1 Texas Teacher Orientation
2 Outcomes By the end of this orientation, you will knowWhat Student Learning Objectives, or SLOs, are What the purpose of the process is How it applies to you Where you begin “Let’s talk about our objectives for today. First, we want you to understand the SLO process. We also want each of you to understand the value of the SLO process, the pedagogical questions addressed through SLOs, and how SLOs fit within the broader goals of teacher appraisal. Finally, we want to provide a framework for us to work through implementation.” These questions are the big takeaway messages from training. The main goal is a conceptual understanding of SLOs: why are we doing them, what are the benefits, and generally, how do they work? Participants will need to hear throughout the training how SLOs fit with the goals of teacher appraisal: reflection, conversations, development. It’s important for participants to know that they have many supports during implementation, including all of those used in the training today as well as an implementation guide written specifically for teachers, sample SLOs, and just-in-time training resources, all on the SLO website.
3 Why are we doing SLOs? A short video on the intent and design of the SLO process. “In this video Tim Regal, discusses SLOs and why the state decided this was a model that would support student growth within appraisal in a manner that supports the underlying philosophy of T-TESS. While you watch this video, look for, The 3 big reasons that SLOs support the evaluation process. What does the state want to come out of SLOs? “ Play the Video After the Video debrief: “Let’s talk about what you heard. What were the 3 big reasons that SLOs support the evaluation process?” Possible Responses: The teacher’s own development and collaboration with other educators and it can improve school culture. “What does the state want to come out of this process?” For teachers and educators to become more deliberate, thoughtful, and evidence based in what they do. “The nice thing about SLOs, especially for districts that use T-TESS, is that it fits into the structures we already have within evaluation. For example, discussions about the SLO process are a natural fit with conversations about goal setting or a pre-conference. The SLO check-ins that are built into the system fit nicely with a post conference as well. You will notice this as we go through the training. The goal is to not create more meetings but to maximize the meetings we have and ensure they are having high-quality discussions about your own growth and improvement.”
4 Warm-Up Activity Take 3 minutes to jot down your response to the question below on your own. What does the term “student growth” mean to you? As a table group, spend 3 minutes sharing your responses. Icebreaker: This activity is designed to get the participants thinking. “I want you to take a few minutes and think about this question by yourself and jot down a few of your thoughts.” After they have had a few minutes to reflect, let the participants discuss their thoughts with their table group their thoughts. Then, share and capture answers to the appraisal question on chart paper so that you can refer back to those anchors throughout the day. Student growth responses should include the concept of measuring learning progress over time. Embedded in that is the fact that growth isn’t a predetermined benchmark or a pre-established expectation for all students– it takes into consideration where students start. In that sense, it fits for a teacher with students that are multiple grade levels behind or multiple grade levels ahead. If you sense anxiety in the room ***Be aware of possible concerns: 1. A “gotcha” – where every student must “pass” in order for the teacher to be viewed as successful 2. A process that involves a lot of extra paperwork***
5 Overview of the SLO ProcessThe core of the SLO process consists of a teacher setting a growth goal for each student in a selected area of focus that is based on each student’s beginning level in that area. The process is guided by a series of questions that, if answered thoughtfully and thoroughly, will lead to improvements in instruction and increased student learning. “This is the big ‘definition’ of the SLO process. The whole process revolves around the 6 questions that if you reflect on and answer thoughtfully and thoroughly every year, then you should see improvements in instruction and student learning. These 6 questions are the backbone of the whole SLO process.”
6 SLOs are not… Mathematically preciseStandardized to where all students must reach a predetermined level or to have a campus- determined focus Necessarily focused on traditional testing A second gradebook A way to “get you” Something to check off– requires your investment in growth “We want to be clear about what SLOs are and what they aren’t. SLOs are not: Mathematically precise; (They are not designed to hold up to a psychometrician scrutiny or demonstrate precise mathematical growth. They aren’t designed to separate 79s from 80s or 82s and suggest that those different numbers unequivocally indicate different levels of learning. No, the SLO process is really designed to be subjective but evidence based and allow teachers the space to learn and grow.) Standardized across a campus or district (as in, all students must reach a predetermined level or all teachers will focus on reading); Necessarily focused on traditional testing (traditional tests can be used, but so can labs, or essays, or presentations, or projects); A second gradebook; (You have a gradebook already and this is not intended for teachers to say a student had 90% correct on whatever assignment. This process is designed to leave room for subjective, evidence based growth.) About “catching” teachers; Not a compliance exercise – the process is designed to mirror effective pedagogy, so engaging in it will make it more meaningful and add value to your practice. On this slide the presenters should be looking to dispel misconceptions on SLOs being so precise and exact that it doesn’t leave room for subjective, evidence based growth. In addition, presenters want to make the point that it is about growing individually (or in year 1 as team) versus being a school wide or district wide goal. The intent is for teachers to improve their pedagogy and improve their instructional practices. The real-time collaboration with colleagues or the reflection and adjustment during the implementation is the power of the system and not the grades or precise measurement.
7 What Are SLOs? Instructionally valuable AdaptableFoundational skills– skills most critical to student learning Evidence-based– reasons for our decisions Equitable– meeting needs of all students and teachers Transparent– clear, concise, easily understood Manageable– enhancing practice and easily incorporated Adaptable Flexibility to adjust as needed to fit local context “In order to promote teacher growth, the SLO process allows for teachers to take a concentrated look at their instructional impact through a foundational skill and allows teachers to reflect on their decisions and their effectiveness while still allowing for adjustments for an improved student outcome.” “The value of the SLO process is the distilled focus it allows so that teachers and appraisers can filter through the otherwise noisy school year to really hone in on the teacher’s choices and practice. Trying to draw conclusions about practice when wrestling with an entire course worth of learning can be very difficult. Using the foundational skill as the lens really helps both the teacher and appraiser to discuss and reflect on what worked and what didn’t work, which results in the teacher’s growth and development.” “SLOs are evidence based in contrast to being mathematically precise. While that’s true, that doesn’t mean SLOs (where students are, where they should be, where they actually land, etc.) are willy-nilly and whatever the teacher says or wants is a true statement. The entire point of all of this is to develop more thoughtful, deliberate, and evidenced-based teachers. So although SLOs deal with estimation and aren’t designed to come up with a magical growth number or teacher effectiveness number, they are certainly evidence-based in that teachers are constantly pointing to evidence to justify their rational decisions. Manageable– throughout the 3-years of the SLO pilot across the state, most districts reported needing to make some adjustments in order to maintain the integrity of the process, but also reported those changes resulted in positive outcomes. Adaptable– SLOs have an inherent flexibility that allow them to be adapted to better fit the need while still maintaining the integrity of the process. A big takeaway from the pilot – SLOs don’t have to be perfect to be powerful – so especially during the first year of SLOs, don’t aim for “perfection” – we will talk about this more specifically a little later in the training, but the main thing to remember is there is no “SLO jail” – if you engage in the process, you will see growth.
8 Keys to SLOs Growth mind-set Ratings are the least important partThe process is the value Called student growth, but really about teacher growth Honest assessment, sincere reflection, and commitment to adjustment equals student growth “So before we dive into the six questions, here are the keys that are at the heart of the SLO process. As teachers learn about SLOs, often their first instinct is that they basically already do this – that SLOs are about student learning and how they move through some of the curriculum. How is it different than just teaching like they already do? The fact is that the most effective teachers already do this whether formally or informally. The SLO process is designed to replicate those processes that our most effective teachers already do and to set up a structure to promote the success of self-reflection, coaching through conversations for that intentional improvement in instructional practice.” “We want all teachers to have that growth mind-set no matter their skill level. Constant improvement and working toward fine-tuning their instructional practices are always a part of the focus.” “This system is really about the process and not the ratings. The biggest impact comes from the conversations with the appraiser and those conversations between teachers and the routine reflection on the teacher’s part. The ratings essentially become the least important part.” “Although this system is called student growth, you will see that it is really about teacher growth. I think we can all agree that if teachers continue to improve their practices, then a logical outcome will be student growth as well.” “It is really important that appraisers and teachers commit to an environment where the expectation is honest assessment, sincere reflection, and a commitment to adjustment when needed. With this kind of environment, you will create a culture where growth is expected and possible. One of the phrases we use often in setting the tone for T-TESS, T-PESS and SLOs is that it is okay to be where you are, but it’s not okay to stay there. We want that growth mind-set to be the intentional practice of each and every educator.”
9 SLO Guiding Questions Starting the Process“Before we begin to look at the SLO guiding questions, I’ll explain quickly how this orientation is structured. The first part of the orientation is a brief overview of the initial questions. Once we have finished the “big-picture” overview, we will look back at each of those questions in more depth. For the training today, especially for the overview section, please focus on getting a sense of the process as a whole rather than on specific questions about implementation. Once we have explored each of the questions, we will discuss next steps, etc. (If you’re using a “parking lot” for questions, you may wish to mention that here.) So now, let’s start with Question #1…” (click) Trainer Note: You may want to set up a “parking lot” on each table for participants to use to make a note of questions that arise. Often, many of the initial questions (and fears!) are addressed as the training unfolds, and the tabletop parking lots allow participants to more easily remove any questions that are answered during the training. We have found that this process helps the trainer to keep the pace of the training during the initial section which helps the participants gain a better understanding of the SLO process overall.
10 Question 1 What is the student skill on which this SLO should focus?So the first question in the SLO process is “What is the student skill on which this SLO should focus? The teacher will select a content area and then begin to decide on a specific skill within that area to focus on.
11 SLO Skill Statement Once the content area has been selected, identify the essential skills in that subject that: Persist throughout the entire course Impact not just this course but can lead to success in other subject areas Produce a depth of thinking that will lead to success on any rigorous assessment, not just on a single test “The focus of the SLO should be those skills that show up in the ‘power’ standards of the course selected for your SLO. These are the skills that are essential to sophisticated thinking and learning– inference, problem solving, estimation, analysis, synthesis, etc., tailored to the context of the course. These are the skills that we never drift too far from when teaching a course or subject, and that, if the students do well, will result in success not just in that content, but often in other subject areas as well.” If time permits, ask teachers to take a minute (keep it short- don’t get bogged down in this) to list out the top 2 or 3 most important skills they develop when teaching the course(s) they teach. Have them share with a shoulder partner and then ask a few to share out whole group. Teachers are likely to note that many of these skills can be found in the introduction statements in the TEKS.
12 SLO Skill Statement When choosing the foundational skills for the SLO, consider First, teacher needs- which skill(s) the teacher may struggle with the most when teaching Second, student needs- which skill(s) students may struggle with the most when learning Skill focus represents a balance between importance and value “Eventually, although maybe not in year one, this is a balance between importance and value– the choice of content area and skill focus should both be valuable in leading to teacher growth (area of challenge) but should also be about a skill that is highly valuable to students– skills that are ALWAYS important to KEEP developing throughout the course no matter where the student is in his or her proficiency.” This consideration is a merging of what will help the teacher develop best and what students need most– the foundational skills are the most important skills for students to learn and for teachers to teach well. What you do not want is a focus on a short-term or secondary standard or on what the teachers is most successful at teaching. This type of focus limits the growth opportunities for both teachers and students. **Some educators may wish to use “STAAR” or other data as the main indicator for what teachers need to improve on and for what students struggle with. It is important that this step in the SLO process begin with teachers identifying the most essential or critical components of the content– the skill that a teacher thinks “If a student leaves my class knowing (blank), it has been a successful year. Focusing strictly on summative data could result in focusing on a skill in which the teacher already produces strong growth in student performance. Feedback from the pilot also shows that teachers are much more engaged in the SLO process when they have input into the selection of the skill focus.
13 SLO Skill Statement When do I determine the content area for my SLO?During my end-of-year conference when mapping out my goal-setting and professional development plan. When do I determine the skill focus for my SLO? Before school starts or immediately after school begins. “Typically, a teacher and administrator would look at determining the content area at the end of the school year during his or her end-of-year conference. You would choose the content area because it would be based on an area of challenge for the teacher (in year one, choose an area of comfort while the teacher learns the process, but every year thereafter, choose an area of challenge). Content area can be as broad as a subject for a generalist (math, science, etc.) and as specific as writing (within a range of content areas) for an ELA teacher.” Then, the teacher would determine his or her skill focus- because it would be based on the most important skills the teacher teaches and can improve his or her effectiveness on, which is generally a fixed answer that is not dependent on student skill level. REMEMBER– this is about teacher growth. The skill is the lens through which teacher instructional effectiveness is determined. That lens is best when it stays fixed on the most important skills taught throughout the year.”
14 SLO Skill Statement– SwimmingImagine you are the instructor of a beginning swimming class… What are some skills that... Are essential to their success as a swimmer? Lead to becoming a more advanced swimmer? Brainstorm with your table group for 1 minute. The idea behind this slide is to introduce teachers to selecting an area of focus, using a “neutral” content area so that they can focus on learning the process before they begin creating an SLO in their content area. Teachers don’t have to agree on one definitive “answer” at this point – the idea is just to get them thinking and understanding how to approach the process of selecting an area of focus. Trainer– “So now, let’s look at an example that focuses on the idea of finding an important and valuable foundational skill.” First, read slide aloud to participants, then allow groups to talk for 1 minute (keep it short) Following the 1 minute of brainstorming say: “Let’s see how this reflection from a swim coach compares with the discussion at your table… Of course I want kids to become proficient swimmers and to master many different swim strokes, but there are many components that go into teaching young children how to swim: general water safety, arm strokes, leg kicks, breathing technique, diving into the pool, and flip turns to complete multiple laps for my advanced students... When I think about those different components, I realize that young swimmers in my beginning swim class typically have the biggest hurdle with putting their face in the water and learning how to breathe using a proper technique. Many young swimmers are hesitant about this. It might even seem scary at first, but learning a proper breathing technique in the water is both a safety issue of understanding how to get a breath and keep moving and a lifelong skill that swimmers will continue to use throughout their lives and all their levels of swimming. I also have been wondering about what other techniques are used by other swim coaches to help all kids, but especially reluctant swimmers to become more comfortable more quickly especially since I only have them for 8 weeks. The last few years I‘ve had several students in each class that really struggled with this, so I‘d like to see how I can get better at teaching this to students.“ Trainer says, “Did we hear ‘teacher need‘? What about ‘area of challenge for students‘? What about ‘important and valuable‘? And not just for beginning swimming, right? Obviously swimming class is a little different from other content areas – but could helping students become more aware of their own breathing (fast vs. slow/deep vs. shallow, etc.) be possibly applied in other setting? Possibly… Questions / Comments? “
15 Question 2A Where do I think my students will be with this skill upon entering my course? So the 2nd question actually has 2 part - the first part, question 2A...
16 Initial Skill Profile Where do I think my students will be with this skill at the beginning of the class? Start by thinking about The “subskills” related to the area of focus The range of skills in the area of focus students typically possess at the beginning of the year Consider Past experience teaching the course Knowledge of students/campus What are the subskills (“building blocks”) related to the area of focus? If the area of focus is breathing, what are the components- the subskills– a student needs to eventually be able to do those? For beginning swim students who are just learning to swim, their subskills when learning proper breathing technique at the beginning of swim class might include: Being comfortable having water splashed on or near their face Putting their face in the water So then, as the teacher thinks about those subskills, what’s the range of skills the teacher usually sees with the students at the beginning of the year? Another way of thinking about this is - which “building blocks” related to the skill statement do students typically have when they start the year? For beginning swim class, students come to class with a wide range of comfort within the water and breathing technique sub-skills. For example, some students are hesitant to even walk in the shallow area of the pool and do not like being splashed, much less getting their face near or in the water while other students are comfortable playing while standing up, but have not put their face in the water yet, and so this is new territory for them. “Teachers will base their expectations on their experience teaching the course, in teaching on that campus (or a similar campus), or, in the case of a teacher who is new to a subject, on the advice of other teachers and where the standards suggest students will be. If the teacher is located in an area where many homes have a pool or there is a readily accessible community pool, the beginning skill level of the students may be very different from a teacher that works in area with less access to a pool. The range of skills that a teacher typically sees may be impacted by the context of the campus.
17 Initial Skill Profile To begin building the profile, think of what you anticipate students can do related to the skill statement: First, create a statement that describes where most of your students usually are at the beginning of the year. Next, create a statement that describes where your most skilled students usually are at the beginning of the year. Finally, create a statement that describes where your least skilled students usually are at the beginning of the year. “You’ll want to think of the Initial Skill Profile, or ISP, as capturing what you expect or anticipate the range to be for your class. First will be a description of your “typical” student – and while each student is unique, how would you describe what the majority of your students are able to do related to the skill statement at the beginning of the class? This is like the middle of the bell curve – where most of your students will be at the beginning of the year –and where your typical student will be – keeping min mind that your typical student isn’t necessary typical for other teachers. Next, think of what your most advanced students can normally do when they come in to your class. Finally, at the lowest level, students who come in with the least amount of “building blocks”– they’re furthest away in relation to your focus skill – what can they usually do at the beginning of the year?” It may be helpful to remind teachers that this is simply differentiation– their attempt to clearly capture what they think will be the difference in skill level as their students enter the classroom, a key first step in shaping their instructional plans to meet the needs of all of their students.
18 Initial Skill Profile– SwimmingHandout SLO Skill Statement: Students will be able to use proper breathing techniques when swimming. Think about kids who are just starting a beginning swim class... Middle Level: Most of my students… Top Level: My most skilled students… Lowest Level: My least skilled students… Materials Needed: SLO Swimming Sample ( Do NOT Distribute until after the slide discussion) The point of this slide is to help teachers realize that the ISP is focused on the subskills or building blocks students bring into the class – and doesn’t necessarily capture the full sophistication of the skills mentioned in the SLO skill statement. Trainer– “So now let’s apply this to our swimming example. Here is what our swimming coach decided… “Middle Level– Typically, most students are comfortable walking into the shallow end up to knee-deep water with arm floaties on and playing with others while having small amounts of water splashed on/ near their faces. Top Level– My most skilled students will enter the pool up to chest level while wearing arm floaties, will put their faces into the water while holding their noses with their hands and will pick their heads straight up and let go of their noses to take a breath. Lowest Level– My least skilled students are hesitant to enter the pool, even when wearing arm floaties, and they express discomfort when water is splashed on/near their faces.” What do you notice about the connection between the skill descriptions and the skill statement? (building block skills – doesn’t necessarily mention “breathing technique” directly but gives a pretty clear picture of where each student is starting from.) What about the relationship between each of the skill descriptors? (You can see the progression between the levels, but they are still different enough to give a clear picture of where students are starting from.) (HAND OUT SWIMMING SLO) So that you can begin to see how this comes together in the SLO process, here is a copy of the SLO created by the swim teacher. The SLO form is just the vehicle that captures the thinking behind the process – we’ll talk more about it later but it’s important to remember the thinking, not the form, drives the process.
19 Question 2B Where are my students actually with this skill when they enter my class? “Now that we’ve described what we think students will be able to do, we want to determine where students actually are with this skill at the beginning of the year. We will talk about this more in depth a little later, but I’m sure you can imagine some ways the swim teacher might determine where each student is with regard to the skills described in the ISP…
20 Questions 2A & 2B Questions 2A & 2B help us think more deeply about:What I expect or assume my students will be able to do; and What my students actually are able to do Ensures that we adjust our planning to fit the needs of the students we have, not the ones we thought we’d have. “One of the most notable flaws in ineffective instruction is teachers teaching to the students that the teacher assumed they had, wished they had, or who they used to have long ago, not the ones they actually have sitting in front of them. Sometimes you see this when the same lesson plans are used year to year with little reflection on what needs to be adjusted based on student needs. This is one of the more valuable steps in the SLO process– systemic recognition of who is sitting in front of the teacher. Side note for the trainer– in addition to not teaching the kids they have, sometimes teachers don’t really understand where the students are with their skills, especially if the students are very behind, and, even if the teacher realizes where the student is at– the teacher may struggle if they are need of more professional development to help them know how best to work with a student is far behind. This is why this is a two-part process. First you need to think about who you expect/assume who will be in your classroom. You want the assumptions exposed because all teachers have assumptions. Once you expose and flesh out these assumptions, then you can move on to the second part, which is actually seeing if your assumptions are correct. Essentially you are testing out that theory. This ensures that when you are planning, it is for the kids in your class this year, not the kids you thought would be in your class this year. This process also helps to remind us that all students bring related skills (subskills / building blocks) and that even when they may be lacking some skills we might “expect” them to have before entering our classroom, by focusing on the skills they do have and designing instruction to build from there, we are more likely to help students experience success and to ultimately reach the goals we set for them.
21 Question 3 Based on where my students actually are with this skill,if I provide effective instruction throughout this course, where should these students be at the end of the course? “Now that you’ve answered a few fundamental questions… 1) In the subject that I want to improve in the most, what are the most important skills that I teach? 2A) What do I think my students will be able to do with this skill coming into my class? 2B) What can my students actually do with this skill coming into my class? … you have a much better sense of what would be appropriate growth goals for your students that would reflect both effective instruction and high expectations. This is the third question in the process.”
22 Targeted Skill ProfileInitial Skill Profiles capture students as they arrive in your class, prior to your instruction. Now… The Targeted Skill Profile will describe what you expect of students at the end of the SLO. They are NOT the same. “There are big differences between the profiles. You should not create a single profile and use it for both. This is a temptation some folks have– write it and just have students move up one level for growth. The ISP is really about what students can do before receiving any instruction from the teacher. That is the purpose it serves, and essentially, after you have used it and are ready to build your TSP, the ISP has fulfilled its main purpose. The TSP is all about, “Now that I know these students, after a year of my instruction, how far can I push them?” The skills students exhibit on day one should be different (as this would be prior to your instruction, and given that the teaching will either build on a recursive skill or be brand-new content) than they will be at the end. So let’s see how this looks using our swimming example…
23 Targeted Skill Profile - SwimmingSLO Skill Statement: Students will be able to use proper breathing techniques when swimming. Typical on ISP: Students are comfortable walking into the shallow end until they are knee deep with arm floaties on and playing with others while having small amounts of water splashed on or near their faces. Typical on TSP: Students can blow bubbles and hold their breath while swimming one length of the pool and will pick their heads straight up out of the water to take a breath without stopping their stroke or standing up in the water. (Quickly review the Skill Statement and ISP Typical description aloud for participants, then say… So now let’s look at the Typical Student on the TSP… By the end of our swimming course, I expect the typical student to be able place his or her face in the water to blow bubbles and hold his or her breath. The student can pick their head straight up to take a breath and then return his or her face back into the water without stopping the stroke and/or standing up to complete 25 yds. (one length of the pool). So if a student was typical on the ISP and that same student achieves the skills described as typical on the TSP, has that student made growth? (short pause) YES - going from Typical to Typical is still a lot of progress. And just to think about this idea in a different way - think back to the description for Well-above typical on the ISP: “Students will enter the pool up to chest level when wearing arm floaties, will put their faces into the water when holding their noses with their hands, and will pick their heads straight up and let go of their noses to take a breath.” For most students, would going from ISP Typical to ISP Well-above Typical over the entire course demonstrate an appropriate amount of growth? (Not really) As one trainer describes it, the TSP is what students will be able to do after a year of your “awesomeness.” If needed, here are the other TSP descriptions for swimming… The well-above typical student is practicing proper breathing techniques, and rotating his or her head to the side to take a breath and placing his or her face back in the water, but will occasionally (no more than 2 times during 1 length) look straight forward to take a breath. Student can complete 50 yds. with ease. The Well-below Typical student can place his or her face in the water to blow bubbles and hold his or her breath, but does not use proper breathing techniques while performing swim strokes. The student stops swimming and moves to hold onto the lane rope in order to take a breath. The student can complete 25 yds. (one length of the pool), but stops 3 or more times to either treading water or holding onto a lane rope along the way.
24 Question 3 - Determining GrowthTable Discussion: Identify the kinds of evidence of learning that could be collected in the subject you teach. How will you know if they are making progress throughout the year? How will you capture the end-of-the-year skill level? “We have now set individual targets for each student so the next step is to figure out how we will know if they have gained these skills at the end of the year? Alignment is the key. The goal is for you and your team to talk about and plan how you can best capture what assessments may help you best see the application side of the SLO statement. Having the end in mind when planning and preparing for multiple data to capture progress will help you be intentional and thoughtful about checking for progress and the types of assessment that will be the most beneficial.” “I want you to think of ways that these courses might best capture the focus of the valuable assessment throughout the year” Examples could be: High school choir —a rubric would be needed to assess performance at the concert. You might want to ask if the choir director can do that in real time as he or she is also directing the choir? It would be difficult. One could have multiple raters—colleagues from other schools possibly—who could trade off. Or there might be a need to record the performance. Kindergarten— phonemic awareness—there are many vendor-based assessments such as DIBELS and PALS that measure this. They are usually used as screening devices—so the district would have to determine if that is possible MS PE— they might use a fitnessgram, which is a nationally developed assessment with age-level norms. Or the teacher could develop a measure of his or her own based on specific skills of focus—for example, if he or she were teaching gymnastics and fitness via the ability to perform various routines, there could be a rubric to assess performance levels.
25 Three Phase Process SO now that we have an overview of the first three steps of the SLO process, we’re going to go deeper into each of those steps while looking at examples from other content areas.
26 Step 1: What is the focus for my SLO?Content area and skill focus is a balance between importance and value: Valuable in leading to teacher growth (areas of challenge) Important to students beyond the classroom – skills that are always important to keep developing, no matter where the student is in his or her proficiency “In the end (maybe not Year One), this is a balance between importance and value – the choice of content area and skill focus should both be valuable in leading to teacher growth (area of challenge) but also be about a skill that is highly valuable to students – skills that are ALWAYS important to KEEP developing, not matter where the student is in his or her proficiency.”
27 SLO Skill Statement When do I determine the content area for my SLO?During my end-of-year conference when mapping out my goal-setting and professional development plan. When do I determine the skill focus for my SLO? Before school starts or immediately after school begins. “Typically, a teacher and administrator would look at determining the content area at the end of the school year during their end of year conference. You would choose the content area because it would be based on an area of challenge for the teacher (year one, area of comfort while the teacher learns the process, but every year thereafter, an area of challenge). Content area can be as broad as a subject for a generalist (math, science, etc.) and as specific as writing (within a range of content areas) for an ELA teacher.” Then the teacher would determine their skill focus - because it would be based on the most important skills the teacher teaches and can improve their effectiveness in, which is generally a fixed answer not dependent on student skill level. REMEMBER – this is about teacher growth. The skill is the lens through which teacher instructional effectiveness is determined. That lens is best when it stays fixed on the most important skills taught throughout the year.”
28 SLO Quality Tool Handout Materials Needed: Pass out the Quality Tool Handout to each participant. “You will be using this handout shortly, but also throughout the creation of your SLO. The Quality Tool is a guide to help identify the quality and components in the various steps. It is designed to guide the creation, reflection, and coaching of each stage in the SLO process. Let’s walk through the purpose and the layout of the Quality Tool. If you notice, it is a continuum with the lowest quality on the right and you are trying to move more towards the left. It isn’t necessary for everything to be to the far left or perfect. Look at Step 1 at the top of the page. If you start on the far right in the gray boxes, you will see the guiding questions for this step, Does the content selected represent fundamental skills students must master in this class and do the standards selected align with the statement? Then as you look across to the left side, you will see the bulleted statements that help the teacher and administrator reflect on statement and it’s quality. Again, it isn’t necessary that it be perfectly to the left side of the sheet. Each time a teacher engages in this process it will be better. You want to balance high quality without squelching the excitement in learning and improvement. We don’t want to get into wording so much that we make that the most important part versus the improving the teacher’s instructional practices. ”
29 Let’s Take a Look – SLO Skill StatementTeam Activity –Quality Review Locate the sample Skill Statements Use the Quality Tool and discuss whether or not each Skill Statement represents a fundamental skill. Which are strong and which need clarification? Be prepared to share with the whole group. Handout Materials Needed: SLO Skill Statement Samples Handout and the Quality Tool Handout “We’re going to look at some examples now and weight the relative strengths and weaknesses of the skill statements. Pull out your SLO Statement Samples Sheet. Read through each of the skill statements on the page. Use the Quality Tool to discuss the quality of the SLO skill statements. With your table, find one statement that you think is strong (remember that it doesn’t have to be a perfect SLO) and one that they might want to coach up or help improve, as if it were a draft shared with you by a colleague. Be ready to discuss with the larger group about why you chose the strong statement and why you selected the one to improve. Also, on the one you want to improve, think of what you would want to know more about and a question you might ask your colleague to help him or her think through improving the statement.” After the discussion and debrief “If you look you will also notice that: Not written as a TEK and most likely being a foundational skill will include many TEKS This is a coaching model and designed for the teacher growth, with student growth as the direct outcome of improved teacher instruction”
30 Step 2: Who are my students?There are two different sub-steps in this section in order to clarify: What I expect or assume my students will be able to do; and What my students are actually able to do This ensures that we adjust our planning to fit the needs of the students we have, not the ones we thought we’d have. “One of the most notable flaws in ineffective instruction is teachers who teach to the students that they assumed they had, wished they had, or who they used to have long ago, not the ones they actually have sitting in front of them. Sometimes you see this when the same lesson plans are used year after year with little reflection on what needs to be adjusted based on student need. This is one of the more valuable steps in the SLO process– forced recognition of who is sitting in front of the teacher. Step 2 is really a two part process. First you need to think about who you expect or assume who will be in your classroom. You want the assumptions exposed because all teachers have assumptions. Once you expose and flesh out those assumptions then you can move to the second part which is actually seeing if your assumptions are correct. Essentially you are testing out that theory. This ensures that when you are planning it is for the kids in your class this year, not the kids you thought you would be in your class this year. We will focus on the first part for the next few slides.”
31 Initial Skill Profile Five Levels: Well Above Typical Above TypicalBelow Typical Well Below Typical “This is where the teacher builds out the Initial Skill Profile (ISP). The teacher is separating out the students into 5 levels based on where they think the students will be. The 5 levels include Well Below Typical, Below Typical, Typical, Above Typical, and Well Above Typical. It is important to understand that Typical in this process means who typically walks in your room and not necessarily typical according to grade-level standards. The skill set of a typical student in an AP class may be vastly different than that of a student in a non-AP class. So, for the ISP, the teacher is capturing the answer to the question, What do I usually assume my students can do when they first start the year as it relates to the SLO skill statement itself? The goal here is to describe your typical students, high performing students, and low performing students as they are likely to appear on the first day of class. The teacher wants to describe what the skill level usually looks like for these students. What will they be able to do as in relation to your SLO statement? What skills or sub-skills do they possess related to the SLO Skill Statement? What level of learning are they bringing? Also, just a reminder - the SLO form is merely a tool for capturing the thinking. We will review the form in more detail later – but the form isn’t intended to be a lengthy document. Again, it’s the process, not the form, that matters most. Trainer Notes: The issue of new teachers will undoubtedly arise. Two suggestions here: 1. Review TEKS from EOY previous grade– it should indicate what should students know and are able to do in the area of focus, and 2) Ask other teachers. Just a note for presenters: Sometimes those folks who are rubric driven get caught up in the notion that it should be the same at the beginning of the year and the end of the year. If that should happen, just remind them of the purpose of the ISP. The purpose is to describe the skills they think they will have prior to ever being taught by the teacher.
32 Step 2: Who are my students?SLO Skill Focus: Students are able to design and complete experiments and report their findings, providing supporting evidence from their data and using graphic displays to convey their meaning. Typical Student Descriptor: Student is able to follow directions to complete an experiment with assistance from the teacher and answer a series of questions about the outcome of the experiment accurately most of the time. “Let’s look at a Science example of what that might look like here.” Read the Skill Statement to the group. Then read the descriptor to the group. “Does the typical descriptor actually describe what the skill focus would look like? The answer would be yes. The skill focus is what will be worked on all year. If you look at the descriptor and think about the students just coming into this class, before they can design and complete experiments they need to have some experience in actually conducting or being part of experiments. Most students should be able to follow directions to complete and experiment is something they should be able to do with some assistance when they enter this class. Most of the students will most likely come into to class able to answer questions as it relates to the outcome of the experiment. When I look at this, I can see how that would be demonstrated and also how these sub skills would directly relate to the outcome of the SLO statement. It would be important for me as the teacher to know if they can do these types of tasks. If they can do these sub skills, then I as the teacher can really build from their base knowledge of ability to follow someone else’s experiment to designing their own and communicating those results through sharing their data to convey their meaning.”
33 Step 2: Who are my students?Original Typical: Students provide partial responses to some of the questions, but responses are minimal and indicate some misunderstanding, and they do not cite evidence to support their claim. Responses are disjointed sentences with some structure to the answers. Coached Typical: Students can read and comprehend informational texts with consistent success summarizing the most significant information. Students do not support conclusions with textual evidence unless prompted. Read the statements on the slide. Have the participants note the differences they see between the original and the coached up version. “In the coached version, the appraiser worked with the teacher to be more specific about what skill(s) the students have at the beginning of the year as opposed to capturing a test score and how many questions were correct. ISPs will often be a description of what students can do with the precursor or sub-skills that appear in the SLO skill statement. In this one, read, comprehend, and summarize are precursors to being able to draw accurate conclusions and support them with textual evidence, so it makes sense for a teacher to capture where students are with those sub-skills that lead to the SLO skill statement.”
34 Let’s Take a Look - Who are my students?Team Activity –Quality Review You will need chart paper (divided in half) Locate your 2 assigned ISPs Use the Quality Tool to discuss and determine ways to improve each ISP. Alignment to Skill Statement – subskills? Distinctions between levels Describes what students can do, not how it’s measured Be prepared to share with the whole group. Handout Materials Needed - ISP Examples Handout, 1 piece of chart paper per table, marker, Quality Tool Handout Now the trainers want the participants to look at a couple of ISPs. Each table will be assigned 2 ISPs. They will read through them and using the quality tool, evaluate for strengths and opportunities for improvement. “If you will get out your Quality Tool and find step 2 on it. For this activity, we will only use the top bullets to really focus on the descriptors as a guide. Read through the bullets, right to left. There are 4 ISPs for this exercise. I am going to divide the tables so that ½ of the tables have the 7th Grade Science and Culinary Arts and the other ½ of the tables have French 1 and 3rd Grade Math.” Assign the tables to 2 ISPs – It is important that everyone review two ISPs initially to help discover several key points about the process that are not covered by reviewing only one of the ISPs “Each group will get a piece of chart paper to use with markers. Draw a line through the paper to divide it in half. You will look at your ISPs. On ½ of the paper, you will look at one of your ISPs and focus on what is strong about the first ISP and what might areas your fellow teacher can improve his or her ISP. You will also think of questions you might ask to help clarify or coach the ISP to a higher quality. You will repeat this with the other ISP on the 2nd half of the chart paper. I will have each group share at the end of this activity so be ready to talk about what you see. ” Have each group share out what they discussed using the strong points and opportunities to coach. When they are listening to the groups with the opposite ISPs, they may want to make notes in their book Hint: The Quality Tool wording can be used to help with questions.
35 Initial Skill Profile YEAR 1 YEAR 2 Elementary Generalist Whole classNext task: Select class or classes YEAR 1 YEAR 2 Elementary Generalist Whole class Elementary departmentalized Most representative class Most challenging class for teacher Secondary Once the ISP has been created, teachers can begin to decide which class will be the focus of the SLO. Teachers should include all students in the class they select. There are no targeted subgroups such as ESL or Gifted and Talented only. If a teacher has multiple preps, they only pick 1 prep/class. So now the teacher has their skill statement, their ISP and are selecting a class. Once they have selected a class, the teacher is now ready to move on to the next part of step 2. “
36 Initial Skill Profile During the first 6-9 weeks of the course (in year one), I determine where my students actually are by: Looking at demonstrations of that skill in my class (formal and informal assessments, class work, surveys) Multiple pieces of evidence that align to the Skill Statement “Now the teacher has created their ISP on the students who they think will be in their class and determined which class they will cover in their SLO, it is time to collect data so that they can actually map the students to their ISP based on where the students really are. As teachers map their students onto the ISP it’s like testing a hypothesis – do my students have the initial skills I thought they would or are they above or below what I expected?” The ISP itself can be written prior to students arrival. Once that is fleshed out and the students arrive, it can take up to 6 weeks to really get to know students. This is where the teacher can use various types of data to determine the individual student skill level as it relates to the SLO skill statement. This will likely be a mix of formal and informal data. The goal here is that teachers are already getting to know their students through many methods. SLOs are designed to complement that process not create extra assessments. Teachers should think about what they are already using to gather information on their skill set for the SLO. One caution, though, is that we need to make sure our assessments of student skill match the skill focus for the SLO. It’s not useful if a teacher uses an assessment that contains 30 questions where only 3 questions pertain to the SLO itself. Those 3 questions are helpful, but using the whole test would not be accurate if the questions don’t all align with the SLO.” If time permits, teachers could brainstorm what type of assessments they would use to capture beginning skill levels for students in the settings below and share with shoulder partners and/or whole group. Suggestions might include: Grade 7 math: Early quizzes (only using the questions focused on the SLO or sub skills) Having students explain the process or concept tied to the SLO Exit tickets Any diagnostic tests given by the school/district Grade 6 STAAR results for CURRENT students ONLY IF results can be mapped specifically to the skill in question. Grade 5 Art: Early student work – perhaps giving a task that is directly tied to the issue of interest – here it is perspective A vocabulary quiz using the words that the teacher has focused on in the SLO Knowledge from previous experience with these students HS Culinary Arts: Survey of students’ experiences and interests Early student work on a simple cooking task – perhaps assessed using a rubric similar to what would be used to judge the end product STAAR results were on the ISP – but should they be? Do STAAR results tell you a student’s skill in culinary arts?
37 Step 2: Who are my students?Collect data about our current students’ skill level in the focus area Goal: Assess current level of learning and map to the Initial Student Skill Profile Whole Group Activity: Brainstorm two types of data the teachers could use in the classes we just reviewed or in the last class you taught to establish level of learning. “This begins the second part of Step 2. Now the teacher has created their ISP on the students who they think will be in their class. So now it is time to collect data so that they can actually map the students to their ISP based on where the students really are. The ISP itself can be written prior to students arrival. Once that is fleshed out and the students arrive, it can take up to 6-8 weeks to really get to know students. This is where the teacher can use various types of data to determine the individual student skill level is again as it relates to the SLO skill statement. This will likely be a mix of formal and informal data. The goal here is that teachers are already getting to know their students through many methods. SLOs are designed to complement that process not create extra assessments. Administrators should encourage the staff to see what they are already using to gather information on their skill set for the SLO. Caution, if teachers are using a campus based assessment remember that it may contain 30 questions but when the teacher looks at, only 3 questions really pertain to the SLO itself. Those 3 questions are helpful but using the whole test would not be accurate if the the questions don’t all align with the SLO.” “Think about 2 different types of data you might use for the ISPs we just reviewed or for the last class you taught.” THE KEY IS TO USE MULTIPLE DATA SOURCES Suggestions might include: Grade 7 Science: Early quizzes (only using the questions focused on the SLO or sub skills) Having students explain the process or concept tied to the SLO Exit tickets Any diagnostic tests given by the school/district Grade 3 Math: Early student work – perhaps giving a task that is directly tied to the area of focus HS Culinary Arts: Survey of students’ experiences and interests Early student work on a simple cooking task – perhaps assessed using a rubric similar to what would be used to judge the end product STAAR results were on the ISP – but should they be? Do STAAR results tell you a student’s skill in culinary arts?
38 Targeted Skill ProfileWhere do you want your students to be at the end of the SLO? Keep in mind that Targeted Student Skill Profiles are: A means for considering long term goals for students A reflection of the distribution of skills seen in the students that you have in the class A description of what skill level you predict students will be able to demonstrate at the end of the course “This is the step where the teacher is going to build a Targeted Skill Profile (TSP). The teacher has spent 6+ weeks getting to know their students. The teacher knows the students’ skills as they relate to the SLO statement, and the teacher is really getting know the whole child…..how they have performed, their attendance record, how they learn and respond, etc. At this point, the teacher is able to say that, “I can see how far I can push them after a year of my instruction.” While a TSP is similar in structure to your ISP, note that the purpose is completely different. The teacher uses an ISP to really find out who is in your classroom, a TSP is really the road map to growing all of your students. And now -- as the teacher begins to think of how far they can take their class, the teacher would want to put at ‘typical’ – a description that would fit your goals for the largest group of students at the end of the year. The teacher wants to build a TSP in relationship to the ISP – just as the ISP resembled a “bell curve” with the majority of students – the “typical” student – in the middle , the middle of the TSP should mirror where the majority of students are. This may seem counterintuitive to some – but the teacher should always have higher and lower students in addition to where “most” students will land. This allows for the teacher to push and grow students in a way that allows them to focus on the skills that they gain in an honest, realistic way while still pursuing those high expectations of all students without expecting all students to reach the same outcome level. If you have students who are significantly behind in performance – the profile should reflect that. Similarly, if the teacher has students who are well above grade level – the skills selected and the skill profile should reflect a higher expectation of performance. So the targeted student skill profile is based squarely on the students in the class. Based on where these students started, what are reasonable goals by the end of the year. It is perfectly fine for someone to be typical on the ISP and typical on the TSP. There is still growth because the profiles are different – and the description would be of higher, more sophisticated level of performance on the TSP.”
39 Question 3 - What are my expectations?Typical on the Initial: Student is able to follow directions to complete an experiment with assistance from the teacher and answer a series of questions about the outcome of the experiment accurately most of the time. Typical on the Targeted: Students plan and implement experiments for investigating key topics assigned using laboratory and technology tools, including devising testable hypotheses, determining the meaning of the outcome of the experiment, and drawing reasonable conclusions. Lab reports protocols are followed. “Let’s look and compare the initial Typical level to the targeted Typical level between the ISP and TSP. Clearly – there are higher expectations for the end of the year. Students are independent at the end, they develop their own hypotheses and draw conclusions that are reasonable. They use lab protocols for the reports. All of these are things that had been desired but were not evident at the beginning of the year. The Typical statements are clearly and vastly different. Although both highlight and show the what the skills as it relates to an SLO statement look like. The Targeted is based on what the teacher thinks most students will be able to accomplish based on what she knows for the largest group of her students. The Typical statement in the Initial may or may not be where most of her students land because it was based on an assumption as it was written. The teacher assumed this is where most students would be in their skill level and she didn’t know for sure until he or she mapped her students after getting to see what they actually could do. Look at how much growth would have occurred if students came in as Typical and left as Typical. In order to have both of those ratings, the student would have to grow quite a bit in their skill level. That is a reason why a comparison or subtraction between the two rubrics would definitely not be appropriate.“
40 Question 3 - What are my expectations?Typical level on the Initial: Students have some cooking experience, typically including baking cookies and making breakfast. STAAR results indicate that students are performing at grade level in most subjects. Typical Level on the Targeted: Students develop a nutritionally sound plan and prepare all courses of a meal, while accurately following recipes, using appropriate hygienic techniques, and presenting the meal at the table in an appropriate and visually appealing manner. Some components of the meal may be slightly over- or under-cooked, but diners report that the food is good. Same exercise for Culinary Arts - a non-aligned course. For Culinary Arts, there is no prerequisite course – no way to know what student skills are in this area – on day one. So in this case, the teacher is relying on what he or she has seen and probably some current data they might collect for the Initial. But note how different the TSP is here --- now it is focusing on the skills that students must have learned in THIS COURSE. In order to end up at typical for this class on the TSP, a student would have to acquire quite a bit of skill over the year.
41 Let’s Take a Look - What are my expectations?Team Activity –Quality Review Locate your 2 assigned TSPs Use the Quality Tool to discuss if the TSP: Increases the complexity of skill from ISP Distinguishes between levels Describes what students can do, not how it’s measured Be prepared to share with the whole group. Handout Materials: TSP Examples Handout, Quality Tool, chart paper for each table, markers “Each group gets a piece of chart paper and divides it in half. I want you to look at the TSPs Examples Your table will look at the TSPs of the same content area that you used earlier for ISPs. (Remember in the ISP activity half of the group had 7th Grade Science and Culinary Arts while the other have of the tables have French 1 and 3rd Grade Math.) Use half of the chart paper for the first TSP and the second half for the other TSP. Find your Quality Tool and locate Step 3. Read the first 2 rows of bullets, right to left. You can use these to see where they think the TSP is strong and where there are questions of clarification or the opportunity to coach the TSP to a higher level. Develop questions they might ask and justify why you would want to ask that question. Each table will share out as a group.” Trainers might encourage those tables who haven’t examined the other TSPs of the other groups to take notes.
42 Stretch Time Pair up with someone not at your tableShare your response to this question: What is the difference between the ISP and the TSP? (Hint: What is the purpose of each one?) Now that we have done a quick walkthrough of the first three questions – let’s take time to process this information…
43 Question 4 How will I guide these students toward their goals?This brings us to Question 4…
44 Guiding Students to GoalsBegin to plan for: Differentiating instruction to meet the needs of each student Monitoring student progress formally and informally toward a goal Reviewing SLO progress and collaborating with colleagues Share plans with appraiser during the BOY conference A reminder – this is still occurring fairly early in the year…within the first 6- 9 weeks Before the year starts, the teacher has selected the area of focus, created the ISP to describe students’ entering skill levels in the area of focus, and soon after the year started, collected some initial data to see what students actually know and can do. Based on that data, the teacher has mapped the students onto the ISP, which they use to build the TSP. After building the TSP, the teacher will look more broadly at student data to help them determine a rigorous, yet reasonable, goal for each student – and adjust the TSP if needed. So now that we have set a rigorous, yet reasonable, goal we for each student to reach – we need to begin the process of planning instruction to attempt to see that every child gets there! “What will you do for the highest performing and lowest performing students? A lot of our planning aims for the middle, so let’s spend some time thinking about how we’ll address the tails. You want to be sure that thoughtful and intentional growth is planned for each tail of the group. On the forms, there is a spot where you are asked to be ready to discuss these areas for their instructional plan. It is designed so that you can prepare and also to prompt the administrator to address the matter of challenging all students.”
45 Student Growth TrackerExcel format worksheet Enter student’s starting point on an individual basis Record progress check-ins Can add columns to this sheet if desired Will return to record end-of- year level of learning Key record to track progress After completing Steps 1 – 4, teachers will use the Student Growth Tracker to capture student data related to the SLO process. The Student Growth Tracker will be a place where the teacher and administrator can watch the data form over time. This can aide in discussions with teams and appraisers. It simply catches snapshots in progress for students at multiple points so that trends can be seen and discussions about changes or flatlines can be discussed to determine the best course of action.”
46 Review SLO with Appraiser for ApprovalTeachers will complete Steps 1-4 and submit: The SLO Form The Student Growth Tracker Teachers and appraisers will meet to review documents and discuss the plan together Appraisers may request revisions “Ideally, you are getting feedback on your SLOs through several sources (dept. chair, team leads, other teachers, etc.) throughout the creation process. You are able to use the Quality Tool to guide in creation, reflection, and revision prior to submission. Once the conference starts, your appraiser will work with you through a discussion. You job is to expose your thinking through the process and be ready to be coached where needed. As the teacher, you are really communicating your thoughtful and intentional plan of growth in a way that can be understood and can be measured over time. The focus is your growth and improvement through this collaborative process.”
47 Beginning of Year (BOY) ConferenceSo now, let’s see how this looks in action (Provide this context before starting video): “This is a 5th grade Science We have dropped in during a BOY conference (could be pre-conference or GSPD conference) She’s working with a team (collaboration), but doesn’t necessarily mean same SLO with team While you watch this video, look for the strengths of this conference and opportunities for improvement Also, notice the role and workload of the appraiser and teacher.” After the video, provide this context: “Pretty high level- clearly a teacher that is cognizant of her own continuous improvement - forthcoming and reflective already.” “What did you see as strengths?” Pros: Skill - well-articulated on how it’s an important focus from the student perspective; foundational skill from science but also benefits other subjects Coaching - pushes teacher on how the skill relates to her as a teacher - impact on pedagogical improvement; pushes teacher to explain her thinking and process on ISP Very intentional about what she wants to do differently this year Shows high expectations for students and their learning (wants to press on her kids) ISP - very intentional about what she wants her kids to do TSP - shows well-thought out process for determining levels Blends SLO assessments with what they already do for assessments SGP - asks her to walk through a couple of students and how she thought through their placements Teacher shows well thought out determination for Jalen Good question from appraiser on how to reconcile ability to verbalize and ability to write - reveals a potential issue with the TSP “Where did you see opportunities for growth?” Opportunities for Growth: TSP shouldn’t be abstract, it should be tied to the context of the actual students (not a magical wand) - can lead to false conclusions about impact Appraiser could have asked about particular students herself rather than letting the teacher choose - this would have ensured that the teacher could articulate her thinking for any given student
48 SLO Process “So now we have talked about the process for creating an SLO. To put this in context, this is how the thinking about the SLO process is organized. The first phase is crafting an SLO (Questions 1 – 4) and where most of the creation and work on the actual SLO is captured. Then you move into monitoring and adjusting instruction, and finally, reflecting on outcomes which helps to ensure that what is learned through this cycle plays into how one might adjust instruction and SLOs in the future. The proportions in the diagram are intentional– most of the time should be spent on monitoring progress and drive improvement in instruction. Of the “Big 6” questions – 4 occur in the first phase. So, there is some front loading of work here. But it is a continuous process– it does not end once the SLO is written.”
49 Phase 2 “Now, we will move into Phase 2- which is about monitoring progress to drive instruction. Note that this covers most of the SLO interval. It is the longest part of the process, where you will be implementing what you created in Phase 1 as you answered the first four questions. The work up front in the first phase sets you up for the recursive set of questions during the course.“
50 Phase 2 Questions Are students progressing toward their goal?What practices and strategies will allow my students (collectively and individually) to progress throughout the course? How are my students progressing in response to these practices and strategies? For those who aren’t progressing appropriately, what changes can I make that may allow me to better reach them? “As you meet in your teams/PLCs, you will work through these questions repeatedly, all with the goal of seeing how effective you have been and how you can become better. We want you to focus on what is working so that you will keep doing those things and reflecting on what isn’t working so you can adjust. Your team is there to support that very learning and idea generation. These questions are designed to guide the discussion but the real growth happens when you and your team are really processing through them and making each other better through your conversations. Since a key aspect of the process involves teacher reflection, teachers are encouraged to keep a record of their reflections throughout the year. These brief notes will greatly assist the teacher to better understand the adjustments made to instruction throughout the year.
51 The Teaching Loop 3-4 day loop.Plan Instruct Assess Analyze Adjust 3-4 day loop. “As teachers, we want you to think about the loop of continual improvement and how you will approach it. This should be an intentional and thoughtful process. A period of time when you are instructing will be there but what will the intervals be for checking progress to see how effective your instruction has been? Reflecting on what is and isn’t working? Working in your groups to discuss/figure out adjustments that need to be made and implemented and then repeating this loop continuously over the course of the year. When thinking about progress monitoring, reflection and adjustments, remember that this should be done individually and on your own and also with your group/PLC. The power of your reflection combined with collaboration will be reaffirming in many cases and also improved upon by the very conversation and group thinking in others.”
52 Midpoint Check-In Midpoint conferences with appraisersCould be part of conferences/walk-throughs Main points of the check-in: Are students on track to meet targets? Does instruction need to be adjusted? Are additional supports needed? What feedback can the appraiser give about performance to date? “Keep in mind that the goal of the whole evaluation system is feedback and support to help you become more effective. This could fold nicely into a post conference or other meetings already scheduled. (For those who are in an off-year for evaluation – this meeting could be between the teacher and the department chair). Note that the evaluation plan still requires goal setting, PD planning, and addressing student growth even in non-evaluation years. Therefore, SLOs will still be done in those years. This is a key opportunity to meet that objective. Appraisers can help teachers reflect on their own progress and talk through potential improvements to practice. This will also be a chance to identify any additional professional development that might support progress. The midpoint conference should be seen as a conversation with an equal exchange of ideas and mutual support.“
53 Phase 3 “Now we are ready to move on to the last part of the process. Phase 3 -Evaluating Success and Reflecting on outcomes is the final phase in the cycle.”
54 Reflection and Close-outTeachers should assess the end-of-year student skill level Teachers record students’ end-of-year skill level on the Student Growth Tracker and complete EOY reflection in advance of EOY conference EOY conference between appraiser and teacher should be scheduled “You will administer the measures they identified as evidence of SLO outcomes near the end of the SLO interval. You will record those scores on the growth tracker– keeping in mind that scores are reported in the targeted skill profile levels. Multiple measures are not just “okay”– they are strongly encouraged as they will lead to more accurate estimates of student learning. Having two or more measures helps to “triangulate” the level of student learning and assists the teacher to gain a more complete understanding of students’ level of mastery. Once you have recorded and reflected on your year, you should schedule a conference with your appraiser. This would generally take place as part of the EOY conference.”
55 Phase 3 - Reflection QuestionsDid students grow and what did I learn from the process? How well did I engage in the SLO process? Did my students grow as expected? What worked, what didn’t work, and what can I improve upon to have a greater effect on all of my students next year? “You will want to process these questions on your own prior to meeting with your appraiser.”
56 Conference with AppraiserIn advance of the meeting, teachers should: Submit completed Student Growth Tracker Submit samples of assessments used to determine EOY skill level Prepare to discuss their experiences with the SLO process, including insights and areas for future focus “The goal of this meeting is to consolidate learning about practice and the SLO process. You should talk about improvements planned for the future and apply learning to planning for the next SLO cycle. Meetings with the appraiser are required but should be combined with existing EOY conferences. The benefit for you may come in the form of reflection. You should review the results and consider: What worked and what didn’t work? Were there certain types of students who grew more than expected? Were there certain types of students who didn’t grow as much as expected? Were my expectations too high or too low? Did I downplay some data or put too much weight on other data? What did I learn about my own approach? What decisions that I made worked, and which ones didn’t? How would I correct that moving forward?”
57 End-of-Year ConferenceSLOs dovetail with all other parts of appraisal – observations, goal-setting and PD plan results, Domain 4 conversations, etc. Takeaways from the EOY conference: Lessons learned from the SLO process feed into the teacher’s goals for the following year Determination of what next year’s SLO content area should be “This all comes together at the end of the year. The EOY conference will include (for full-appraisal years) a conversation that: Reflects on observation results (reinforcement and refinement areas) Discusses progress on the teacher’s goal setting and professional development plan (GSPD) (Goal setting and Professional Development) Discusses evidence of where the teacher is in the four dimensions of the Professional Practices and Responsibilities section of the rubric Discuss results of the SLO process (what we captured in the SLO EOY protocol) Determines next year’s practice goals (the new GSPD plan) and the content focus for SLOs the next year (based on teacher challenge).”
58 Review SLO with Appraiser for ApprovalSLO Rating Rubric Handout Materials: SLO Rating Rubric Walk participants through the SLO rubric. “The SLO rating rubric is designed to apply holistic scoring that uses a “preponderance of evidence” standard that is similar to what is used in T-TESS. Much like T-TESS, the scores are the least important part of this process. The conversations you are having with your appraiser throughout the year are where the growth occurs. 3 of the 4 criteria are based on teacher behavior because: Administrators want to incentivize teacher engagement in the process Teacher behaviors captured are those behaviors that should lead to growth - focus on the fundamentals (practice), the results (growth) will take care of themselves. Preponderance of evidence allows your appraiser to apply context to rating. For example, half of the students didn’t hit growth targets, but because the teacher set targets that were too lofty. That’s okay - we’d rather set high goals that aren’t reached than low goals that are (it’s all about pushing students). In that instance, the appraiser wouldn’t need to penalize the teacher for students not reaching growth targets.”
59 End-of-Year (EOY) Conference“We are going to watch and EOY Conference. Here is the context of this conference. We are dropping in during the appraisal EOY conference with our science teacher Appraiser uses the word “goals” when asking about next year; she really means what will next year’s SLO focus will be. In this conference, the appraiser is gathering information to score after the conference just as they are gathering information on Domain 4 to score later. Look for the strengths of this conference and opportunities for improvement as you watch this video. Also notice the role and workload of the appraiser and teacher.” “What were the pros of the conference?” Pros: Teacher articulates where she adjusted instruction based on the process (scaffolding) Teacher articulates how the SLO process forces deliberation, reflection, and adjustment Discussion of specific students led to teacher reflection on what is still needed Appraiser asks teacher about her own growth (goal of the SLO process) “Where were the opportunities for growth?” Opportunities for Growth: Appraiser should have redirected the conversation about what went well - teacher discussed a struggle. Need to reinforce positive practices. Appraiser should have asked about specific students based on what the teacher turned in (student growth tracker, sample assessments) Appraiser could have asked the teacher to bring in sample student work to discuss Appraiser could have asked the teacher to walk her through how she determined the final skill level for a student or two “Who did most of the work/talking in the conference?”
60 Preparing for the SLO ProcessNext steps…
61 Key Supports Implementation Guides – separate versions for:Teachers Appraisers Teacher Orientation Materials Sample SLOs Training modules “These supports are on the website for your use.”
62 Sample Timeline Time Frame Task to be completed Aug.-Sept.Teacher orientation September Getting to know students, preparing SLO drafts Mid-October SLO submission, revision, and approval Oct.-April SLO monitoring, reflection, and adjustment Jan.-Feb. Midpoint conferences April SLO closeout and evidence collection and end-of-year conferencing “This is an example of what it could look like but each district is encouraged to fit it with the appraisal timelines they already have set.” Note to District – add your time frame
63 When will you meet with your administrator?Early in the year to approve the SLO Throughout the year to share updates on student progress and receive feedback and support for the SLO Near the end of the year to review the process, discuss next steps, and determine the rating on the SLO Rubric “Meet” doesn’t mean it is always a “formal meeting”– the SLO process fits nicely with other activities, such as pre/post conferences, PLCs, etc…
64 SLO Anchor Conversations/conferencing/coaching ➔Reflection/self-assessment/adjustment ➔ Growth and continuous improvement ➔ Improved student learning. “Here are the anchors for this training This whole system is really built on conversations, conferencing, coaching, reflection, self-assessment, and adjustment. If you do these things, then growth and continuous improvement happens for your teachers, which leads to improved student learning. If you have a better teacher in the room then you will see a direct correlation to better student results. SLOs ask teachers to get better and some specific foundational skill each year. This targeted look at their practices and intentional growth is what it is all about, and over time, the impact of that growth can be exponential.”
65 Supporting documents can be found at:Thank you for coming! Supporting documents can be found at: TexasSLO.org