Five of the region’s public school districts have been selected to participate in the regional implementation of the statewide Teacher/Principal Evaluation Project (TPEP) for the 2011-2012 school year.
The Cle Elum-Roslyn, Easton, Royal, Selah, and Toppenish school districts will make up a regional consortium, led by Educational Service District 105, that will collaborate on a statewide effort aimed at improving teacher and principal evaluation systems. These school districts will be part of a second phase of a state process that began last year with the development of new evaluation criteria for both groups of school professionals.
The new evaluation process involves more time in the classroom observing how teachers work as well as how students respond to the teaching. Each school district will adopt one of three evaluation frameworks (ones developed by Robert Marzano, Charlotte Danielson, and the University of Washington's Center for Educational Leadership). Whereas the previous system has only measured educators as either “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory”, one of the frameworks will allow educators to be evaluated on four tiers: “unsatisfactory”, “basic”, “proficient”, and “distinguished.”
In contrast to the existing evaluation system, which has placed much of its emphasis on an educator’s professional preparation and content knowledge, the new model maximizes the focus on high expectations and student achievement.
The evaluation system will continue to be piloted next year, leading to a revised evaluation system for principals that will be developed and implemented following the same timeline as for teachers.
“This new evaluation system directs a sharper focus on the results for improving teacher practices and enhanced learning,” said ESD 105 Superintendent Steve Myers. “It reflects the instructional paradigm shift that has happened in classrooms today and paves the way for better intentional teaching in the future.
“Teachers will be evaluated on how they develop the skills of their students and, through collaboratively-based standards, principals will be evaluated on how well they develop the intentional and results-oriented teaching abilities of their staff. Our consortium’s five school districts provide a cross section of our region’s school communities, and other school districts in our region will be watching their work in this new initiative, and will be looking for the consortium’s guidance in implementing this new system. It will be challenging and exciting work.”
The new evaluation system was piloted in the state last year by eight school districts, plus another nine involved in a consortium under eastern Washington’s ESD 101. The state’s evaluation system for educators was last changed in 1984.
The work of these school districts, along with the work of the TPEP pilot sites that began last year, will inform the statewide implementation of revised teacher and principal evaluation systems during the 2013-2014 school year.
