Professional Development Liaisons Workshop

October 14, 2010

Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement:Linking Faculty Evaluation and

Professional Development

Ann Mellow, National Assn. of Episcopal Schools

A culture of professional growth = better outcomes for kids

Student performance is primarily driven by teachers who themselves are committed to growth and connected to academic administrators who see their primary role as supporting their faculty.

Teacher Effectiveness, Student Achievement, and National Board Certified Teachers — research done for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, published June 2006

• Convey care, concern, and encouragement along with core discipline content

• Share and develop a broad repertoire of practices to support student learning

M. McLaughlin and J. Talbert, Professional Communities and the Work of High School Teaching (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001).

The best faculty cultures support teachers who…

A focus on student outcomes and enhanced student learning =

• A demand for professional development that focuses on student engagement

• A culture of professional inquiry focused on rigorous learning by students

• A focus on personal and professional growth in service to student learning

Charlotte Danielson “A Framework for Learning to Teach,” Educational Leadership, volume 66, June 2009

However, our schools are sometimes experienced as…

“…enthusiastic eccentrics operating in isolation, tolerated by one another and celebrated as embodying in the aggregate a school’s commitment to teaching.”

Peter Gow, “Building a Faculty: Recruiting, Training and Retaining the Finest Teachers,” Presented at the Canadian Association of Canadian Independent Schools, 2008

“An instructional lottery” in which students’ learning opportunities depend heavily on which teachers they draw, from class to class and year to year.

M. McLaughlin and J. Talbert, Professional Communities and the Work of High School Teaching (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001).

Shifting the culture…

• Use a common language and have faculty norms of cooperation

• Foster knowledge of research and theory on best practices

• Develop processes for effective feedback • Expect and recognize superior performance• Promote the value of working at the edge of

one’s competence.Robert Marzano et al, School Leadership That Works: From Research to Results (Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development, 2005)

Cultivating a growth-oriented faculty culture

Growth-oriented professional cultures…

• Have clear, specific-to-school list of the characteristics of professional excellence, i.e., what faculty say and do as a norm

• Insist on mandatory professional development for all

“ISM Standards for Professional Growth and Renewal,”Ideas & Perspectives Vol. 33 No. 04

A changing paradigm of professional development…

• Examining our own work and becoming experts in our students’ profiles

• Collecting data and generating promising alternatives

• Joining together to frame problems from multiple perspectives

“The Changing Paradigm for Professional Development,” Ideas & Perspectives Vol. 32 No. 08

Growth-oriented professional development…

• Honors the school’s mission and strategic priorities

• Serves institutional needs and individual aspirations of teachers

• Is for everyone (no oversights, no escapees)• Acknowledges individual capacities but holds

all to high standards of participation and action

Peter Gow, “Building a Faculty: Recruiting, Training and Retaining the Finest Teachers” Presented at the Association of Canadian Independent Schools, 2008

Growth-oriented professional development…

• Primarily occurs at the school itself or, if done elsewhere, is brought back to the school

• Never stops, from the beginning of a faculty member’s career until its end

• Includes significant collegiality• Socializes and shares knowledge• Is driven mostly by the individual faculty member

as an autonomous professional

“ISM Standards for Professional Growth and Renewal,” Ideas & Perspectives, Vol. 33 No. 04

Shifting the faculty evaluation conversation…

faculty evaluation

faculty professional development

“inspection” “collaborative reflection”

acceptable performance

maximal outcomes

Faculty evaluation should:

Insure quality student learning and

Promote professional learning

Elements of Growth-Focused Faculty Evaluation

• Agreed upon assumptions about excellent teaching

• Self-assessment and goal-setting that engages teachers in significant new learning

Elements of Growth-Focused Faculty Evaluation

• Reflection on one’s practice • Qualitative and quantitative data

and feedback• Professional conversations

Elements of Growth-Focused Faculty Evaluation

• Is developed, implemented, and refined with faculty input and ownership

• Attends to different career stages and faculty needs…all in service of improved student

learning!

Share everything you can

Ideas come from everywhere

You are brilliant, we are hiring

A license to pursue dreams

Creativity loves constraint

Innovation, not instant perfection

Data is apolitical

Don’t kill projects, morph them

How do our school’s professional development program/activities and the faculty evaluation system support a culture of professional growth in service of student learning?

– What programs and strategies promote such a culture?

– What are current barriers and challenges?What questions has this raised?

Questions to consider…

References

• Patrick F. Bassett, “Faculty Evaluation,” NAIS, January 15, 2002

• Patrick F. Bassett, “Evaluation: Boards, Heads, Administrators, Faculty (and the School),” NAIS 2001

• Charlotte Danielson “A Framework for Learning to Teach,” Educational Leadership, volume 66, June 2009

• Peter Gow, “Building a Faculty: Recruiting, Training and Retaining the Finest Teachers,” presented at the Association of Canadian Independent Schools, 2008 www.slideshare.com

References

• Independent School Management, “The Changing Paradigm for Professional Development,” Ideas & Perspectives Vol. 32 No. 08

• Independent School Management, “Faculty Evaluation, Student Performance, and School Leadership: An Update,” Ideas & Perspectives Vol. 31 No. 13

• Independent School Management, “ISM Standards for Professional Growth and Renewal,” Ideas & Perspectives Vol. 33 No. 04