Success Factor 3: Developing a local designation system
Key Practice A
Key Practice A: Stakeholder engagement in building a local designation plan
Success Criteria
- District engagement
- Stakeholder groups include, at minimum, teachers, principals, community members, and school board members
- District conducts extensive outreach and robust stakeholder input in order to develop:
- A thoroughly vetted system to designate highly effective teachers
- A clear plan that details the compensation highly effective teachers would receive
- District leadership and school board members can articulate the local designation system
- District gathers teacher feedback on the local designation system annually via focus groups, surveys, etc.
- Campus engagement
- Annually, all campuses provide time at the beginning of the school year to review the district’s local designation system with teachers, with additional support provided for new teachers
- Principals are thoroughly trained and informed on all aspects of the designation plan
- Principals play a key role in implementing and gathering feedback on the plan
- Community engagement
- District has a mechanism in place by which to gauge community buy-in
- Prior to the data capture year, district will publish public-facing documents, including a list of FAQs, clearly outlining their local designation system
- Multiple opportunities are available for the larger school community to gather information such as webinars, PD sessions, website, etc.
Descriptive Indicators
- The highest and best purpose of an evaluation system is supporting teacher growth and ensuring that students are taught by high quality teachers. It is important for district leadership to give a detailed presentation highlighting the “why” for the strategic evaluation initiative to all stakeholder groups, including how they envision implementing the changes to the evaluation system within the district; allowing plenty of time for questions and mutual understanding. Doing this on the front end will avoid conflicts down the road when implementation of program components begins
- It is important to remember that teachers and principals will be the ones implementing the evaluation system every day and so district leaders need to engage them continuously to build buy-in, understanding and get feedback on what’s working and what could be improved. Districts that have led change successfully have done so after significant stakeholder engagement and can honestly say that stakeholder input drove the changes
Best Practices
- Identify key voices to include in system development and implementation planning teams
- Sponsorship is not an appointment, sponsors are those who people look to for direction, and who deliver clear and credible messages
- Identify sponsors from the bottom-up, start with the most impacted stakeholders, and identify who can deliver to them a credible communication and gather feedback
- Cascade sponsorship from the top-down, all sponsors are targets first and must be enrolled and committed before they can enroll their direct reports
- Create engagement calendar/workplan, aligning feedback loops with system development and implementation
- Create feedback channels beyond events, including FAQs and email/phone contacts
- Change management and communication is critical for districts implementing a value-added measure (VAM)
- Educators may already have some assumptions, or misconceptions, around VAM so it is important that district’s provide clear communication and information to leaders and educators
- Simple, continuous messaging, discussions, and participation; this includes messaging about the TIA, timeline of implementation, next steps in the evaluation cycle, and gathering input and feedback along the way to identify improvement areas
- Networked and two-way, with active listening & acknowledgement (e.g., focus groups or change program hotline)
Lessons Learned
- The framing and messaging around changing the evaluation system and the evaluation system in general should never focus on judging, sorting or getting rid of the worst teachers
- One of the biggest mistakes leaders can make is assuming that teachers, school leaders and parents will quickly get on board with changes to evaluation systems. Change can create discomfort or cause confusion and the growth measures in particular can be very hard to understand
Resources
Toolkit includes an overview of how to leverage evaluation data, the components of a strategic evaluation system, how the system has been implemented in districts to date, and key takeaways from district leaders and researchers at multiple districts. | |
Toolkit includes information on creating meaningful stakeholder engagement. Particular focus on Section III, Plan the Stakeholder Engagement for the change. | |
Created by TeachPlus, resources for creating meaningful stakeholder engagement, centered around TIA. |
Key Practice B
Key Practice B: Teacher engagement
Success Criteria
- District gathers and considers teacher input throughout the development of the local designation plan and continues to gather teacher feedback on the plan once it is in use
- District employs a method to ensure clear teacher understanding of the local designation system, such as teacher surveys or teacher interviews
- Information sessions are held annually specifically to inform teachers and gather input as part of a continuous improvement cycle
- Teacher leaders play a key role in implementing and gathering feedback on the plan
Descriptive Indicators
- The range of teacher experiences and perspectives should be evident and woven throughout the fabric of the plan from inception through implementation. There should be an ongoing process of inclusion to solicit and utilize teacher feedback on how the range of designations can impact teachers
Planning your teacher engagement practice
- Begin planning your TIA Teacher Advisory Cabinet and teacher engagement effort six to 12 months before your application is due. While this timeline can be flexible to meet the needs of the district, it is important to leave ample time for focus groups, surveys, and rigorous analysis of those important inputs from teachers throughout your district. Below is a sample timeline:
- (i) Recruitment & Selection of the TIA Teacher Advisory Cabinet: 1 month
- (ii) Preparing for Teacher Focus Groups & Survey: 1 month
- (iii) Teacher Focus Groups & Survey: 6 weeks
- (iv) Data Analysis, Recommendations & Presentation: 1 month
- Some districts have found it useful to engage with stakeholders about the components of the local designation system (which observation rubric to use, which student growth measure to use, what other components are important, etc.) first and then subsequently engage about the compensation piece (how much will flow to the designated teacher, when will the compensation be received, etc.). In order to do this using this system, you would select the TIA Advisory Cabinet and then conduct the data collection, analysis, and presentation timeline (steps 2-4) for the designation system and then again for the associated compensation
Recruiting the TIA teacher advisor cabinet
- Using an application process for the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) Teacher Advisory Cabinet ensures that the cabinet is composed of teachers best suited for the work and also allows the district to ensure that a variety of teachers from various grade levels, contents, and neighborhoods are represented. We recommend that you pay each Cabinet member a stipend for their time and effort
- Here are a set of sample application questions and a sample application review process
Implementing the TIA teacher engagement process
- You should begin the process by conducting two meetings to train the Teacher Advisory Cabinet on the components of the TIA and design the focus group protocol and teacher survey, and help Advisory Cabinet members prepare to lead focus groups
- Following these preparation meetings, the Teacher Advisory Cabinet members should lead focus groups with teachers across the district, and the district should administer a survey to all teachers via emailHere are suggested agendas for the Teacher Advisory Cabinet meetings and a sample slide deck for the first meeting of the Cabinet.
- Here is a sample of the types of focus group/survey questions you may use (though the questions should be reviewed by the Cabinet to ensure they fit your district’s needs)
Analyzing the data, determining recommendations, & presenting to decision makers
- Once the focus groups and surveys are complete, the district should conduct two-to-three meetings to train the teachers to analyze the data, determine recommendations, and prepare their presentation. Once the Cabinet has analyzed the data and finalized their recommendations, the Cabinet should present their recommendations regarding the design of the TIA Plan to the district decision-makers
- Here is a Data Analysis Worksheet that Teacher Advisory Cabinet members can use to analyze the open-ended responses from the focus group questionnaire and the district-wide teacher survey. Here is a template that the teachers can use to present their recommendations and rationale
Best Practices
- Teacher leaders should be identified across campuses, disciplines and grade levels to serve as representatives to be engaged in this district-wide process; the teacher leaders should be representative of the overall teaching staff in terms of years of service, subject area, race/ethnicity, age, and gender
- Frequency of engagement for teacher representatives should be regular and integral to the process
- Teacher understandings can be validated through a range of mechanisms, including teacher surveys, town halls and campus-based focus groups
Lessons Learned
- Teacher representatives should be included in development teams and ongoing improvement teams. As representatives of their peers, those selected should be primed with the understanding that their role is dually to speak on behalf of their peers, in addition to providing their own unique understanding and perspective to how decisions and plans are shaped
Resources
Grand Prairie ISD’s TIA website | |
Toolkit includes information on creating meaningful stakeholder engagement. Particular focus on Section III, Plan the Stakeholder Engagement for the change. | |
Created by TeachPlus, resources for creating meaningful stakeholder engagement, centered around TIA. |
Key Practice C
Key Practice C: Timeline to develop plan
Success Criteria
- District engages in extensive planning and preparation over the course of at least one school year prior to implementation of the local designation plan
Descriptive Indicators
- High-level framework of the questions a district will address in the development of their Teacher Incentive Allotment plan
- (i) Who will be eligible?
- Phased in approach – begin with subset of teachers and campuses
- All certified teachers in a PEIMS code 087
- (ii) What measurements do you have available to include in student achievement?
- Current student achievement/student growth measures
- Student growth measures that could be added
- (iii) What steps do you need to strengthen teacher observation calibration?
- Keep current rubric or develop new observation rubric? Recommend T-TESS or Danielson
- Calibration sessions with school leadership team to develop district definitions of excellence
- Additional training for evaluators/teachers, including coaching/feedback conversations
- Development of exemplar videos
- Calibration walks with administrative teams on campus>Calibration walks with cross-district teams
- (i) Who will be eligible?
- High-level framework of the questions a district will address in the development of their Teacher Incentive Allotment plan (cont.):
- (iv) How will you weigh each component in overall evaluation?
- We recommend that student achievement be at least 30%. With many selecting 35%.
- Observations range from 50–60%
- Additional components – TEA allows you to consider optional measures to include for determining who to put forward for the designation
- Teacher leadership roles
- Professional development
- School-wide growth measure
- Teacher attendance
- (v) How will you determine who will be put forward for the state designations?
- (vi) How will you distribute the funds for teachers who earn the designation?
- HB3 requires 90% to be used for teacher compensation for teachers on that campus, but there is local flexibility for what/how this will look
- (iv) How will you weigh each component in overall evaluation?
Best Practices
- Create Core Team. Include members from the following departments:
- Superintendent cabinet – LEAD for Teacher Incentive Allotment
- Human resources–Budget/Finance
- School leadership
- Evaluation & assessment
- Communications
- Hold the ambition & intent workshop and the commitment workshop
- Create a standing meeting for a minimum of 2 months
- Create sub-committees, using the frame of the TIA application to identify committee areas
- Create a calendar to break-down interim targets & to identify stakeholder engagement sessions
- Create process to identify sponsors from the bottom-up, start with the most impacted stakeholders, and identify who can deliver to them a credible communication and gather feedback
Lessons Learned
- Develop a common understanding for your district’s “why” to ground the work
- Start with the questions outlined above to create frame for the district approach for TIA
- Leverage sub-committees to ensure work is distributed across team members
Resources
Sample high-level timeline for districts considering strengthening their existing Teacher Evaluation System. | |
Sample high-level workplan for districts pursuing Teacher Incentive Allotment, Fall start date. | |
Sample high-level TIA application sub-committee plan. |
Key Practice D
Key Practice D: Resources, policies and frameworks
Success Criteria
- The district provides resources for its local designation system including:
- Written guidelines for: a) all aspects of the teacher appraisal system, b) how the allotment money fits in with the district’s current salary schedule, c) timelines for teacher payout, and d) specific guidelines for student growth measures
- A website with clearly accessible information both for district staff and the public
- Detailed resource manuals for teachers, campus and district leaders, and other interested stakeholders
Descriptive Indicators
- Creating clear resources, tools and policies outlining the Teacher Incentive Allotment is an important step in building the transparency and trust in this program. Although this is a state initiative, there is a great deal of local control in determining the context and application. Providing the resources to help teachers and other district personnel (including board members and campus leaderships) is an important step in implementing a program
- This work should include the communications department, budget department as well as the human resources/employee relations
Best Practices
- Identify a lead from the communications department for this work stream•Include a lead from the employee relations department for this work stream
- Include a lead from the budget department for this work stream•Start the development of communication materials as you begin your district development of the Teacher Incentive Allotment
- A separate webpage to house Teacher Incentive Allotment information makes it easy to find for all stakeholders and allows for district to continue to add resources as developed
- Clear information on the system, including rules, policies and timeline, should be available and communicated to teachers and evaluators prior to the start of each evaluation cycle
- Include the communications lead in the system development meetings, to build a deeper understanding of the program and to help shape the messaging throughout the process
- Include human resources/employee relations in the system development meetings to ensure design is in compliance with state and local policies and to identify needed modifications to local policies•Include the budget department in the system development meetings to ensure design of the payout schedule is financially sustainable for the district
- Compensation information on the TIA should be included in the annual compensation handbook
- District should develop policies regarding impact to the teacher’s TIA payout when a change in assignment required by the district and/or campus that may result in a lower TIA award or movement to a position that is not TIA eligible
- District should develop policies regarding transfer policies: Will movement outside of the transfer window be allowed? Will a position on a campus with a higher TIA payout equal a promotion? Do you need guidelines for competition/recruitment within district for TIA designated teachers
- District should revisit DK, assignment & schedules policy. Is there alignment with the modifications made to the evaluation system, to the TIA identification process
- District should develop policies regarding TIA submission: Will you require the teacher to still be employed with your district to be submitted for TIA? Is there a minimum number of days to be eligible for consideration, late hires, extended leaves of absence be addressed? Will you require that they still be in a teaching role? Will you have an appeal process? Or use existing grievance policy
Lessons Learned
- Develop a common understanding for your district’s “why” to ground the work
- Start with the questions outlined above to create frame for the district approach for TIA
- Leverage sub-committees to ensure work is distributed across team members
Resources
Dallas ISD’s TIA website | |
Grand Prairie ISD’s TIA website | |
San Antonio ISD’s TIA website |