Teacher Appraisal Systems:

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Teacher Appraisal Systems
How One Urban School District is Linking
Effective Teaching to Student Achievement
Dr. Terry B. Grier, Superintendent Houston
Independent School District February 17, 2012
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About Team HISD

• Largest school district in Texas seventh-largest
  in the U.S.
• Over 204,000 students
• 30 LEP
• 64 At Risk
• 95 Title I
• 80 Economically disadvantaged
• Over 11,000 teachers
• 292 Schools
• Spans over 300 square miles
• Data from 2010-11

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HISDs Strategic Direction is composed of five
core initiatives. The first ensures that there is
an effective teacher in every classroom.
Board of Education Goals for HISD from the
Declaration of Beliefs and Visions
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4
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Effective Teacher in Every Classroom
Effective Principal in Every School
Rigorous Instructional Standards Supports
Data Driven Account-ability
Culture of Trust through Action
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Our nations public schools are failing poor and
minority children. The achievement gap betrays
the promise of an equal education for all.
NAEP Grade 4 Reading
By the time they graduate high school,
African-American and Hispanic students are
reading and doing math at an 8th grade level, on
average.
White
Hispanic
Average Scale Score
Af.-Am.
Notes Accommodations for students with
disabilities and English language learners not
permitted Trends similar for Math. Source
Original analysis of the Education Trust based on
Long-Term Trends NAEP National Center for
Education Statistics, NAEP Data Explorer,
http//nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde, NAEP
2004 Trends in Academic Progress
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Teachers are the solution. A few years with
effective teachers can put even the most
disadvantaged student on the path to college.
1 extra year of learning The students of an
ineffective teacher learn an average of half a
years worth of material in one school year,
while the students of a very good teacher learn
1.5 years wortha difference of a years worth
of learning in a single year. (Hanushek, 2010)
1 yr 2 yrs

Very good teacher
Ineffective teacher
Gap-closing growth in 4 years Having a
top-quartile teacher rather than a
bottom-quartile teacher four years in a row could
be enough to close the black-white test score
gap. (Gordon, Kane and Staiger, 2006)


White students
Black students
10-student class size reduction Changing teacher
performance from mediocre to very good (25th to
75th percentile) has an effect equivalent to
reducing class size by 10 students in 4th grade,
13 students in 5th grade, or an implausible
number in 6th grade. (Rivkin et al., 2005)
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We believe that dramatic improvements in student
achievement can occur with a sustained and
strategic focus on teacher effectiveness.
Boost effectiveness of all teachers through
effective evaluation and targeted professional
development
GOAL
Retain and leverage the most effective educators
Optimize new teacher supply by hiring from
preparation programs whose teachers consistently
achieve better student outcomes.
Prioritize effective teachers for high-need
students.
Improve or exit persistently less effective
educators
Teacher Effectiveness (Student Outcomes,
Instructional Practice)
In order to achieve this, we must have an
accurate understanding of which teachers are in
which performance group.
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Putting an effective teacher in every HISD
classroom requires a comprehensive set of
reformsno single strategy alone can make it
happen.
Four Key Strategies of HISDs Effective Teachers
Initiative
Smart recruitment and staffing
Strengthen recruitment and staffing policies and
practices to attract top talent
Useful appraisals
Establish a rigorous and fair teacher appraisal
system to inform key decisions
Individualized teacher support
Provide effective individualized support and
professional development for teachers
New career pathways
Offer career pathways and differentiated
compensation to retain and leverage the most
effective teachers
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HISDs previous appraisal system
(PDAS) did not distinguish between effective and
ineffective teachers.
Distribution of PDAS/MPDAS Domain Ratings,
2005-06 Through 2008-09
Just 3.4 of teachers rated on PDAS/MPDAS between
2005-06 and 2008-09 had any domain rated below
expectations or unsatisfactory.
Source HISD Spring and Fall Staff review
process Compare to appraisal results from 2005
through 2009 in which only 3.4 of teachers had
any domain rated as below expectations or
unsatisfactory.
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In the spring of 2010, we began instituting Staff
Review as a stopgap solution while designing a
new appraisal system.
2009-10

• One round of Staff Review meetings was held
  (spring)
• Principals reviewed information about teacher
  performance and informally grouped them into one
  of four categories during a meeting with their
  supervisors and HR staff
• Highly Effective, Proficient, Developing,
  Low-Performing

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2010-11

• Two rounds of Staff Review meetings were held
  (fall and spring)
• In addition to meetings to give teachers
  performance ratings
• Principals were also required to meet with
  teachers to discuss classroom performance three
  times per year
• Principals and teachers worked together to craft
  individual development plans for all teachers
• Principals were required to conduct one in-depth
  observation for each teacher

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Staff Review immediately helped principals get a
more accurate picture of their teachers
performance.
Distribution of Teacher Staff Review and PDAS
Performance Category Assignments
Nearly 30 of teachers were rated in Staff Review
as developing or low-performing, compared to
just 3 of teachers in the bottom two categories
on PDAS/MPDAS.
Source HISD Spring and Fall Staff review
process Average PDAS ratings between 2005-2009.
Method Staff review ratings and distributions
are reported for all employees with teacher job
codes (starting with TCHR or CATE) who received
staff review ratings. Employees missing ratings
are not included in these percentile
distributions. Previous analyses of staff review
data have included some additional employees with
job titles that could not be confirmed as
referring to teacher positions (e.g.
instructional coordinator, literacy coach). These
employees are not included in this distribution.
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At the same time in the 2010-11 school year, we
began developing a comprehensive teacher
evaluation system that involved thousands of
teachers and principals in the design process.
In May of 2011, the Board of Education approved
the new appraisal and development system.
Teachers impact on student learning. Measured by
multiple student performance measures, including
value-added data.
Teachers skills and knowledge that help promote
student learning. Measured by multiple classroom
observations using a rubric.
Teachers efforts to meet objective, measurable
standards of professionalism.
Houston is providing a model for the state and
other districts to follow. --Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan
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That same year, we also restructured our
Professional Development department to give
teachers tailored, job-embedded support without
increasing our budget.

• PREVIOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT STRUCTURE
• Large menu of PD offerings
• Teachers sign up for PD courses and attend
  workshops
• Teachers and schools access PD through various
  central departments

• NEW STRUCTURE
• PD offerings focused on and aligned to district
  priorities
• Teacher Development Specialists (TDS) work
  directly with teachers on their campuses
• Teachers access PD through TDS and through video
  and technology platforms

New Role 130 Teacher Development Specialists
hired to provide job-embedded, content-specific
professional development to teachers, aligned
directly to our instructional practice rubric.

• Conducted a nationwide search and a rigorous
  selection process only 15 of applicants were
  hired
• TDS are subject experts and assigned to teachers
  by content area
• Median teaching experience of TDS 9 years

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Principals now have the information they need to
exit persistently low-performing teachers.
Spring 2010 Formal performance conversations
begin
of teachers exited through the file review
process
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213
373
Method Teachers included in this slide refer to
employees whose job codes identify them as being
teachers (job code starting with TCHR or
CATE). Teachers were identified as exiting if
they were present on a roster from the prior year
but not present on the roster from the following
year. Reasons for files brought to review
unknown between 2006-2009 school years. The 496
and 720 between 2009-2011 were performance-based
cases and do not include files brought for budget
or consult-only reasons. Exit numbers also do
not include those existed from the districts who
were not brought to file review for performance
reasons.
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Removing ineffective teachers isnt the only
solutionbut we know were likely to replace them
with more effective new teachers.
Source HISD Internal Data
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Most importantly, HISD is retaining significantly
higher percentages of more effective teachers
than less effective teachers.
Source HISD Staff Review ratings. In 2009-10,
225 teachers identified as low-performing in
Staff Review were no longer active in HISD by the
end of the year. In 2010-11, 322 teachers
identified as low-performing were no longer
active by EOY.
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And, the new appraisal and development system is
currently being implemented at every HISD
schoolwith immediate benefits for our teachers.

• Over 800 certified appraisers and nearly 11,000
  teachers have been trained on the new system
• All HISD teachers now have individualized
  development plans
• TDS have conducted over 15,000 observations so
  far this year
• Over 10,000 teachers received a formative rating
  from their appraiser along with comprehensive
  feedback
• Our appraisers and TDS have conducted over 35,000
  observations to date

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Since beginning this work full-force in 2009,
were seeing signs that were on the right track.

• The HISD graduation rate is 74.3--an all-time
  district high, while the dropout rate is 12.6,
  an all-time district low. Dropout rates for both
  African American and Hispanic students are both
  at all-time lows.
• The percentage of African American and Hispanic
  students scoring at the tougher commended level
  on the reading, math, science, and social studies
  portion of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and
  Skills are at all-time district highs.
• HISD students passed 39 more Advanced Placement
  exams 2011 than in 2009.
• Number of HISD students scoring 500 or higher on
  the SAT rose 13 in reading, 18 in math, and 10
  in writing in 2011.
• A record number of 25 HISD schools made the
  Washington Posts list of Americas Best High
  Schools.

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To learn more about the Effective Teachers
Initiative, visit www.HISDeffectiveteachers.org.
This presentation will be posted online at
http//houstonisd.org/aasapresentation