Read through the slides presented by Dr. Harvey Silver of Silver Strong & Associates during a webinar on January 23, 2012, hosted by School Improvement Network. Dr. Silver talked about the Thoughtful Classroom Teacher Effectiveness Framework, a tool used for effective classroom teacher observations and walkthroughs.

1. This webinar took place on Jan 23, 2012.
View the recording at: http://www.schoolimprovement.com/pd360-free-pd/webinars/
Confronting the
Challenges of
Teacher Evaluation
Dr. Harvey Silver
© 2012 School Improvement Network

2. Confronting the Challenges of
Teacher Evaluation
Presented by
Tr. Harvey Silver, EdD
President, Silver Strong & Associates
2

3. This webinar is brought to you by…
3

4. And most importantly from…
4

5. How much do teachers matter?
Cumulative Effect on Student Achievement
Highly Effective vs. Ineffective Teachers
Effective Teachers
100
90
80
Highly Effective Teachers
Percentile Points
70
60
Effective Teachers
50 1
Average Teachers
40
Highly
Ineffective
30 Teachers
Ineffective
20 Teachers
10
0

6. How effective is your present
teacher evaluation process?
How effective is your present teacher evaluation
process in developing effective and highly effective
teachers?
1—Ineffective
2—Minimally Effective
3—Effective
4—Highly Effective
6

7. Our Essential Questions
• What are some of the challenges schools and
districts face in choosing and implementing a
teacher effectiveness framework?
• How does The Thoughtful Classroom Teacher
Effectiveness Framework address these
challenges?
• How does Observation 360 help schools
address these challenges?
7

8. What are some of the challenges
schools and districts face
in choosing and implementing
a teacher effectiveness framework?
8

9. The First Challenge
• How do you look closely at teacher behavior
without getting overwhelmed by “rubricitis”?
9

10. The First Challenge
“When there are many competencies, feedback can be very
fine-grained, and improvement efforts could be tuned to
match a teacher’s specific strengths and weaknesses. “
BUT….
“When observers are overtaxed by the cognitive load of
tracking many different competencies at once, their powers
of discernment could decline.”
Gathering Feedback for Teaching (2012)
MET Project Research Paper
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
10

11. The First Challenge
Evaluating teacher effectiveness is a balancing act between…
Reducing Fine-grained
complexity analysis
11

12. The First Challenge
The Thoughtful Classroom Teacher Effectiveness Framework is...
Simple Deep
12

13. What makes The Thoughtful Classroom
Teacher Effectiveness Framework simple?
13

14. Thoughtful Classroom Teacher Effectiveness Framework
3 Components
The Five Episodes of
10 Dimensions Effective Instruction
Organization, Rul Positive
Preparing
es, and Relationships
Students
Procedures for New Learning
The Four Cornerstones of Deepening and Reflecting on and
Presenting New
Effective Teaching Reinforcing
Learning
Celebrating
Learning Learning
A Culture of Engagement and
Applying
Thinking Enjoyment
Learning
and Learning
Effective Professional Practice
14

15. Component One: The Four Cornerstones of
Effective Teaching (Dimensions 1, 2, 3, & 4)
• Universal elements of
Organization,
Rules, and
Positive
Relationships
quality instruction
• Always relevant in any
Procedures
classroom
• Without the
cornerstones in place
Engagement and
A Culture of
Thinking
Enjoyment in the classroom,
and Learning
student learning will
be compromised
15

16. Component Two: Five Episodes of Effective
Instruction (Dimensions 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9)
• Good instruction
Preparing unfolds in a series of
Students for New
Learning learning episodes
• Teachers use these
Deepening and Reflecting on and
Reinforcing
Presenting New
Learning
Celebrating New
Learning
episodes to design
Learning
high-quality lessons
and units
Applying Learning
• Ensures observer and
teacher are on the
“same page”
16

17. Component Three: Professional Practice
(Dimension 10)
• Looking beyond the
classroom
• Commitment to:
– Ongoing learning
– The school
community
– Professionalism
Professional Practice
17

18. A Simple Framework
Organization, Positive
Preparing
Rules, and Relationships
Students for New
Procedures Learning
Deepening and Reflecting on and
Presenting New
Reinforcing Celebrating New
Learning
Learning Learning
A Culture of Engagement and
Thinking Applying Learning Enjoyment
and Learning
Professional Practice
18

19. What makes The
Thoughtful Classroom Teacher
Effectiveness Framework deep?
19

20. The Value of Essential Questions
• Each of the ten dimensions is driven by an
essential question.
• These essential questions
– Keep schools focused on what’s important.
– Promote school-wide inquiry.
– Foster a common language for instruction and
how to improve it.
20

21. Organization, Rules, and Preparing Students Positive Relationships
Procedures for New Learning
How do you organize your How do you build meaningful
How do you establish your
classroom to enhance learning relationships with your students
purpose, activate students’ prior
and establish rules and and among students to promote
knowledge, and prepare
procedures that clarify learning?
students for learning?
expectations?
Deepening and Reinforcing
PreparingNew Learning
Presenting
Students Reflecting on and Celebrating
Learning for New Learning
How do you present new Learning
How do you help students How do you establish your How do you help students look
information and provide
solidify their understanding opportunities for students to back on their learning and refine
and practice new skills?purpose, activate students’ prior their learning process?
actively engage with content?
knowledge, and prepare
A Culture of Thinking students for Learning
Applying
learning? Engagement and Enjoyment
and Learning
How do students demonstrate
How do you develop a classroom their learning and what kinds of How do you motivate students
culture that promotes serious evidence do you collect to assess to do their best work and inspire
learning and sophisticated their progress? the love of learning?
forms of thinking?
Professional Practice
How committed are you to professional learning and contributing to the school community?

22. • Selecting relevant standards that are appropriate to your content and
grade level [CC]
• “Unpacking” standards and turning them into clear, measurable Planning
learning goals and targets [CC]
DIMENSION FIVE: PREPARING STUDENTS FOR and promote deep
• Using essential questions to guide learning NEW LEARNING
thinking
• Beginning lessons and units with engaging “hooks”—thought-
provoking activities or questions that capture student interest and Instruction
activate their prior knowledge [CC]
• Introducing students to the key vocabulary terms they will need to
know and understand to successfully learn the content [CC]
• Assessing students’ background knowledge, skill levels, and interests
relative to learning goals and targets
• Helping students develop insights into the products they’ll be
creating, performances they’ll be delivering, and/or tasks they’ll be
completing to demonstrate what they’ve learned (e.g., providing Assessment
models of high-quality work, rubrics, checklists, etc.) [CC]
• Encouraging students to establish personal learning goals and plans
for achieving them
22

23. Impact on Student Achievement
Dimension 5: Preparing Students for New Learning
Students…
• Understand/restate learning goals in their own words.
• Ask questions about learning goals.
• Know what they have to produce and what’s expected
of them.
• Assess own knowledge of vocabulary.
• Call up their prior knowledge.
• Generate questions about content or personal goals.
• Understand the plan for learning.
23

24. A “Simple and Deep” Framework
Dimensions of Indicators of Impact on Student
Teacher Effectiveness Quality Teacher Achievement
(Essential Questions) Behavior
24

25. The Second Challenge
• How do you look closely at teacher behavior
without getting overwhelmed by “rubricitis”?
• What’s the relationship between teacher
effectiveness and the Common Core State
Standards?
25

26. The Second Challenge
“As the new Common Core State Standards and
assessments are introduced, we will need a new
set of instruments more closely aligned with
those standards.”
Gathering Feedback for Teaching (2012)
MET Project Research Paper
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
26

27. The Second Challenge
“The Standards define what all students are
expected to know and be able to do, not how
teachers should teach.”
Common Core State Standards For English
Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies,
Science, and Technical Subjects
27

28. The Second Challenge
Evaluating teacher effectiveness is a balancing act between…
Common Classroom
Core State practice
Standards
28

29. The Second Challenge
Evaluating teacher effectiveness is a balancing act between…
Outcomes Process
29

30. The Second Challenge
The Thoughtful Classroom Nine Critical Themes in the
Common Core State Standards
Teacher Effectiveness • Higher-order thinking
Framework was created with • Use of evidence to support positions
the Common Core in mind. and justify conclusions
• Integrating rigorous texts and helping
students process them
• Collaboration, dialogue, and student
A significant number of the presentations
instructional indicators within • Regular writing in all content areas as a
tool for learning, demonstrating
the Framework have been understanding, and formal
designed to address key communication
themes and Anchor Standards • Research and media skills
• Technology and digital media
found in the Common Core. • Mastery and use of academic vocabulary
• Content has structure
30

31. The Second Challenge
Common Core Theme:
Use of evidence to support positions and justify conclusions
How do we know it’s a theme?
• Part of the description of College and Career Readiness
• Found in multiple standards, including Anchor Standards
• Reading Anchor 1 (R.CCR.1)
• Writing Anchor 1 (W.CCR.1)
• Writing Anchor 9 (W.CCR.9)
• Mathematical Practice 3 (MP 3)

32. The Second Challenge
Common Core Theme:
Use of evidence to support positions and justify conclusions
Dimension 4: Dimension 8:
A Culture of Thinking and Learning Applying Learning
4.3 Encouraging and challenging 8.3 Designing tasks around the kind of
students to support their written writing required for college and
and spoken ideas with evidence career readiness (argument,
4.4 Probing, extending, and clarifying informative/explanatory,
student responses using effective narrative)
questioning techniques 8.5 Challenging students to present
their findings and defend their
ideas

33. The Second Challenge
The full description of the Common Core themes and their
connections to The Thoughtful Classroom Teacher
Effectiveness Framework is available through
www.thoughtfulclassroom.com/pdfs/commoncore
Thoughtful Classroom PD 360 group
33

34. The Third Challenge
• How do observers look closely at teacher behavior
without getting overwhelmed by “rubricitis”?
• What’s the relationship between teacher
effectiveness and the Common Core State
Standards?
• How do administrators play the dual role of
instructional leader and teacher evaluator?
34

35. The Third Challenge
Evaluating teacher effectiveness is a balancing act between…
Making high-
Serving as an stakes judgments
instructional about teachers
leader/coach
35

36. The Third Challenge
Evaluating teacher effectiveness is a balancing act between…
Formative Summative
observation evaluation
36

37. The Third Challenge
“The true promise of classroom observations is
the potential to identify strengths and address
specific weaknesses in teacher’s practice.”
Gathering Feedback for Teaching (2012)
MET Project Research Paper
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
37

38. The Third Challenge
A window into a teacher’s practice A ladder to determine a teacher’s
level of effectiveness
Formative Observation Summative Evaluation
Teacher Self-Assessment Rubrics for Assessing All Dimensions
Professional Growth Plans Professional Practice Indicators/Rubrics
Classroom Observation Templates Advanced Reporting
Feedback Protocol Multiple Measures
Pre- and Post-Observation Protocols Final Evaluation Rubrics
Targeted Professional Development Videos
38

39. Let’s take a closer look
at the formative observation tools…
39

40. Formative Observation Tools
Teacher Self-Assessment Guide
The Teacher Self-Assessment
Guide allows teachers to reflect on
and assess their classroom practice
according to the same dimensions
and indicators that administrators
use to guide observations.
This guide is available through
The Thoughtful Classroom PD 360
group.
40

41. Formative Observation Tools
Teacher Professional Growth Plan

42. Formative Observation Tools
Pre-Observation Protocol
• Where are you in your lesson sequence?
• What are the learning goals for the observation?
• How will student learning be assessed?
• What learning opportunities will you provide to
achieve your goals?
• What questions do you have about the lesson?
42

43. Formative Observation Tools
Pre-Observation Protocol
This pre-observation protocol
is available as a planning form
through the Thoughtful
Classroom PD 360 group.
43

44. Formative Observation Tools
Classroom Observation Templates
Observers use the
customizable
Observation 360
templates to collect
formative data about
the teacher’s practice
in the classroom.
44

45. Formative Observation Tools
Classroom Observation Templates
Here is the standard
observation template for
Dimension 5:
Preparing Students for
New Learning
45

46. Formative Observation Tools
Classroom Observation Templates
A comment box for
qualitative data
46

47. Formative Observation Tools
Classroom Observation Templates
47

48. Formative Observation Tools
Feedback Protocol
48

49. Formative Observation Tools
Post-Observation Protocol
Post-observation questions are guided by 5 Rs:
Review: What happened?
React: What were your reactions?
Reasons: What caused you to think/feel this way?
Rethink: What have you learned?
Reflect: What are your thoughts and feelings
about the observation process?
49

50. Formative Observation Tools
Post-Observation Protocol
The post-observation protocol
is available as an interview
form through the Thoughtful
Classroom PD 360 group.
50

51. Formative Observation Tools
Targeted Professional Development Videos
The Framework is integrated with PD 360, the
most extensive professional development video
library in the country.
• Online
• On-demand 24/7
• Research based
• Ultimate flexibility
51

52. Formative Observation Tools
Targeted Professional Development Videos
For observers…
• Based on observation data, observers select
relevant PD 360 videos that correspond to
identified needs.
52

53. Formative Observation Tools
Targeted Professional Development Videos
For teachers…
• Teachers build a customized professional
growth plan using the Teacher Self-
Assessment Guide and the PD 360 video
library.
53

54. Formative Observation Tools
Targeted Professional Development Videos
54

55. Let’s take a closer look
at the summative evaluation tools…
55

56. Summative Evaluation Tools
Rubrics
• After multiple formative observations,
observers use a set of four-point rubrics to
develop a summative evaluation of the
teacher’s effectiveness in each dimension.
56

57. Summative Evaluation Tools
Rubrics
57

58. Summative Evaluation Tools
Rubrics
(4) Expert
– Strong commitment to this dimension that shows
advanced expertise.
– The teacher applies relevant instructional practices
and is able to adapt them to learning situations.
– These practices have a consistently positive
impact on student learning.
58

59. Summative Evaluation Tools
Professional Practice
Organization,
Preparing Positive
A comprehensive
Rules, and
Procedures
Students for New
Learning
Relationships
evaluation includes
looking beyond the
Deepening and Reflecting on and
classroom.
Presenting New
Reinforcing Celebrating New
Learning
Learning Learning
Commitment to:
A Culture of Engagement and  Ongoing learning
Thinking Applying Learning Enjoyment
and Learning  The school
Professional Practice
community
 Professionalism
59

60. Summative Evaluation Tools
Professional Practice Indicators
60

61. Summative Evaluation Tools
Professional Practice Rubrics
61

62. Summative Evaluation Tools
Advanced Reporting
Observation 360 includes
advanced reporting features
that allow administrators to
store, manage, and use
observation data in multiple
ways.
62

63. Summative Evaluation Tools
Advanced Reporting
Observation 360 includes
advanced reporting features
that allow administrators to
store, manage, and use
observation data in multiple
ways.
63

64. Summative Evaluation Tools
Advanced Reporting
Observation 360 includes
advanced reporting features
that allow administrators to
store, manage, and use
observation data in multiple
ways.
64

65. Summative Evaluation Tools
Multiple Measures
“Evaluation systems should include multiple
measures, not just observations.”
Gathering Feedback for Teaching (2012)
MET Project Research Paper
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
65

66. Summative Evaluation Tools
Multiple Measures
Instructional Practice
(Dimensions 1-9) ________ ________% = ________
Professional Practice
(Dimension 10) ________ ________% = ________
Student Performance Data
Standardized Test Data ________ ________% = ________
Local Assessments ________ ________% = ________
Other ________ ________% = ________
Student Feedback/Surveys ________ ________% = ________
Other Measure ________ ________% = ________
Other Measure ________ ________% = ________
66

67. Summative Evaluation Tools
Final Evaluation Rubric
A teacher’s final evaluation is based on the
summation from the multiple sources of data
and converted into a rubric that meets your
district’s guidelines and state requirements.
67

68. How do schools and districts use
The Thoughtful Classroom Teacher
Effectiveness Framework?
68

69. How do schools and districts use The Thoughtful
Classroom Teacher Effectiveness Framework?
• As a formal observation tool.
• To conduct Learning Walks (Walkthroughs).
• As a peer observation tool.
• To target specific dimensions or indicators.
• To develop professional growth plans.
• To anchor collaboration within a professional
learning community.
• To improve mentoring.
69

70. For a free copy of
The Thoughtful Classroom
Framework “Quick Guide”
please email
questions@thoughtfulclassroom.com
70

71. Please visit us at the
ASCD Annual Conference,
March 24th-26th in Philadelphia, PA.
www.thoughtfulclassroom.com www.schoolimprovement.com
71

72. Thank you for attending the webinar!
www.thoughtfulclassroom.com www.schoolimprovement.com
72

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