On July 15, the Connecticut State Board of Education endorsed the idea of providing greater flexibility to local school districts when it comes to deciding whether teachers will be evaluated based on how their students perform on state tests and which tests children will have to take in 2013-14.
The State Board of Education authorized the state commissioner of education to seek a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education to provide Connecticut school districts flexibility on two fronts: administering just one test to students during the next school year—the Common Core-aligned Smarter Balanced assessment or the CMT and CAPT—and giving local school districts the power to decide whether or not to include that test data in teachers’ evaluations. Both waiver provisions apply to the 2013-14 school year. State officials said that there is still a requirement that districts include student learning indicators in teacher evaluations.
State officials hope to get a decision about the waiver from Washington by September. State Education Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor told the State Board of Education, “What we propose is to permit school districts to make the determination about what exam to administer in 2013-14. If a district believes retaining the CMT is the best because accelerating does not fit the rhythm of the district, that would be permissible.” Pryor added that if a district wants to proceed with the Common Core-aligned Smarter Balanced assessment—or even administer both the CMT, CAPT and the Common Core-aligned Smarter Balanced assessment—that is permissible as well.
Governor Malloy had unveiled the waiver idea before the state Performance Evaluation Advisory Council (PEAC) last week because it was the state panel that developed Connecticut’s framework for the educator evaluation and support system. CEA and other education groups are members of PEAC. Governor Malloy emphasized that he hopes his action will encourage districts to forge ahead with the new Common Core-aligned Smarter Balanced assessment testing. “Let’s get one under our belt before we have to. If I were a school superintendent, I would want my students and teachers to have more time with the new test before it becomes a requirement,” the governor said. Read governor’s news release here.
CEA President Sheila Cohen said, “Never before have teachers been confronted with so much change all at once. While our front-line educators have stepped up to the challenge, we have consistently cautioned that Connecticut must get reform done right. In that spirit, we have collaborated with top state officials and are pleased with the state pursuing a federal waiver. Our goal has been—and will continue to be—to advocate for the policies, resources, and support students and teachers need to meet world-class standards.”
Amendments to the Connecticut Guidelines for Educator Evaluation and SEED model
At the State Board meeting on July 15, the board took action to have the State Department of Education “codify” the timetable for teacher evaluation this fall. The State Board emphasized that evaluator training must be completed before the goal-setting conference.
Public Act No. 13-245, An Act Concerning Revisions to the Education Reform Act of 2012, requires that boards of education conduct training programs for evaluators and orientation programs for teachers. While the statute does not specify a date by which such training and orientation programs must be completed, the law does specify that evaluators must receive training “before conducting an evaluation,” and that teachers must receive an orientation “before being evaluated.” It is the Connecticut State Board of Education’s interpretation that the evaluation process begins with the goal-setting conference as prescribed in the Guidelines for Educator Evaluation (June 2012). Therefore, a district must complete the required orientation for a teacher and training for an evaluator before the goal-setting conference between a teacher and his or her evaluator may be conducted.
The state process aimed at creating a valid and reliable new teacher evaluation system has been likened to building a plane while flying it, and the State Board of Education adopted changes to the guidelines for Educator Evaluation and SEED. Please see State Board of Education resolution and overview here.
Please click here to see specific changes to SEED and the guidelines adopted by the State Board of Education on July 15. CEA members with questions are encouraged to contact Linetteb@cea.org or Micheleo@cea.org
SEED is one of the approaches that districts can employ to evaluate teachers. Here are the approaches that districts are using:
- Full SEED: 40 districts
- Hybrid (either teacher or administrator model): 70 districts
- District proposed alternative: 69 districts
State officials had granted districts flexibility in rolling out new evaluation systems for the upcoming school year. State officials said they were very excited to report that the majority of districts are going ahead with full implementation. The specific numbers are:
- Whole model; full implementation; all certified staff: 104 districts
- Whole model; at least 1/3 of schools; all certified staff within those schools: 5 districts
- Whole model; at least 1/2 of schools; classroom teachers only within those schools: 11 districts
- Dr. Sarah Barzee, the Education Department’s Chief Talent Officer said the remaining 55 districts are using what she called “a variety of configurations.”
Districts can also apply for waivers if their teacher evaluation plan is especially innovative as long as it is linked to the Connecticut Common Core of Teaching (CCT) and has a research base. Twenty districts have applied to the state for waivers.
Local district evaluation plans are a work in progress. A district evaluation plan can be changed or modified each year, but it has to be submitted to the SDE for approval each time it is changed. Districts should monitor their plans and change them to keep implementing best practices. Please stay tuned to CEA emails this summer, check cea.org, and visit connecticutSEED.org.
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