Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/340001
120 W. Carlson St. 307-432-7400 www.firstedfcu.com You could win $100! Your credit score 597. Better luck next time. This credit union is federally insured by NCUA. A member-owned financial cooperative available to everyone in Laramie County. Feeling Lucky? We can help. Sometimes it takes more than luck. Serving Laramie County's Educators Since 1947 You're so much more than a credit score at First Ed. Ask about our Second Chance Car Loans. Know what Student Learning Objec ves (SLOs) are? Did you know they might be the future of Wyoming teacher evalua ons? The Wyoming Accountability in Educa on Act requires that, beginning in 2016-17 (piloted in 2015-16), twenty percent (20%) of each teacher's evalua on be based on student academic achievement. The Advisory Commi ee on Statewide Educa on Accountability has recommended to the Select Commi ee on Accountability that student achievement for teachers who are in state-tested content areas and grades be measured at least in part by 1) Student Growth Percen les (SGPs) based on PAWS/ACT results and 2) SLOs. For the approximately 70% of teachers who teach in content areas and/or grades that are not tested by a state assessment, the Commi ee recommends the use of SLOs for at least a por on of the achievement measure. Districts would be allowed to propose other documented research- based or best-prac ce approaches. If the Legislature abides by the recommenda ons of the Advisory Commi ee, districts would also be allowed to decide whether SGPs and SLOs are a ributed individually or collec vely, depending on their theory of ac on. While the ques on requiring the use of SLOs has not yet been considered by the Select Commi ee or the full legislature, WEA wants you to be ready if/when this process is adopted. To that end, WEA, as part of a consor um with other small-popula on states, applied for and received a three-year, NEA-funded grant to provide training for our members on the development, use, assessment, and review of a ainment of SLOs. So what is an SLO?? A Student Learning Objec ve is a course-long academic goal for students, set by the teacher based on the teacher's knowledge of the students and his/her knowledge of the content. The goal demonstrates the teacher's impact on student learning within a given interval of instruc on. SLOs are s ll in their infancy, but are already required in at least 23 states. An SLO is typically a mul -page document, not a single statement. It is comprised of: baseline data, used to establish growth; a descrip on of the student popula on, including the number of students, student excep onality status, descrip on, etc.; the interval of instruc on, typically a school year, but for me-limited courses, it could be a quarter or a semester; the standards and content to be covered; the assessments that will be used to measure student achievement; growth targets, the expected student growth over the set period of me; a ra onale for the growth targets selected; and the instruc onal strategies to be used. Reports from early adopters of the SLO process report that teachers "value the opportunity to analyze data and plan instruc on as part of the SLO process. They report feeling 'empowered' and took a more ac ve role in their evalua ons a er SLOs were implemented [CTAC, 2013; The New Teacher Project, 2012]." Teachers value the collabora on fostered by the SLO process. However, training for teachers is a vital part of the successful implementa on of SLOs. WEA wants to be your window into the use of this promising prac ce. Be watching in the 2014-15 school year for the start of WEA-sponsored trainings on SLOs! SLOs Not a silver bullet, but a means of accomplishing success DON'T get caught certificate-less! Check your certificate expiration date to make sure it doesn't expire soon. Plan to allow 8-12 weeks for the processing of an application if fingerprinting and background checks are required, 2-4 weeks if not. http://ptsb.state.wy.us/ ICI WEA.indd 22 6/26/14 3:21 PM