Using Student Growth Percentiles in Educator Evaluation

The folks at ESE recently released several Implementation Briefs focused on timely questions regarding District Determined Measures and Student Impact Ratings. One of these briefs focuses on the question, "How do districts use median Student Growth Percentile in the evaluation of teachers and administrators?" Many of the questions we have been asking about this use of SGP are addressed in this brief, including clarification about determining which teachers (and administrators) should use SGP as part of their Student Impact Rating determination.

While the median growth score for a group of students is the measure used, it is also very valuable to for an educator to examine the distribution of their students' MCAS growth and performance scores. In Edwin Analytics, we can look at a scatter plot of growth and performance by grade level, but no such report exists at this time for a classroom set of students. Creating this type of plot by hand can be very valuable in helping an educator explore classroom-level growth data in a reflective way.

Here's a link back to the activity (originally posted in August 2012, so the references are to EDW rather than Edwin Analytics) which gives some suggestions for facilitation along with a blank scatter plot and other resources: http://southeastdata.blogspot.com/2012/08/exploring-classroom-growth-data.html. I believe this is a valuable exercise as we talk about SGP in the context of educator evaluation - grounding the overall median score in reflection and explanation!

New Year Updates

I wanted to share some updates that came in at the end of 2013 so that they aren't forgotten as we start a new year.

The 12/20 Commissioner's Weekly Update included a variety of timely items, including an opportunity for non-RTTT districts to access Edwin Teaching and Learning at no cost during the 2014-2015 school year. Interested districts should contact EdwinT&L@doe.mass.edu prior to January 10, 2014.


The materials from the 2014 Curriculum Summit are now posted on the ESE Web site, including information about the Model Curriculum Units (MCUs) and how the Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessments (CEPAs) can be used in District-Determined Measures (DDMs), as part of the Educator Evaluation system.

Finally, ESE has posted a survey about the ESEA waiver, seeking feedback from stakeholders about what changes might be made to further improve the state's accountability system. Parents, teachers, district and school administrators, school committee members, students, and other community members are encouraged to respond.

Happy New Year to all!

Educator Evaluation Update, District-Determined Measures

The Commissioner recently released a memo with an update for the timelines and expectations for implementing District-Determined Measures (DDMs) and the Student Impact Rating of the educator evaluation system. The DDM update can be found here http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=7640

District Determined Measures: Technical Guide A

From the May 17 Commissioner's Weekly Update:

Technical Guide A, a supplement to Part VII of the Mass. Model Educator Evaluation System, is now available at http://www.doe.mass.edu/edeval/ddm/TechnicalGuide.pdf. The guide describes key assessment concepts that district teams should consider when selecting district-determined measures. It also provides guidance on how to select or modify existing assessments and how to build a new assessment.

Educator Evaluation Spring Convening 5/29/2013

Educator Evaluation Spring Convening:
Connecting Policy, Practice, and Practitioners
Wednesday, May 29th, 7:45am-4:30pm

Sturbridge Host Hotel & Conference Center
366 Main Street, Sturbridge, Massachusetts 01566

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is excited to bring together public school districts, associations and educator preparation programs for a day of celebration, learning and reflection about promising and emerging practices in the new Educator Evaluation framework. This new framework will be implemented statewide in the 2013-2014 school year; however, many districts have already begun to engage in this work. This is an opportunity for districts currently implementing the framework to share their successes and challenges and indentify new and actionable strategies for improving implementation in the coming year. It is also a chance for newly implementing districts to learn from and connect with colleagues who have been engaged in this work over the past two years. ESE is pleased to bring together districts, associations, and educator preparation programs to build connections and relationships across the educator pipeline in Massachusetts.

More information and registration (by 5/15) is available at:
http://registration.airprojects.org/MDESEEducatorEvaluationDistrict/

ESE Assessment Literacy Webinar Series

ESE is offering an 8-part webinar series which will run from now through December, focused on assessment literacy in the context of district-determined measures (DDM's) for educator evaluation. These sessions will run 60-90 minutes and are designed for district and/or school teams who will be involved in the identification and selection of district-determined measures. The webinars and related materials will be archived and posted online along with the schedule at http://www.doe.mass.edu/edeval/ddm/webinar.html.

Webinar Session 1, "Introduction: District-Determined Measures and Assessment Literacy" was offered last Thursday, March 14, but will run a second time on Wednesday, March 27, at 4:00 pm. The registration is available online (the registration page also includes the handouts/PowerPoint for Session 1) through this link.

Also, stay tuned to the ESE site for "Technical Guide A" which will be coming this spring to accompany Part VII: Rating Educator Impact on Student Learning Using District-Determined Measures of Student Learning.

Additional Guidance on District-Determined Measures

As part of the Commonwealth's new educator evaluation system, districts will be required to identify and administer a district-wide set of student performance measures for each grade/subject that "permit a comparison of student learning gains." Where MCAS student growth percentile (SGP) exists, regulations state that it must be used as one of these measures, but it will be up to districts to identify/develop additional measures of student learning gains for many grades and subjects.

(You may recall a previous blog post about an activity designed to help teachers engage with and reflect on classroom-level growth data...I continue to use this activity with very positive responses from teacher teams!)

ESE has recently released a Quick Reference Guide on District-Determined Measures (along with QRG's on other EdEval topics) which summarizes the regulations and timeline related to the implementation of DDM's for all districts in Massachusetts. Additional guidance on the identification and selection of DDM's and related topics is scheduled for release later this Spring.