Round Table Discussion- Evaluating Arts Teachers

William Kohut, Principal- Denver School of the ArtsDr. Mark Hudson- Director of Arts- Denver Public Schools

Jim Palmarini- Director of Educational Policy,Editor, Teaching Theatre Journal, Educational Theatre

Association

Evaluation and Observations of Arts Teachers

O How do administrators manage an observation system that is created for a general classroom environment, when observing an arts classroom?

O What is different about an arts teachers evaluation than an academic teachers evaluation?

Denver Public Schools- Framework for Effective

Teaching

Observation Rubric

Performance level Characteristics

Not Meeting Non-existence / absence of behaviors Few students Negative examples

Approaching

Inconsistent / sometimes Some students Lacks intentionality Teacher directed

Effective

Most of the time Most students Purposeful / intentional Teacher facilitated

Distinguished(In addition to “Effective”)

All students Student ownership

LEAP Measures

30%

10%

10%

50%

Appendices

• CTE Skilled Trades & Technical Studies• CTE STEM, Design & Information Technology• Interventionists• PE and Dance• Music

• Drama• Visual Arts

7

What to look for in an Arts Classroom….

O Students make their own connections to the lesson objectiveO The teacher invites student to collaborative on the learning

goalsO Multiple ideas and solutionsO Atmosphere of explorationO ImprovisingO Students making choices based on a variety of criteriaO PersistenceO Self-assessmentO IntentionalityO Going back and forth between parts and wholesO Observing multiple points of viewO CollaborationO A variety of good questions and creative solutions to problems

How do we find the DPS “LEAP Document”?

http://leap.dpsk12.org/

Educator Evaluation in the Arts: a Colorado Perspective

Half of the evaluation will be based on the five Quality Standards that measure professional practice: content knowledge, establish classroom environment, facilitate learning, reflect on practice, and demonstrate leadership. The Quality Standards can be measured using the state-developed rubric that identifies the practices necessary to achieve the standards.

The sixth Quality Standard, student growth, will account for the other half of the evaluation. The standard will be based on multiple measures of student growth or student learning over time, not a single assessment. Teachers must have a collective attribution student growth score and at least one individual attribution student growth score. If a teacher teaches a subject that takes the statewide summative exam, it must be used as one of the multiple measures.

Individual attribution refers to student learning outcomes on a

measure that are attributed to an individual licensed person (e.g.

reading student learning outcomes for a 1st grade teacher’s students).

Collective attribution refers to student learning outcomes on a measure that are

attributed to two or more licensed persons (e.g. 10th grade math TCAP growth– all

secondary math teachers in school).

NOTE: The Collective Attribution piece is receiving the majority of attention in the non-tested subjects.

*For illustration purposes, this chart reflects sample weighting only

Student Assessment in Arts Education: Arts Education Associations and the

Colorado Department of Education – a process

• Colorado Content Collaboratives Project

• Research existing assessments – sources

• Content Collaborative Committees; Technical Steering Committee

• Assessment Review Tool developed by the National Center for

Assessment in partnership with CDE• Assessment Resource Bank

Assessment Review Tool

Assessment Example - Music

Assessment Example - Drama

Assessment Example - Dance

Assessment Example – Visual Arts

Denver Public Schools Peer Observer Process

• DPS hires and trains experienced Peer Observers in all disciplines. Requirements include extensive training and evaluating in the LEAP process, teaching certification and endorsement in the subject area, ELA professional development, a minimum of 5 years teaching experience in an urban setting, experience with increasing student achievement, experience in supporting and developing practice of other teachers, etc.

• DPS has 1 .5 Peer Observers in Visual Art and 2 in Performing Arts. Each educator is observed twice during the year, with an accompanying collaborative feedback session and assigned ratings. In tandem with the principal’s observations/evaluations, this becomes the core of the educator’s yearly evaluation (the 50% Professional Practices).

Finding from the 2012 EdTA-Utah State Survey of Theatre Education in United States High Schools

Almost all participating administrators (99 %) indicated that teachers were evaluated directly by the school principal

Assistant school administrators were involved with evaluation (39%), as were department chairs (10%)

Schools rarely used peer assessment (3%) or student assessment (2%)

“Is theatre teacher evaluation linked at least in part to test scores or other assessments of student achievement?

“How well trained do you feel you are in each of the following areas (based on education and experience)?

College, Career, and Citizenship Readiness Coalition (CCCRC)Consensus Statement on Teacher Evaluation to Senate HELP

Committee

Each student deserves access to highly effective teachers in every subject. In turn, all teachers deserve a fair and accurate assessment of their skills. Teacher effectiveness is dependent on accurate and fair evaluations based on multiple measures, including their students’ performance in the subjects they teach.

What are your questions?

Here are some to get you started…

What is a Student Learning Objective (SLO)?

How is teacher evaluation in an arts classroom

different than in other academic areas?

What kind of differentiated teacher evaluation tools should

be employed in the arts?

What kind of evaluation practices are going on in your states, districts, and classrooms?

Who is doing your evaluation and with

what frequency?

What percentage of your evaluation is based on student achievement in tested subject areas?

What percentage your evaluation is based on

observation? How much on student growth measures?

What is the relationship between SLOs, rubrics, and

standards?

Have you received any training around newly mandated evaluations?

Do you think that your evaluation is a fair assessment of your teaching?

Has the recent emphasis on student assessment and its

effect on educator evaluation caused you to shift your instructional

practices in the classroom?  If so, in what way?

How would you evaluate this session (just kidding)?

Thank you for listening and sharing!