Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/48993
Student progress evaluation: where we stand Key elements of Interim Year rating system off the mark Delaware's Race to the Top Plan seems more about "getting it done" and less about "getting it done right." F While DSEA supports the improvements made by DOE to Administrative Code 106 A and 107 A regarding the implementation of the summative rating system dur- ing the interim year (see chart on next page), DSEA is still opposed to key elements within the Interim Year Plan for Component 5. We shared our con- cerns with the Secretary of Education in June and most recent- ly with the Governor in early November. Our concerns include: • The use of a school wide score for individual educators that does not reflect specific educator input into student growth and does not or DSEA and many of our members, the implementa- tion of various segments of meet the standards for fairness, validity or reliability. It is not legal- ly defensible. • For non-DCAS educators, the disproportionate percentages attached to Part I - (the school wide score) and Part II - (the cohort score). They will be the sole indicator of teacher performance in Component 5 since it appears that Part III of the system – multiple measures of student growth - may not be ready for use this year. • The use of a statewide test (DCAS) that has significant floor and ceiling issues: The test cannot capture student growth at the lower and higher ends of the scale, and the test cannot capture teacher con- tribution to social and behavioral growth for students in Delaware's ILC's and Special Needs sites. • The use of a summative rating system where a teacher can be rated satisfactory in Components 1- 4 (what a teacher does), yet still receive an overall rating of "needs improvement." DSEA is committed to working with the Secretary and the Governor's office to refine the teacher evaluation system to accu- rately assess teacher performance and provides the necessary sup- ports for teacher reflection and growth. To do this, Delaware must put in place: • A system that is fair, valid, reli- able, and legally defensible • A system capable of differentiat- ing growth for all students, espe- cially those in special needs set- tings • A system where teachers and spe- cialists are rated on the individual contributions they make to the growth of the students they work with in a particular subject area or grade level There may be no Part III this year T he recently-announced off- the-shelf students assess- ments listed below still need to be validated, which means that they may not be available this year for Part III: 1. Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation 2. Curriculum-based Measures of Reading 3. Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills 4. Early Reading Diagnostic Assessment 5. Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests 6. Iowa Test of Basic Skills 7. Measure of Academic Progress 8. Scantron Lexile Reading Performance Series 9. Scholastic Reading Inventory 10. Scholastic Math Inventory 11. STAR Early Literacy 12. STAR Reading As you most likely know by now, this current year, all five compo- nents of the Delaware Professional Assessment System are in force, with the regulations for Component 5 to work like this. Your Component 5 assessment (student progress) will be some combination of School- Wide DCAS test results, and/or DCAS test results from a "cohort" of students. Part I: School WideAssessment Measure (DCAS) • Used for all teachers and special- ists • Uses the best school wide growth or proficiency score for either read- ing or math, depending upon which tested subject area produces the highest score Part II: Student Cohort Assess- ment Measure (DCAS) • Used for all teachers, specialists For Core Tested Subject Educa- tors: • A cohort includes all the students taught in their content area • Fall-Spring improvement growth metric would be used For Non-DCAS Educators: • A cohort of students "touched" regularly would be identified by the 12 Nov/Dec 2011 DSEA ACTION! teacher and principal before the first DCAS testing period • The cohort will likely be a mini- mum of 25 students • Fall-Spring improvement growth metric would be used in a tested subject area for that cohort Part III: Teacher Specific Part III: Teacher Specific Assessment Measure (non DCAS measure) • Currently being reviewed for fis- cal implications, reliability, and the ability to show student growth • Requires further work by the con- tent area work groups currently meeting. • None may be available this year. This means that Component 5 will be based completely on a school wide score if you have no cohort. If you do have a cohort of students, 70% of Component 5 will be your student cohort measure, and 30%will be your schoolwide meas- ure. • A system where a comprehensive list of valid student assessment measures is developed and avail- able for each content area in order to appropriately link teacher input to student output • A system that rates specialists based on the job that they do, meas- ured against rubrics appropriate to that job. Delaware's educators were hired for positions in specific content areas – content areas with detailed standards for student proficiency. These educators have an expecta- tion and a right to be assessed using student growth metrics meas- ured against the standards devel- oped for their specific content areas. To do otherwise undercuts the entire educational system. It is more important to take the time necessary to get the job done right as we did with the first ver- sion of DPAS II, and not just get it done quickly. K-2 teachers and grade 11-12 teachers will not use Part II (where one chooses a cohort of students), because they have no tested cohort. This means that their entire Component 5 rating will be based on school-wide scores. All other teachers and specialists are to choose a cohort of students, with a representative sample of abilities, which is to be approved by their supervisor. The cohort should not be fewer than 25 or more than 150 students. Key questions remain DoE and the Delaware Technical Advisory Group are still working on the calculation to be used to determine the summa- tive rating for Component 5. How much student progress will be adequate? How will it be determined? How will the issue of school- wide scores be resolved? www.dsea.org