NYC Teacher Data Initiative: An introduction for Principals ESO Focus on Professional Development October 2008.

NYC Teacher Data Initiative: An introduction for Principals

ESO Focus on Professional DevelopmentOctober 2008

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Session Objectives for Principals

Become familiar with the new Teacher Data Reports

Consider ways to incorporate this new tool into school-wide professional development

Plan for sharing Teacher Data Reports with teachers

Locate support resources

Take a closer look at two teachers

Read the scenarios

How effective is Ms. Brooks as a teacher? How effective is Mr. Capstone?

What differences, if any, will there be with the students’ ELA scores in January?

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We use an array of instruments to determine teacher and school-wide professional development needs

Classroom observations

Lesson plans

Participation in professional development

Quality of student work products

Student performance on state assessments

No one measure gives us the full story, but the various pieces come together to create a more reliable picture

Areas of convergence and dissonance in our observations are equally useful

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Teacher Data Initiative (TDI) provides a new lens that will soon be available to schools

Purpose: To contribute another lens through which to look at teacher contributions to student learning

Rationale: Teachers make a big difference, and value-added data provides a lens to focus on what teachers bring to students rather than what students bring to the classroom

Framing Question: How might the TDI data tool fit into existing school plans for instructional improvement and professional development?

TDI should not be viewed as a silver bullet, big initiative, or accountability metric that will be forced upon schools. Rather it is a new tool available to principals to incorporate into their larger instructional and professional development plans.

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TVI draws on 10 years of city-wide data (test scores, student, teacher, and school characteristics) to predict individual student gains

The predicted gains are compared to the actual gains for each student to determine the teacher’s contributions or the “value added”

The teacher’s contribution for each student is averaged, and then compared to other 4-8 ELA and Math teachers or rank ordered top 20%, middle 60%, and bottom 30%.

How Teacher Data Works

Predicted Score

Mathematically isolates factors beyond teacher control e.g. prior year

test scores

Predicted Score

Mathematically isolates factors beyond teacher control e.g. prior year

test scores

Teacher Contribution

Factors within teacher control e.g. quality of

instruction & high expectations

Teacher Contribution

Factors within teacher control e.g. quality of

instruction & high expectations

Actual Test Score

Student scores on ELA & Math tests

Actual Test Score

Student scores on ELA & Math tests

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How TDI Works: The Model

Value added for one student

Pro

fici

ency

rat

ing

3rd Grade 4th Grade

3 -

-

2-

PredictedPredicted

Gain

Actual Value Added

Baseline (Previous Year’s) Score

Teacher A

Teacher B

Teacher E

Teacher D

Teacher C

Least Gain

Most Gain

• The “value added is the difference between the predicted and actual scores

• Value added is averaged for all students in a class

• The value added is measured in proficiencies

• TDI orders teacher from least to most gain to determine a percentile rank

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TDI mathematically factors in measurable characteristics to predict student scores

Student characteristics Classroom characteristics School characteristics

Prior year reading

Prior year math

Free or reduced price lunch

Special education status

English Language Learner status

Number of suspensions and absences (prior-year)

Student retained in grade

Attended summer school

New to school

Race

Gender

Prior year teacher

Average prior year reading and math

Percent free or reduced price lunch

Percent special education status

Percent English Language Learner status

Average number of suspensions and absences (prior)

Percent of students retained in grade

Percent attended summer school

Class size

Percent by race

Percent by gender

Average classroom characteristics

Average class size

Total tested by grade/subject

Year starting and ending school

Teacher characteristics

(used when comparing teachers to peer teachers)

Years of experience

Years teaching in the same grade and subject

Principals will receive a summary report and analysis by student subgroups

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Individual teacher reports will also be available for principal use and to share with teachers

Similar to the Progress Reports, TDI compares teachers to the following groups:

1. All teachers on the same grade level, City-wide

2. Peer teachers (similarly situated in terms of teacher experience, and student, school, and classroom characteristics)

0% 25% 50% 75%

2007-08 66% 95%

Last 3 years 69% 92%

100%My percentile (0%-100%)

79%

Range*

81%

My percentile

0% 25% 50% 75%

2007-08 55% 85%

Last 3 years 58% 78%

100%My percentile (0%-100%)

68%

Range*

70%

My percentile

Analyze sample reports to look for trends and consider key questions

Key Questions

What is being taught?

How is it taught?

Are the students learning?

How are teachers learning?

How are resources invested?

Potential Trends

Clumps of teachers scoring low with a particular subgroup

Individual teachers consistently low/high across many groups

Sizeable difference between math and ELA

Similar scores among all teachers on a team or in a grade

Example: Think through a specific trend

School summary report reveals much higher scores on math than ELA

What is being taught?

Is our math curriculum stronger than ELA?

Consult with schools using similar curriculum

How are resources invested?

Are more push-in resources allocated for math?

Teacher report reveals high scores on everything except for ELL students

What is being taught?

Might ELL students require additional instruction

Analyze test items for trends in ELL responses

How is it taught?

Is teacher differentiating instruction?

Analyze quantity and quality of math PD

Request peer observations

Consult with others who have high ELL score

Does this teacher receive adequate ELL Support?

Pair this teacher with ELL coach

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Principals can use TDI in numerous ways, but with some cautions

Potential Uses

> Look for strengths, areas for development, surprises and wonderings

> Emphasize instructional improvement

> Triangulate with other insight Consider factors you know about the teachers

or the classrooms that may not be measurable

> Consider professional development approaches for individual teachers or groups

> Help teachers connect these results with insights from their periodic assessments, student work, and item analysis

> Consider implications for classroom assignment

> Consider implications for curriculum or instructional programs

> Consider implications for staffing needs

> Prioritizing principal observation and coaching

> Inform principal and teacher goal setting

Cautions

> DO NOT Use TDI for teacher evaluation

> Avoid replacing principal judgment and other forms of information

> Not all negative value-added results are bad and all positive results are good

Use the performance ranges to see how strong a positive result is or how weak a negative result is.

Be aware of small sample sizes or few years of data

> Remember to consider context that is not easily measured and not in the model for example:

Push-in/pull-out teachers

AIS services

Life events for teachers, students

School context

> Secure the teacher’s permission before sharing the report with coaches and others

> Consider individual teacher information confidential and thus not sharable available to parents

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Next Steps to Consider

How will use Teacher Data Reports to improve instruction?

How will you involve others within the school?

How can you introduce TDI to your staff?

How can you share individual reports with teachers?

What additional supports might you need?