Schools to Revise Teacher Evaluation Process

A committee of teachers and administrators from the is currently working to reform the district's system of teacher evaluation, a process that began even before the recent controversy sparked by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's .

Board of Education members were briefed Tuesday night on the current status of revisions to the teacher/administrator evaluation process.

Guidelines recently issued by the Performance Evaluation Advisory Council (PEAC) which were adopted by the State Board of Education require districts to develop a model teacher evaluation plan.

In West Hartford, the Teacher Evaluation Review and Advisory Committee (TRAC) was created, with both teachers and administrators as members, to act as the steering committee for "revitalizing the teacher evaluation plan." Committee members include Andy Morrow, Nancy DePalma, Chuck Landroche, Dave St. Germain, Shareon Courneen, Natalie Simpson, Glenn McGrath, Dave Dippolino, and Marcello Pelliccioni.

Executive Director of Human Resources Rick Ledwith reported that consultant Patrick Flynn, from ReVision Learning Partnership, was engaged to assist with the project. According to Ledwith, Flynn has extensive experience assisting districts across the country with the process of examining and revising teacher evaluation systems.

According to the report presented to the Board of Education, TRAC's goals are:

• "To review the proposed process for revision of the WHPS teacher evaluation system
• To review the federal and state trends leading to the decisions to re-design the new system
• To discuss ways in which the process can be best aligned to spport the climate and culture of the WHPS."

The Teacher Evaluation Review and Advisory Committee, together with Flynn, determined that the first step should be to determine: "What defines high quality teaching in West Hartford?"

That question will be answered through a discussion with a broad representation of 60 teachers and administrators. On June 21, 22, and 25, those individuals will work with Flynn to articulate what they believe constitutes a quality teacher, and to develop a rubric which can be used for future evaluation.

Teachers and administrators will be trained on the rubric during the 2012-2013 school year.

"It's a long process; we envision it taking about a year," Ledwith said. The administration will likely roll out the new evaluation plan during the 2013-14 school year.

Ledwith said that the rubric will be built into an assessment document which will also include feedback from stakeholders – students and parents.

"There’s been a lot of talk in the news about what these evaluations systems should look like. We have to be able to live with human capital systems and social capital systems. We think we need a balance of both," said Assistant Superintendent for Instruction and Curriculum Eileen Howley.

Howley said that the metrics are important, but as the district goes through this process, "what seems more important to us is that we don’t upend the quality trusting relationships we have in the building."

TRAC is looking for a determination of "quality" across a continuum. "Everything isn’t directly observable in the classroom. Our current program is outdated, and we need to change that. We need to do this work irregardless of the changes in the guidelines,” Howley said.

“What are the factors that help teachers create great learners? That’s the ultimate purpose of this," said Board member Terry Schmitt.

"We have to make sure teachers are focused on the learners, but we have to remember that teachers are learners, too," added Naogan Ma.

"Our goal is to align the teacher evaluation program with our model of continuous improvement,” Howley said.