Answer: Three
different kinds of evaluations are referenced in the legislation:
1) Comprehensive evaluations of beginning teachers;
2) Performance reviews of teachers other than beginning
teachers; and
3) Annual conversations with an evaluator relating to progress
on the Individual Career Development Plan.
Answer: For the
purpose of licensure recommendations, a district is required to use the
“Comprehensive Evaluation Summative Evaluation Form” that is included as
Appendix 4 in A Model Framework for
Designing A Local Staff Evaluation System Based on the Iowa Teaching Standards
and Criteria. This model, including Appendix 4, is posted on the Department
of Education's (DE) Web site.
Question 3: Is it accurate that all evaluation instruments
in contracts must be changed by December 1 or evaluation instruments for all
teachers will revert to the state model?
Answer: No.
The only required instrument is included in Appendix 4 of the model
evaluation system on the DE's Web site.
This instrument must be used in the summative comprehensive evaluation
completed with beginning teachers at the end of their second year to determine
the appropriate licensing decision; therefore, this instrument must be used
this school year for school districts for the comprehensive evaluations of
second-year beginning teachers. This
“Comprehensive Evaluation Summative Evaluation Form” must be used by all
districts who began participation in the Teacher Quality program during the
2001-2002 school year and is not subject to collective bargaining. Districts and their collective bargaining
units of teachers may jointly decide to alter current evaluations used in
districts to align with the “Comprehensive Evaluation Summative Evaluation
Form” through Chapter 20. School districts, along with their
collective bargaining units for teachers, must develop by July 1, 2004 the
processes for performance reviews for career teachers that at a minimum,
contain the Iowa teaching standards and criteria.
Question 4: Is a district required to use the forms
described in Tier I: the Beginning Teacher Evaluation of A Model Framework for Designing A Local Staff Evaluation System Based
on the Iowa Teaching Standards and Criteria?
Answer: No. The only
mandatory form that is associated with the model is the “Comprehensive
Evaluation Summative Evaluation Form” for licensure decisions of beginning
teachers.
Question 5: What do we do with new counselors, media
specialists, at-risk teachers, etc? All
are on teacher contracts, but some are issued licenses through alternative
licensure processes. They might not
have teacher licenses.
Answer: If they have a provisional educational license and are seeking a standard educational license, they must be evaluated through this process. In the future, there may be different sets of criteria or descriptors developed to better identify the job functions and related skills of these groups of professionals.
Question 6: Is the
Department dictating the processes or procedures used to evaluate experienced
teachers?
Answer: No. The model is a reference for consideration by districts. Examples of processes or procedures include the number of observations, length of observations, collection of evidence to determine teacher competence, pre-observation and post-observation processes, forms to be used by the district, etc. These processes and procedures are determined locally. However, there are certain components that must be included in the evaluation processes of a district according to the Teacher Quality legislation. These components include the use of the Iowa teaching standards, a comprehensive evaluation, a performance review, the development of an individual career development plan, an annual conversation about the progress on this plan, and the inclusion of an intensive assistance component in the evaluation plan of a district. These are managed through processes determined at the local level.
The development of an
evaluation model by the DE was directed in the Teacher Quality
legislation. This model is not
mandatory and is intended to be used as a guide. This model also very closely follows the model that is discussed
in the 2000 ASCD publication, Teacher Evaluation to Enhance Professional
Practice, by Charlotte Danielson and Thomas L. McGreal.
Question 7: Is it
accurate that a three-year comprehensive evaluation is all that is required for
experienced teachers regardless of what is in the contract?
Answer: No. Districts
will be required to conduct performance reviews of all teachers other than
beginning teachers. Districts, along with their collective bargaining units for
teachers, will be required by July 1, 2004 to use a teacher evaluation plan
that, at minimum, requires:
1) a performance review of teachers at least once every three
years based upon the Iowa Teaching Standards,
2) individual career development plans, and
3) requires administrators to complete evaluator training.
Answer: A performance
review is a summative evaluation of a career teacher that is used to determine
whether the teacher’s practice meets school district expectations and the Iowa
teaching standards and criteria. If the
career paths are activated, the performance review will be used to determine
whether the teacher’s practice meets school district expectations for career
advancement and continued employment.
Question 9: Does the
evaluation model apply to all teachers?
Answer: No – the evaluation model plan is just that
- a model.
Answer: The model
does provide reference and guidance for other evaluation components that must
be included in a district evaluation system.
These are:
q
use of the Iowa
teaching standards and criteria for both beginning and career teachers,
q
a comprehensive
evaluation for beginning teachers, a performance review at least once every
three years for career teachers,
q
the development of an
individual career development plan by a career teacher in consultation with
their evaluator,
q
an annual meeting
between the evaluator and the teacher to discuss the progress on the career
development plan, and
q
the provision of
intensive assistance to career teachers who are not meeting the Iowa Teaching
Standards and Criteria.
The model contains
information to guide the development of summative and formative evaluation
process for beginning teachers, experienced teachers, and teachers in need of
assistance.
Intensive assistance
is the provision of organizational support and technical assistance to teachers
for remediation of identified teaching and classroom management concerns for a
period not to exceed 12 months. Local
districts can use the model to guide the development of evaluation systems, but
this is not required.
Question 12: Is the
comprehensive evaluation conducted for all second-year employees of the
district regardless of how many years they have spent in the profession?
Answer: No.
The comprehensive evaluation is used to determine whether a teacher can
move from a provisional to a standard teaching license. This only applies to beginning teachers at
the end of their second or third year in the profession. In some cases the
district may decide to extend this time to a third year of teaching. The
expectation is that the comprehensive evaluation determines advancement to the
career level and the recommendation for a standard license.
A teacher new to the district who possesses a standard license would receive performance reviews at least once every three years. For employment purposes, the non-beginning teacher new to the district may be evaluated more frequently as dictated by the local collective bargaining agreement or policy.
Question 13: Should
we stop conducting evaluations on teachers until we get this new process
developed and implemented?
Answer: No. Local evaluation policy for
non-beginning teachers should be maintained until the new system is in
effect. This year, beginning teachers
at the end of their second year in the profession, if they participated in the
mentoring and induction program for the 2001-2002 school year, must have a
comprehensive evaluation conducted to determine a recommendation for licensure. Performance reviews of career teachers do
not have to be implemented until the beginning of the 2004-05 school year.
Answer: There are four sets of skills to be developed and validated to renew your evaluator approval. Three of the skill sets are covered in the main Evaluator Approval Training. The fourth skill set is developed by participation in Data Driven Leadership (DDL) training or an equivalent. All four skill sets include the demonstration of skill. Once all four skill sets are validated, SAI will forward these validations to the Department and the BOEE. There is a fee for the evaluator license renewal. This process will also completely renew the general administrative endorsement, so an administrator will be completely relicensed once this training is completed.
Question 15: If I
am not allowed to take evaluator approval training in the fall as I am not
working with a beginning teacher, but my approval expires in the fall, what am
I to do?
Answer: The BOEE will allow the purchase of a conditional extension to the evaluator approval at a rate of $10 per year of extension until you are able to complete the training. Contact the BOEE for further information.
Question 16: Do evaluators have to pass an examination
or other such test of their skills and competencies?
Answer: Yes. Evaluators will have to demonstrate
that they possess the skills that are taught in the evaluator approval program.
Question 17: Should
superintendents, curriculum directors, lead teachers, athletic directors,
central office administrators and AEA administrators take this training to
renew their evaluator approval?
Answer: It is recommended that these categories of
evaluator wait until January to enter into the process. It is possible that the approval renewal
processes for all of these categories could look slightly different from the
training for teacher evaluators starting this fall. Waiting will help avoid any redundancy in training later for
these categories of evaluators.
Question 18: Should
nonpublic administrators renew their evaluator approvals?
Answer: This is optional. The law doesn’t require that accredited nonpublic administrators
have evaluator approval while working in the accredited nonpublic school
system. The Teacher Quality legislation
does not apply to accredited nonpublic schools.
Question 19: What
exactly are the options for beginning teachers at the end of the second year of
teaching?
Answer: For second year teachers in school districts, three options are available:
1) Recommendation for a standard (career) license (note: despite having a standard license, a third year of employment probation is required by state law);
2) Recommendation for a third year of Mentoring and Induction with another comprehensive evaluation at the end of the third year; and
3) Recommendation for non-licensure. Districts will not send the comprehensive evaluation instrument to the BOEE nor the Department. Districts will use a modified form provided by the BOEE to indicate which option is recommended. Accredited nonpublic schools will recommend standard licensure using the same procedure as in the past for teachers at the end of their third year of teaching.
Question 20: What
happens to our second year teachers if our evaluators cannot participate in the
revised evaluator approval training this year?
Answer: The issuance of a standard license requires
that the district validate that the second year teacher has demonstrated
competence related to the Iowa Teaching Standards and Criteria. This can only be done by an evaluator
approved by the revised training process.
It is the district’s responsibility to ensure that the comprehensive
evaluations conducted with beginning teachers at the end of their second year
are provided by evaluators certified in this new process. The teacher in a participating district
cannot obtain a standard license through any other procedure. The Board of Educational Examiners (BOEE)
will not issue a teacher a standard license unless the comprehensive evaluation
is conducted by an evaluator approved in the new process. A district can arrange to have this
comprehensive evaluation conducted by an approved evaluator if no one from the
district is approved in the new process.
Contact your association or school attorney for further support on this
topic.
Question 21: If a
teacher is recommended for nonlicensure by a district, what next?
Answer: The teacher has a right to appeal to an
adjudicator.
Question 22: Who makes the recommendation on licensure
for a beginning teacher and to whom?
Answer: The evaluator
makes a recommendation to the superintendent who then makes a recommendation to
the BOEE.
In accordance with the
Teacher Quality legislation and Chapter 279, those situations in which a
teacher is not recommended for a standard license, the following will
occur:
1)
the evaluator recommends
to the district that the individual not be licensed;
2)
the district, assuming
it agrees with that recommendation, formally notifies the individual of the
decision against licensure;
3)
the individual has a
right to an initial hearing with the local school board on that
decision,(unless, of course, everyone agrees to a one year extension);
4)
the school board makes
whatever decision it thinks is appropriate after hearing evidence from both
sides, similar to a 279 termination hearing; and
5)
it is that decision by
the local board that may appealed to the adjudicator.