performance. Include a description of the action plan for teacher learning and a summary of how the action plan was implemented.

3. Feedback. The third file may be in the form a document that includes the following information: e) Evidence of team member feedback on team learning, team task accomplishment,

and candidate’s facilitation role. Other Documents

In addition to the above files, you must also include the following documents: a) A list of the team building and discussion group protocols the group used. b) The agendas and summary minutes for all the team meetings.

Commentary In addition to providing the above artifacts, prepare a narrative summary for each of the following:

1) Priority Focus

a) Describe a narrow priority area for the team’s work (i.e., curriculum, instruction, assessment, or school culture).

b) Provide information on the relevance of this priority area and its relationship to school or district priorities and practices, student performance evidence, and school context, as well as relate the area’s relevance to contemporary research and practice. Explain the competing priorities that were considered and how choices were made.

c) Explain how the team learning process will enable teachers to improve practices that will positively influence student learning, drawing on theory, research and best practices.

d) Consider the following questions in describing the priority focus: i) What role does team learning play in your school’s teacher and student

culture? How is team learning an active part of school improvement efforts?

33

ii) What differences are there to team learning among grades, disciplines, and

teacher experience levels? 2) Knowledge of Team Learning

In responding to prompts 2a-b, refer to the team composition and prior experience with team learning.

a) Provide a rationale for the form of group learning (such as action research, professional learning community) that you and the team selected to use and identify the options the team considered before arriving at this choice.

b) Explain how the proposed team learning approach is situated within the school’s professional learning culture, history and demographic context.

c) Establish an empirical, research-based, and practical case that the selected approach will lead to team learning.

3) Support for Team Learning

a) Explain how you engaged teachers or others for this team effort. Provide the criteria you considered and used to identify teachers, as well as the strategies used to gain their commitment to participate, including their reasons for participating.

b) Explain how the team decided on its area of focus. Explain how you facilitated the group’s decision to select a focus area for student learning. Explain your use of data and how you considered competing priorities and demands.

c) Explain how your understanding of the team’s prior team learning experiences and the school context guided your strategies. Justify your strategies based on contemporary research and theory.

d) Describe the group’s experiences in supporting each other’s learning, including the ideas discussed during regular meetings. Using what you know about adult learning, explain your role in supporting this work and moving it forward.

e) Describe team learning problems that occurred and how you addressed them. f) Document how individuals, and the team as a collective, changed over time.

4) Support for Team Task Accomplishments

a) Describe what the team members tried out and what occurred. Explain how you

marshaled resources to support the group’s work organizationally:

34

i) Scheduling meeting time. ii) Identifying human resource requirements to enable group work. iii) Securing non-human resources used to support team work or try out new

strategies. iv) Explaining the steps and approvals that were required.

b) Describe your role as a resource to the group or to individual teachers as each person tried out new practice.

c) Describe challenges and problems that arose and how you addressed them. Include content, process, impact, and team interactions in your description.

5) Assessment of Team Learning

In responding to 5a below, refer to the feedback information in the artifacts you submitted.

a) Analyze team members’ feedback related to: i) Team learning. ii) The candidate’s facilitation skills. iii) Accomplishments, challenges and implications for their individual and group

practice. iv) Preliminary evidence of impact on student learning.

b) Comment on your own learning and leadership development from the activities and collect responses from team members on your leadership and their professional learning, using the prompts below: i) What problems did you face and what successes did you achieve in facilitating

team building and group learning? What resources facilitated or challenged team effectiveness? How effectively did you perform in your role in facilitating the group?

ii) Present implications of this experience for future school leadership work.

Task 2: Instructional Leadership for Professional Learning Culture Rubrics


As you prepare your artifacts and commentary, use the following rubrics to guide your thinking, planning, action, analysis, and presentation.

35

Rubric 2.a: Planning to Facilitate Team Learning

MA Standards Alignment: Standard IV: Professional Culture

How does the candidate plan for professional learning culture to improve teaching and student learning?


Team creation

Selects group of teachers with limited attention to their individual and collective strengths and interest in priority area.

Selects purposeful group of teachers based on their individual and collective strengths and interest in priority area.

With school and teacher leader input, recruits and selects purposeful group of teachers based on their individual and collective strengths and interests in priority area. Provides evidence of initial member buy-in.

Component 1

Artifact c

Team learning plan

Has a superficial or limited engagement plan to support team learning and collaborative structures.

Or

Gives limited attention to how proposed team learning approach will foster professional learning culture.

Plans for team learning systems and structures to foster professional learning culture and selects team learning approach anchored in research and practice.

Plans for team learning systems and structures to foster professional learning culture and selects team learning approach anchored in research and best practice. Explicitly links plan to school-level conditions, resources and culture, and broader school improvement strategies.

Component 1, 2 Artifact b Commentary 2

36

Rubric 2.b: Fostering Professional Learning Culture to Support Team Learning


How does the candidate support team learning?


Team process

Leads teachers with limited support for the team process.

Facilitates group learning process, paying attention to team learning norms, general participation and discussion, problem solving, conflict management, and time management. Facilitation is informed by research on team learning.

Using an explicit, research- guided approach, develops professional learning community that directs and sustains its own work. Provides evidence of strategies to foster shared responsibility and leadership for group norms, active participation and discussion, problem solving, conflict management, effective time management, and strategies to adjust team learning and development over time.

Component 3

Artifacts d, e, f

Commentary 3

Team work Directs teachers with little or no evidence of coaching and support for individual and collective work.

Uses research-based skills and practices to support teachers’ on-going individual and collective work to improve new or existing practice(s) to improve student learning

Uses research-based skills and practices to promote and deepen teachers’ ongoing individual and collective work to improve student learning through multiple cycles of preparing, acting, monitoring, assessing and sharing,

Component 3 Artifacts d, e, f Commentary 3

37

Rubric 2.c: Assessing Team Learning to Improve On-Going Group Learning


How does the candidate assess progress and change pertaining to a team learning task?


Assessing team process and team work

Describes what team members tried out and what occurred in the team process and task accomplishments, making weak or no links between team process and team accomplishments.

Collects, analyzes and interprets data on how team process facilitates team’s task accomplishments (individually and collectively), supports team learning, and improves priority area of student learning within the school’s context. Provides evidence that the team developed capacity as a learning community, making links to research literature.

Collects, analyzes and interprets data on how team process facilitates the development of a professional learning culture through differentiated support and guidance and team’s task accomplishments (individually and collectively) to improve priority area of student learning within the school’s context. Explicitly grounded assessment of the team process in the research literature.

Component 4 Artifacts d, f, g Commentary 3, 4

Assessing leader role in team learning

Conducts cursory analysis of candidate’s leadership skills and practices to facilitate team learning and team work.

Identifies candidate’s skills and practices required to facilitate team learning and team work in completing this task. Draws on specific experiences and team members’ feedback in completing this task. Makes

Using an explicit research- based framework, analyses candidate’s skills and practices necessary to facilitate self-sustaining team learning and continuous team work. Draws on specific experiences and team

Component 4 Artifacts b, d, e, f, g Commentary 3, 4

38

links to relevant research

literature. Proposes strategies to improve candidate’s practice.

members’ feedback in completing this task, including how the candidate adjusted his or her practices throughout the process as a function of team learning. Proposes detailed strategies to improve candidate’s practice.

MA-PAL Edited Draft Performance Assessment Task 3 July, 2103

39

Task 3 Leadership in Observing, Assessing, and Supporting Individual Teacher Effectiveness

What do school leaders need to think about when improving teacher effectiveness?

Effective school leaders understand and recognize the characteristics of high quality teaching. They observe teachers in the classroom, assess standards-based teaching strengths and weaknesses, and provide feedback to help a classroom teacher become more effective and improve the performance of all students.

Task 3 assesses these skills as a leadership candidate does the following: (1) gathers and analyzes classroom data, including the teacher’s self-assessment (if available), student work samples, student performance data (as relevant for the grade and subject), and samples of the teacher’s work; (2) visits three or more classrooms to identify common school practice; (3) conducts a pre-teacher observation session; (4) conducts at least two classroom observations and reviews related instructional artifacts; (5) assesses the observation and performance data for strengths and weaknesses; (6) provides formative feedback to the teacher; and (7) plans for professional support.

Task 3 asks candidates to demonstrate their instructional leadership skills when planning for a teacher observation, conducting the observation, analyzing observation and student data, providing feedback, and planning support for an individual teacher. These actions build on Massachusetts Standards for Administrative Leadership and state and district guidelines for educator evaluation.


What is your area of focus in curriculum and instruction, why is this focus a priority

for improving learning for all students, and with whom will you work? What can you learn about current practices among similar teachers in this focus area

by observing similar practices in different classes and analyzing student work and performance data?

What are the typical teacher observation practices in the school and what protocols and rubrics are used to assess instructional practice and provide feedback?


40

What additional student or teacher information and artifacts are needed to inform

your classroom observation and the feedback you provide to the teacher? What professional supports are available for teachers in the school after receiving

feedback?

Consider that effective teaching encompasses the following: subject matter knowledge, pedagogical skills, an understanding of child and adolescent development, and mastery of the ability to combine knowledge in all three areas to produce high quality teaching and meaningful learning for all students.

For purposes of this task, high quality teaching is defined by the descriptors of proficient and exemplary teaching in the Massachusetts Model System Educator Evaluation: Teacher Rubric (http://www.doe.mass.edu/edeval/model/PartIII_AppxC.pdf). Meaningful learning for all students is defined by these descriptors for student motivation and engagement and meeting diverse student needs and by student performance outcomes on state assessments.

It is important for leadership candidates to know about the teacher’s classroom context, differences in individual student performance relative to a priority area of instruction, the school and district classroom observation protocols, and research-based practices in classroom observation and teacher development. In completing this task, leadership candidates must make connections to current, relevant research on how an effective school leader can support a teacher’s continuous improvement through observation and feedback and to MA Standards and Indicators for Administrative Leadership.


Examine and summarize classroom context information. Identify the priority area (considering district, school, and teacher team priorities,

where possible). Select a teacher to serve as a volunteer and select a class session for observation. Provide a rationale for your selection.

Visit three or more similar classes (as in, for instance, a walk-through or instructional round process) and examine samples of student work and teacher assignments to learn about common school practice in the priority area.

Review pre-observation data, instructional goals for the lesson and unit of study with the teacher whom you will observe.

Conduct at least one classroom observation and collect teacher and student information and samples of artifacts associated with the lesson.

http://www.doe.mass.edu/edeval/model/PartIII_AppxC.pdf


41

Gather information on available support for the teacher to improve instruction. Conduct at least one post-observation feedback session with the teacher and

identify possible sources for professional learning. Document the leadership candidate and teacher’s roles in the pre-conference,

observation, and post-conference feedback activity.

Each classroom has different demographic, cultural, and academic attributes that comprise its context. All impact a teacher’s instructional choices and strategies. Consider the relevant classroom context attributes and their relationship to the academic focus and instructional strategies

The Components of the Task

Component 1: Investigate

Identify a teacher to volunteer for this task and choose an instructional focus. The focus can be based on school or district priorities, an analysis of student performance data, curriculum units, instructional practices, or assessments.

Teacher performance has a direct relationship on student learning. Consider how classroom instruction is shaped by individual students’ strengths, interests, and needs; required standards; instructional objectives; and available resources.

Collect and analyze additional relevant context and performance data and compile information for a pre-observation conference:

1) Identify how the instructional focus relates to district, school, or teacher team goals

and priorities. 2) Visit three or more similar classes (as in, for instance, a walk-through or instructional

round process) to document the nature of instructional practice (including examining a sample of assignments and student work).

3) Collect forms and procedures that the school or district uses for teacher observation and evaluation. Consider the Massachusetts Model System Educator Evaluation: Teacher Rubric in the observation of teacher practice.

4) Compile the following information for the pre-observation conference: a) A review of the teacher’s self-evaluation of instructional practice (if available).


42

b) Additional evidence about the teacher’s students and their performance in the priority area, using appropriate grade-level data and subgroup analyses.

c) The teacher’s lesson plans for the unit of study to be examined and the teacher’s intended instructional processes and student assignments leading to the lesson(s) that will be observed.

d) Samples of student assignments and work (prior to and after the lesson being observed).

Consider the environment for teacher observation in the school and district. How does it relate to the state educator evaluation system? What training has the school or district provided to teachers and leaders about teacher evaluation? What is the culture of the school regarding teacher observation and how receptive are teachers to being observed for non-formal, formative purposes? How can you build trust and maintain confidentiality in completing this assessment? How does the current climate and professional culture affect your capacity to undertake this task? What considerations are necessary in order to videotape the observation and feedback sessions with the teacher?


Use the relevant context and performance data and compile the information collected. Complete the school’s/district’s teacher pre-observation process, including the following: 1) Conduct a pre-observation conference, sharing information collected so far and

establishing a focus for the observation with the teacher. 2) Offer suggestions for improving the lesson, if relevant. 3) Document the teacher’s and your roles and participation in the pre-observation

conference.

Identify district policies and practices for videotaping teachers and classes for developmental purposes only. They may include consent requirements for teachers and students, restrictions on videotaping classes, and other related requirements.

Identify school and district policies and practices concerning the length of observation time.

Component 3: Act

Complete the school’s or district’s teacher observation and post-observation conference process with the teacher, including the following:


43

1) Conduct and video observations of two or more class sessions (a total of 30

minutes), using the district’s teacher observation protocol or the Massachusetts recommended teaching rubric.

2) Prepare written documentation of the teaching observation and an assessment of strengths and areas for improvement using the district’s rubric.

3) Select the most critical area(s) for improvement and develop a strategy (involving one or more sources of support) to foster teacher learning and development in one or more identified areas, with a rationale on how the strategy will support teacher learning.

4) Videotape the session and provide feedback to the teacher, using at least two sources of data (including student assignments and work), and provides relevant, research-based next steps for improving practice.

Consider how teacher performance can be improved with targeted feedback, professional development, and ongoing support.

Remember that your role is to support teacher development, not to evaluate teacher performance. Classroom observation is formative and part of a teaching inquiry/ continuous improvement process. All observation notes and feedback are confidential and cannot be used as part of a formal teacher evaluation process or for summative teacher ratings.

There are many ways of providing teacher support to improve his or her practice. Support should be developed through a two-way discussion that encourages each teacher to take responsibility for his or her learning and improvement. Support includes one or more of the following information sharing, modeling, coaching and feedback through peers (through inter-visitation and consultation), lead teachers (for modeling and coaching), school leaders and external consultants and resources (such as professional development workshop, conferences and graduate coursework) as are available in the school or district.

Component 4: Assess

Analyze your work in conducting the cycle of classroom observation with the teacher, and solicit and submit feedback from the teacher. This activity includes the following:


44

1) Evaluate what worked well and what could be improved. Include in your analysis the

pre-observation, observation, and post-observation experiences, and the strategies used to support the teacher in improving his or her practice in relation to improving student learning.

2) Collect and analyze feedback from the teacher about the pre-conference, observation, and post-conference experiences and review student assignments and work samples, your skills in completing these tasks, and the implications of the feedback for the teacher’s work.

3) Assess your own skills and implications for future development in observing, assessing, providing feedback, and supporting one teacher to improve instruction, drawing on relevant theory and research on teacher evaluation and development.




• eight files that present your artifacts; • other documents that support your artifacts, and • a narrative of your commentary in response to the prompts:

Artifacts

Below are all the artifacts that must be submitted for scoring. They are to be submitted as eight files as explained below. 1) A completed template found in Appendix B. 2) A document that includes the following information:

a) A rationale for selecting the priority area and the process for selecting the teacher (including information on how the teacher volunteered).

b) A description of the results of classroom visits on the selected focus 3) A summary of the pre-observation conference discussion and findings 4) A video of 15 minutes of observed teaching drawn from the 30 minutes of video. 5) Observation notes of the observed teaching using the school/district teacher

observation protocol and teacher evaluation guide.


45

6) A video of the post-observation conference and a summary of the discussion and

findings. 7) Teacher feedback about the pre-conference, observation, and post-conference

experiences, and the implications for the teacher’s work and improved student learning.

8) Analysis of the teacher’s learning and implications for the next professional development steps for this teacher.

Other Documents

In addition to the above files, you must also include the following documents: a) The unit of study and core student assignments and work samples. The teacher

observation protocol and teacher evaluation rubric commonly used in the school and district.

b) Teacher self-assessment of instructional practice (if available). c) Samples of relevant student and teacher information, and artifacts related to the

lesson. Commentary In addition to providing the above artifacts, prepare a narrative summary for each of the following:

1) Planning

a) Describe the teacher, class. and lesson focus to be observed in relationship to the school or district “learning” priority.

b) Describe the teacher’s self-assessment on this focus, including his or her strengths, areas in need of improvement, and goals.

c) Situate the instructional focus for the observation within the context of instructional practice based on observations of similar classes.

d) Situate the instructional focus within the context of student performance and other relevant indicators.

e) Summarize the pre-observation conference, including formative feedback for the teacher based on a review of the lesson plan and discussion.

2) Conducting the Observation, Providing Feedback and Suggesting Support a) Using the school’s/district’s teacher observation system (referenced in the

artifacts), describe the strengths and areas for improvement in the 15-minute video of the classroom observation, with consideration of the student assignments and in-class work.

b) Assess your post-observation feedback, referencing examples from the video clips:


46

i) Explain how you demonstrated mutual respect for, rapport with, and responsiveness to the teacher and challenged him or her to engage in professional learning.

ii) Explain how your feedback engaged the teacher in reflecting on dimensions of effective teaching and evidence of student learning.

iii) Explain how your proposed support strategies prompted teacher learning about instructional strategies and skills.

3) Analysis and Implications. Using the feedback information in the artifacts: a) Evaluate what worked well and what could be improved in the pre-observation,

observation, and post-observation experiences, including strategies used to encourage the teacher to improve his or her practice.

b) Assess your own skill, and implications for your improvement, in observing, assessing, providing feedback, and supporting one teacher to improve instruction, drawing on relevant theory and research on teacher evaluation and development.

Task 3: Leadership in Observing, Assessing, and Supporting Individual Teacher Effectiveness Rubrics




47

Rubric 3.a: Planning

MA Standards Alignment: Indicator II-B. Human Resources Management and Development

How does the candidate prepare for and conduct a pre-observation conference?


Pre- observation data analysis

Collects unsystematic or anecdotal data about common classroom practices, student instructional needs and teacher needs and practices.

Collects and analyzes data from student work on common classroom practices in school, instructional needs of students and one teacher’s needs and practices. Links to related research and connects to specific school or district priority and school culture.

Coherently collects, analyzes and integrates data on common classroom practices, instructional needs of students (particularly priority student group(s)) and one teacher’s needs and practices. Uses a research- based framework and links to the school’s professional culture, and school improvement work in collecting, analyzing and interpreting data.

Component 1 Artifact a, Commentary 1

Observation focus selection

Selects focus for observing one teacher with little or no analysis of systemically collected common instructional practices, student and teacher needs.

Identifies standards-based instructional focus for observing one teacher, referencing common classroom practice in school and instructional and learning needs of students.

Identifies standards-based instructional focus for observing one teacher, grounded in a research- based framework on effective teaching, common classroom practice in school, instructional and learning needs of students, and

Component 1 Artifact a. b, c, d Commentary 1


48

broader school context.

Conduct pre- observation conference

Describes brief pre- observation conference with selected teacher. Makes minimal connections to data or to individual teacher around the identified instructional focus or goal.

Describes two-way pre- observation dialogue with selected teacher anchored in data gathered from observing other classes and analyzing student performance data. Is clearly focused on instructional and reflects teacher plans.

Describes two-way pre- observation dialogue with selected teacher anchored in data gathered from observing other classes, analyzing student performance data and reviewing teacher plans and student work. Refines teacher’s plans and observation focus as part of pre-conference.

Component 1, 2 Artifacts b, c, d, e Commentary 1


49

Rubric 3.b: Conducting the Observation


How well does the candidate recognize qualities of teaching practice?


Uses an observation rubric

Identifies some qualities of observed teaching practices, based on teacher observation instrument and teacher observations. These qualities are not clearly connected to the identified instructional focus.

Or

Incorrectly identifies some essential qualities of observed teaching practices, based on teacher observation instrument and teacher observations.

Clearly identifies essential qualities of observed teaching practices and student actions in relation to focal instructional area based on teacher observation instrument and teacher observations. Identified qualities are linked to research on improving student learning.

Clearly and consistently identifies essential qualities of observed teaching practices and student actions in relation to focal instructional area based on teacher observation instrument, teacher observations and review of student assignment and work. Identified qualities are grounded in research on improving student learning.

Component 1, 2, 3 Artifacts e, f, g, h, i Commentary 1, 2


50

Rubric 3.c: Providing Feedback and Suggesting Support


How does the candidate foster teacher learning and development?


Feedback content

Provides teacher feedback with limited connections to observation data or essential qualities of effective teaching.

Or

Provides evaluative judgment rather than formative feedback of teacher practices.

Provides formative teacher feedback directly tied to essential qualities of effective teaching practice, drawing on relevant research literature, observation data, school instructional priority area, and student learning needs.

Provides clear and consistent formative teacher feedback using a research-based framework on effective teaching and teacher development. Feedback emphasizes teaching strategies that will maximize student learning. Feedback integrates essential qualities of effective teaching, teacher and student observation data, student performance data and school priority instructional area.

Component 1, 2, 3 Artifacts e, f, g, h, i, j Commentary 1, 2, 3

Rapport and teacher engagement

Tells the teacher how to improve his or her practice; does little to engage teacher in discussing observation data, feedback, or the

Constructively engages teacher in two-way discussion about observation in order to analyze and improve instructional

Engages in a two-way discussion that assists the teacher in analyzing observation and other data to improve instructional practice and plan next steps.

Component 1, 2, 3 Artifacts e, f, g, h, I, Commentary 1, 2, 3


51

improvement of practice. practice. Uses targeted questioning to promote teacher learning and planning next steps. Uses a research-based framework on effective teaching and teacher development in describing the discussion.

Foster teacher development

Directs teacher on steps to improve classroom practice with little or no reference to observational data.

Provides research-based guidance (with goals, strategies, and assessment) and recommends resources to improve student learning in instructional focus area based on teacher observation data.

Provides clear research- based guidance and coaching (with goals, strategies, and assessment) and recommends resources to improve student learning in instructional focus area based on teacher observation and other data. Discusses how coaching is tailored to teacher’s specific needs and priorities and contributes to a positive professional culture.

Component 1, 2, 3 Artifacts e, f, g, h, I, j, k, l Commentary 1, 2, 3


52

Rubric 3.d: Assess: Analysis and Implications


How does the candidate analyze his or her skill in observing, assessing, and providing feedback?


Leadership self- assessment

Conducts cursory analysis of leadership skills and practices for teacher observation and feedback.

Identifies candidate’s skills and practices required for teacher observation and provide feedback. Draws on specific experiences and teacher’s feedback in completing this task. Makes links to relevant research literature. Proposes strategies to improve candidate’s practice

Analyzes candidate’s skills and practices necessary for teacher observation and feedback. Draws on specific experiences and teacher’s in completing this task, including how the candidate adjusted his or her practices throughout the process, and how the candidate adjusted his or her practices throughout the task. Grounded assessment in relevant research literature. Proposes detailed strategies to improve candidate’s practice.

Component 1 Artifacts e, I, j, k, l Commentary 1, 2, 3

MA-PAL Edited Draft Performance Assessment July, 2013

53

Task 4: Leadership for Family Engagement and Community Involvement

What do school leaders need to think about when promoting family engagement and community involvement?

In this task, school leadership candidates develop a proposal and implement one component of it to increase family engagement and community involvement in a school’s priority area. This area can be related to student academic performance or to health and social needs that impact students’ learning. As part of this task, leadership candidates work collaboratively with school leaders and staff, family and community representatives, and students to align their work to a student learning or student health or social need priority.

Task 4 assesses a candidate’s capacity to develop and sustain continuous improvement in family engagement and community involvement. It is important for school leaders to know the school, the priority area (and how students’ experiences may differ in this area), and the school’s current approaches and challenges to family engagement and community involvement. To be successful, leaders must make connections to relevant research on leadership and family engagement and community involvement.

Candidates’ work on this task should directly relate to MA Standards and Indicators for Administrative Leadership and draw on state guidelines on Family, School, and Community Partnership Fundamentals (https://www.doemass.org/boe/sac/parent/).

Consider what defines “family” in the school’s context. Family includes any caregiver who can support students educationally, such as parents, siblings, and professional child care providers who play a central role in children’s school and home experiences.

Consider what community means in the school’s context. Community can include educational, health, recreational, and social service agencies that may serve the school’s students; and local businesses and nonprofit organizations that have an interest in the educational well-being of the school’s students or can provide

http://www.doemass.org/boe/sac/parent/)


54

resources to support students educationally. Community also comprises other community members who have an interest in students’ education.

What do you need to consider to complete the task?

How does family engagement and community involvement relate to the selected

priority area? What family engagement and community involvement strategies can best support

improved student learning or address student health and social needs that impact student learning?

How can representatives of diverse interests be involved in addressing the priority issue?

How can reciprocal family engagement and community involvement be fostered?

Consider what it means to engage families with a school to support student learning or to meet health and social service needs. For the purposes of this task, think about Epstein’s1 definition of family involvement, which identifies six types of engagement: sharing information on parenting; communicating with families about student performance and school matters (and responding to their communication with the school); engaging family members in volunteering and supporting classroom and school activities; helping families to extend learning at home; involving family representatives in decision making on school matters; and helping families use community resources and services, particularly in support of student learning.

Consider what it means to involve the community with the school to support student learning or health and social service needs. Epstein’s definition of community “encompasses all individuals and institutions—in and out of school— that have a stake in the success of children in school and in the well-being of children and families. [Communities] include schools, families, neighborhood groups, clubs and associations, businesses, libraries, local government, religious organizations, parks and recreation departments, police and juvenile justice offices, social service and health agencies, and others who serve children and families as a matter of course or in times of trouble.”2

1 Epstein, J. L. (2001). School, family, and community partnerships. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. 2 Epstein, p. 57.


55

For this task, family engagement and community involvement with schools are intended to be reciprocal whenever possible, in terms of voice, action, strategies, participation, and benefits; to be productive in its scope and demands on families, community, and school; and to build on existing family engagement and community involvement efforts in the schools. It does not assume that family engagement and community involvement would only occur at the school site.


Select a priority area based on evidence on student performance (and subgroup

differences), or on student health and social needs that impact student learning. Create a small work group of representative staff, family, and community members

(and one or more students, if possible) and describe its purpose and composition. Gather school and community context information and evidence related to family

engagement and community involvement needs by examining existing policies, strategies, and programs.

Develop a comprehensive proposal, in collaboration with the work group, with several strategies for improving family engagement and community involvement in relation to the priority area and connected with the school and district plans for family engagement and community involvement.

Implement one proposed strategy (in collaboration with one or more members of the work group) and document the implementation process.

Assess the implementation process and initial outcomes, including those relating to improving student learning.

The Components of the Task Component 1: Investigate

Select a priority area for this task, based on evidence related to student performance (and subgroup differences) and other student needs (such as health and social services that impact on student learning). You will need school leadership and community support (from the school’s parent organization, for example) for this work.

Within this priority area, identify key staff, students, family members, and community representatives for whom the area is most relevant and who can be most supportive of the work.


56

With such staff members (two or three) and family and community members (two or three), and one to two students where possible, form a working group [school-family- community group] to meet two or more times. The group’s role may be advisory, existing solely to support your work, or it may be collaborative in co-constructing a proposal and implementing one of the strategies described.

With the group’s assistance, identify existing programs and services related to the priority area and gather evidence of family and community member participation and effectiveness. Evidence on school-family-community engagement might include family member attendance at student-related events, teacher and family member survey feedback on school communication and student learning support, family member use of learning resources and services for improving student learning; participation in policy and program decision-making groups; observations of family and community support of student learning; and/or focus groups with relevant parties.

The primary focus of this task is to improve student learning. Families and the community generally can support student learning directly or indirectly by addressing student needs and priorities that can extend, enhance, or improve learning.

Consider how family engagement and community involvement can help address needs related to student academic performance or promote student access to health, recreational, and social services as they impact learning, particularly for federally designated student priority groups (students with disabilities, English language learners, Black and Hispanic students, low-income students, and students performing below state proficiency levels) and locally designated priority groups.

Take into account how improving family engagement and community involvement relates to school or district priorities for improving student learning.


Working with the school-family-community group, prepare a proposal to improve school-family engagement and community involvement. The strategies should promote student learning and the school’s and district’s mission and priorities, while addressing family concerns and creating opportunities for families and community members to support and enhance student learning. The strategies could be related to policies, practices, and programs that are applicable to the priority area.


57

Draw on research to inform proposed school-family-community engagement strategies and practices and to provide a rationale for how the selected strategies fit the school context and the school and district’s overall strategic plan to support family engagement and community involvement. The proposed strategies must be responsive to the priority area and feasible within the school and community context, but need not be exhaustive.

Write a compelling rationale for the proposal, citing the relevant research and advocating on behalf of the families and community entities for recommended policies, programs, and practices. Provide evidence on how the proposal elements will increase family engagement and community involvement in ways that contribute to improved student learning. Provide evidence of the school-family-community group’s role and input in preparing the proposal.

As part of the proposal, identify one relevant strategy to be implemented that reflects the proposal’s goals and priorities. It can be an enhancement of an existing strategy or a new strategy.

Solicit feedback from school leaders and the broader school-family community for the proposal to gain their support to implement one strategy.

Consider strategies that will foster a more inclusive school culture by developing more reciprocal school-family engagement and community involvement, sharing knowledge and responsibility, and leading to complementary actions. Consider strategies that strengthen the capacity of families and community members to become active partners in student learning and that develop the sensitivity and skill of school staff in working and engaging productively with family and community members to improve student learning.

Family engagement and community involvement take different forms at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. In what ways does the proposed plan address school level needs and priorities?

Component 3: Act

Leadership candidates implement one engagement or involvement strategy. To the extent possible, the implementation should be undertaken in cooperation with other school staff and family and community members, particularly those from the working group. The implementation process can include further planning, soliciting participation, trying out a program or practice, or taking steps to develop and implement new policies.


58

Consider an innovative policy, program, or communication strategy that creates new forms of engagement and involvement and increases the number of participates and the reciprocal quality of the participation. Consider as well how the strategy can be sustained over time.

Document (using videotape or other means) the engagement or involvement strategy implementation, identify problems and how they were addressed, and describe your role and the working group’s role in this process.

Component 4: Assess

Solicit and analyze feedback from working group members on the feasibility, usefulness, and benefits of the school-family engagement and community involvement strategy. Where possible, collect information, artifacts, and documentation through video, photos, or other media to show how the program, practice, or policy was implemented; how it enhanced family and community participation; and how it addressed the priority area. In addition, solicit feedback from the work group members and school leaders about your leadership effectiveness in focusing on a relevant and high leverage issue, working with the group, developing the proposal, and implementing a strategy.

Finally, analyze the effectiveness of the process and initial outcomes. Drawing on leadership and school improvement theory as well as research on family engagement and community involvement, discuss the implications for future growth in this areas.




• three files that present your artifacts; (list) • other documents that support your artifacts; and • a narrative of your commentary in response to the prompts.


59

Artifacts

Below are all the artifacts that must be submitted for scoring. They are to be submitted as three files—an analysis of data, priority area and proposal to improve family engagement and community involvement; the implementation and results for one strategy; and feedback on the proposal and strategy. Once prepared, each can be submitted in the form of a report or memo to the principal or superintendent, a presentation, or other media.

1. Priority area and proposal to improve family engagement and community involvement. This is a document or presentation that includes the following information: a) Justification for a priority area, including evidence on student performance (and

subgroup differences), or on student health and social needs that impact student learning.

b) A list of members of the small work group of representative staff and family and community stakeholders (and one or more students, if possible) and a description of the group’s purpose and composition.

c) Relevant school and community context information related to family engagement and community involvement.

d) A summary of feedback from students, family members, and staff about family engagement and community involvement for a priority area.

e) A proposal for improving family engagement and community involvement in a priority area with evidence justifying this area.

2. Strategy. A presentation (PowerPoint, video, written report, or other media) on: f) Documentation of the implementation of the strategy. g) A presentation (PowerPoint, video, written report, or other media) on the

experiences and results of implementing the selected strategy. 3. Feedback. An analysis of feedback from working group members on the feasibility, usefulness, and benefits of the school-family engagement and community involvement strategy.


60

Other Documents

In addition to the above files, you must also include the following documents: a) Documentation of relevant school policies, strategies, and programs for family

engagement and community involvement. b) Documentation on existing participation and engagement of families and community

representatives for the priority area. Commentary

In addition to providing the above artifacts, prepare a narrative summary for each of the following: 1) Planning

a) Provide a compelling rationale for the priority area and proposal for improving family engagement and community involvement, anchored in appropriate theory, research, and practice, and connected to the school’s family engagement and community involvement plan.

2) Using an Effective Strategy to Improve Family Engagement or Community

Involvement a) Justify the strategy selected for implementation. b) Analyze the experiences and results of implementing the selected strategy,

including the role of leadership. 3) Assessing

a) Indicate the strengths and weaknesses of the selected strategy: i) How it enhanced family and community participation. ii) How it addressed the priority area. iii) What problems arose and how they were addressed.

b) Drawing on leadership and school change theory as well as research on family engagement and community involvement, assess your own performance and implications for your improvement. Address the following: i) The selection of the issue. ii) Working with the group. iii) Developing the proposal. iv) Implementing a strategy.


61

Task 4: Leadership for Family Engagement and Community Involvement Rubrics




62

Rubric 4.a: Planning to Promote Family and Community Involvement

MA Standards Alignment: Standard III: Family and Community Engagement

How does the candidate document existing family engagement and community involvement strategies to promote a proposal for improving a priority area?


Investigate Informally or unsystematically compiles information about the need for and limitations of current practices for family engagement and community involvement.

Or

Does not investigate school needs, opportunities and gaps in family engagement and community involvement in relation to priority area of student learning. Makes minimal connection to the school family and community culture.

Systematically collects and analyzes qualitative and quantitative data on school needs, opportunities and gaps in family engagement and community involvement in relation to priority area of student learning. Connects data to the school family and community culture.

Integrates analyses of original and existing qualitative and quantitative data on school needs, opportunities and gaps in family engagement and community involvement in relation to priority area of student learning. Includes data related to three aspects of school culture (professional, student and parent/community). Makes clear and consistent connections to the school family and community culture.

Component 1 Artifacts a, c Commentary 1

Engagement Generally consults with Engages stakeholder groups in the investigation and

Collaborates and shares leadership with a broadly

Component 1


63

process stakeholder group to compile information and propose strategies for family engagement and community involvement.

development of proposal to improve family engagement and community involvement in a priority student learning area.

representative stakeholder group in the investigation and development of proposal to improve family engagement and community involvement in priority student learning area.

Artifacts a, b, c Commentary

Comprehensive proposal

Develops vague proposal to improve family engagement and community involvement that does not include compelling rationale, demonstrate how proposed strategies will increase family involvement or improve student learning.

Develops a comprehensive, research based proposal (goals, policies, strategies, and resources) with attention to developing a rationale focused on priority area of student learning that aligns school needs, opportunities and gaps with proposed strategies to foster a positive family and community culture and improve family engagement.

Develops comprehensive research-based proposal (goals, policies, strategies, and resources) with compelling rationale focused on priority area of student learning that aligns school needs, opportunities and gaps with proposed research-based and relevant strategies, differentiated to be culturally responsive to diverse groups.

Situates the proposal well within the evidence and explains how the proposed strategies will increase family and community engagement, create a positive family and community involvement culture and contribute to improved student learning.

Component 1 Artifacts a, c, d, e, g Commentary.


64

Rubric 4.b: Implementing an Engagement or Involvement Strategy


How does the candidate implement an effective strategy to improve family engagement or community involvement?


Implementation Implements family engagement and community involvement strategy without clear expectations or support.

Or

Implements strategy without meaningful stakeholder involvement.

Implements strategy to improve family engagement and community involvement in relation to student learning priority. Collaborates with various stakeholders, sets clear expectations, provides necessary supports and attends to relevant local school and community culture.

Implements strategy to improve family engagement and community involvement in relation to student learning priority. Sets clear expectations, provides differentiated support to build local school and community capacity. Shares responsibility with various stakeholders. Addresses challenges and opportunities to strengthen the school- family-community culture.

Component 2 Artifacts h Commentary 2

65


Rubric 4.c: Assessing and Analyzing Feedback from Participants


How does the candidate assess the effectiveness of the strategy and his or her own leadership role?


Family and community engagement strategy assessment

Collects unsystematic or informal analysis of feedback from working group members on school- family engagement and community involvement strategy.

Collects, analyzes and interprets feedback from working group members to determine strategy’s effectiveness and impact in improving priority area of student learning. Makes links to relevant research literature.

Using a research-based framework on family and community engagement, coherently analyzes and interprets feedback from working group members to determine strategy’s effectiveness and impact on improving priority area of student learning.. Draws implications for future development of this strategy and its sustainability.

Component 3 Artifacts f, i Commentary 1, 2, 3 No look-fors identified here.

Leadership self- assessment

Conducts cursory analysis of candidate’s leadership skills and practices used to implement school-family engagement and community involvement strategy.

Identifies candidate’s skills and practices required to facilitate school-family engagement and community involvement. Draws on specific experiences and stakeholders’ feedback in completing this task. Makes links to relevant research

Using a research-based understanding to framework, conducts detailed analysis of leadership skills and practices necessary to facilitate school-family engagement and community involvement strategy to

Component 3 Artifacts h, i Commentary 3

66


literature. Proposes strategies to improve candidate’s practice.

improve priority area of student learning. Analyzes candidate’s skills and practices necessary to facilitate school-family engagement and community involvement. Draws on specific experiences and team members’ feedback in completing this task, including how the candidate adjusted his or her practices throughout the task. Proposes detailed strategies to improve candidate’s practice.


67

Chapter 5 Implementation of the Massachusetts Performance Assessment for Leaders

Access

To access the PAL assessment system, candidates, scorers, and preparation program and pathway, faculty and staff can use www.MA-PAL.com. Within this website are sign-in links for candidates and scorers for submitting and scoring work products, respectively.

Once registered, candidates will have access to the assessment system to upload and manage their tasks and receive scoring feedback.

Once registered, scorers can participate in scorer training to achieve proficiency and certification. Once certified, scorers will be assigned candidate tasks to score and be given access to the assessment system for scoring purposes only.

Confidentiality

Protecting the confidentiality of the performance tasks, candidates, and results during the initial pilot and field test is critical. Each candidate will be assigned a unique account to track information and maintain confidentiality. Access to the performance outcomes will also be designed to maintain confidentiality. Candidates will have access to their own work products and scores.

Scorers will be screened and assigned to candidates who are not in their own districts or preparation programs to ensure candidate anonymity and confidentiality.

Preparation programs and pathways will receive summary information on candidate task performance and ratings and total scores for individual candidates. They will not have access to candidates’ tasks as evaluated by scorers.

http://www.ma-pal.com/


68

Assessment Platform

The pilot and field test will be implemented using a web-based platform that candidates can access from their home or institution using a browser running on a PC or Mac. This system will provide access to each task and forms for uploading authentic work products for each task, whether it is a document, presentation, video, audio file, or link to a website. Appendix C indicates the minimum technical requirements to access the system.


69

Appendix A: Relevant State Policy Websites

Policies and guidelines for educational leadership preparation: http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/603cmr7.html?section=03

Office of Licensure:

http://www.doe.mass.edu/educators/contact.html

Educator Leadership Development:

http://www.doe.mass.edu/edleadership

Professional Standards and Indicators for Administrative Leadership:

http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/603cmr7.html?section=10

Educator Evaluation:

http://www.doe.mass.edu/edeval/


http://www.doe.mass.edu/educators/contact.html

http://www.doe.mass.edu/edleadership/


http://www.doe.mass.edu/edeval/


70

Appendix B: Task 3 Template

Complete this template to describe the context in which you are evaluating and supporting the effectiveness of individual teachers.

Context of Observed Classroom

Teacher

Grade

Subject Area

Number of Students

Classroom Visits

Visits to Other Classes

Number Visited

Dates of Visits

Student Composition

Gender

Race/Ethnicity

Free or Reduced Lunch

Students with Disabilities

English Language Learners


71

Student Performance Indicators

Identify one or more relevant student performance indicators using available state or local evidence; include subgroup differences where available.

Instructional Focus

Identify the instructional focus for this task.


72

Appendix C The ShowEvidence platform is designed to integrate and support the performance assessment process. Our mission is to make performance assessments of competency-based learning a more pervasive practice to deepen student learning and outcomes. We seek to achieve this mission by making the process of supporting performance assessments rigorous, scalable, and economically efficient.

Our solution enables districts and schools to develop, assign, and rate performance tasks. Specifically, our solution is designed to do five things: 1) author and share performance tasks and scoring rubrics, 2) allow students to upload artifacts or work products required by the performance task, 3) enable teachers and others to tag evidence of student performance in the work products against a scoring rubric to automatically generate a score, 4) review feedback and scores for individual tasks and students as well as aggregate the results for a classroom, school, or network/district, and 5) allow students to assemble their work into a portfolio that can be shared with anyone at the students’ choosing.

The ShowEvidence solution is a web-based platform that users can access from their home or school using a browser running on a PC or Mac. A native iPad application is currently in development and will be released in the future. To provide the best user experience and secure environment, we would recommend that districts and users adhere to the following technical requirements:

Hardware and Browser Support

We have elected to support the newer version of most browsers to ensure a secure environment and to enable a more powerful and friendly user experience, which comes closer to what users expect from a desktop application.


73

Hardware Internal processor of 1.6 GHz or faster with 1GB of RAM

Operating System Internet Explorer Firefox (1) Safari Chrome

Windows XP (SP2 and SP3) 10.0.12 ESR or higher

Windows Vista (SP1) 9.X or higher 10.0.12 ESR or higher 17.x or higher

Windows 7 9.X or higher 10.0.12 ESR or higher 17.x or higher

Windows 8 10.X or higher 18.X or higher 24.x or higher

Hardware Intel Processor 1.83GHz or faster processor; or PowerPC G4 and G5 with 1 GHz or faster processor; 1-2 GB RAM

Mac OS X 10.5.X (Leopard) 17.X or higher Safari 5.X or higher 17.X – 21.X (2)

Mac OS X 10.6.X (Snow Leopard) 17.X or higher Safari 5.X or higher 17.X or higher

Mac OS X 10.7.X (Lion) 17.X or higher Safari 5.X or higher 17.X or higher

Mac OS X 10.8.X (Mountain Lion)

18.X or higher Safari 6.X or higher 24.X or higher

Screen Size Minimum screen resolution of 1024 x 768 or higher (1280 x 960 preferred) for optimal viewing

Note: 1) All Firefox browsers require the Flash plugin to allow the viewing of .mp4 video. 2) Google will no longer update Chrome to support OS X 10.5.X after version 21.


74

Network Bandwidth

The application will have a relatively light load on network traffic, since most work products will be developed off-line. The primary network traffic will be the uploading of large video artifacts (except for those generated on an iTouch/iPhone/iPad) and the streaming of video for tagging and scoring by teachers. To ensure optimal throughput, we recommend that the minimum connection speed for a school site should be a T1 line and DSL for home use.

Security

The ShowEvidence platform adheres to the latest standards for data encryption. As a result, all traffic will use SSL protocol using port 443 (can also support traffic through a proxy server). This will ensure that all traffic to and from our servers is encrypted for the protection of user information.

For more information about the ShowEvidence platform, please contact the ShowEvidence support group at [email protected].

