Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/391693
BACK TO SCHOOL 2014 | wyoea.org 23 As we all know, the Wyoming Accountability in Education Act requires that eventually, 20 percent of every teacher's evaluation will be based on student achievement. Exactly how that will be measured is yet to be determined, particularly for those teachers who are in content areas and/or grade levels that are not tested by the state assessments. A recommendation coming from the Advisory Committee to the Select Committee on Accountability for measuring student achievement is the use of Student Learning Objectives (SLOs). Because the Wyoming Education Association believes we as your professional organization should lead the way in the introduction and implementation of best practices, WEA President Kathy Vetter applied for and was awarded, as part of a multi-state initiative, an NEA grant that will fund SLO training for WEA members. Several WEA members and staff attended trainings in Minnesota and South Dakota this year to learn more about the theory behind SLOs, as well as the actual writing and measuring of the objectives. The teachers in the groups were excited to come back and begin implementing this practice in their own classrooms. They emphasized that it is not anything new, though it does take practices such as SMART goals to the next level by looking at student achievement data and growth over time. Laramie County School District #1 (Cheyenne) has agreed to allow a group of approximately 25 of their teachers to participate in an on- site training on SLOs late this fall, sponsored by WEA and funded by the NEA grant. The National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment, Inc. (better known as the Center for Assessment) is being contracted to conduct not only the training for this group of WEA members, but also ongoing professional development and support for the ensuing year. Cheyenne Teachers Education Association (CTEA) teachers are invited to contact Kathy Scheurman, WEA Professional Issues Director, at kscheurman@wyoea.org to apply to participate in the pilot training cadre. By next summer, this pilot group will assist Center personnel in training another group of Wyoming teachers in conjunction with WEA's Summer Institute. Once a teacher has successfully completed the first year of participation in the program and has assisted in a supervised training, s/he will be expected to train other teachers in their school, district, and/ or other Wyoming districts. Be watching for your opportunity to apply to be a part of next summer's training and subsequent follow- up professional development! It's an exciting opportunity to be at the forefront of developing new education accountability systems in our state. SLOs—the Future of Teacher Accountability?