New statewide teacher evaluations have educators rasing their hands

AURORA | Teachers and administrators from Aurora schools are working to fill in big gaps in a complicated new evaluation system that kicks off next year.

The coming school year will be the last chance for the Aurora Public Schools and Cherry Creek School districts to iron out the details of implementing Senate Bill 191, which fundamentally changed how teachers statewide would be evaluated. The law, passed in 2010, spells out new evaluation standards for teachers and principals; changes the way that new teachers earn tenure; and changes the way that tenured teachers keep their that status.

Three years ago, some of the loudest criticisms from teachers were about the pressure of the pay-for-performance model spelled out under the bill. But those concerns have shifted to another part of the new law, namely in how more than half of a school district’s teachers could be judged under the new system.

“It’s going to be a major shift in thinking,” said Sheryl Cunningham, president of the Cherry Creek Education Association. “It’s going to be this ongoing conversation, and people are struggling a little bit with that idea. There are some teachers who are still concerned about how they’re going to be evaluated.”

The new law spells out a new system for rating teachers and principals, with details to be finalized in the year. Half of an evaluation under the new law is based on “employer” reviews and the other half is based on student test scores. Throughout the year, all teachers (tenured and non-tenured alike), as well as principals, will undergo evaluations by administrators. The results of those evaluations will make up 50 percent of their final assessment, whether they’re given one of four labels ranging from “highly effective” to “ineffective.”

That part of the law is going into effect this year at both districts. The assessments in the coming months won’t count toward anyone’s final evaluation, but the logistics of assessing about 120 licensed teachers in a typical high school will pose its own challenges, according to Amy Nichols, president of the Aurora Public Schools teachers’ union.

“You’ve got a principal and maybe three assistant principals,” said Nichols said. “This is a yearlong process … There aren’t enough administrators in buildings to do evaluations of every licensed teacher every year,” she said, adding that retired APS principals have come back to the district to help evaluate.

But the bigger questions come from the student test scores that makes up the other 50 percent of a teacher or principal’s final rating. Data is likely to come largely from Transitional Colorado Assessment Program test scores, although that part is vague. Whether other student growth figures, SAT and ACT scores figure into the final evaluation hasn’t been determined yet.

“That is one of my concerns. What are the assessments, how are they being used?” said Ryan Silva, principal of Cherry Creek High School. “I’m glad that the district is taking their time; I think that will only help us. My hope is that we’re using a variety of tests, because the flaw with just using the TCAP is that students don’t have as much buy-in,” he said, adding that ACTs and SATs have a direct effect on a student’s college prospects.

But that’s only part of the debate surrounding the data component of the new law. State TCAP tests only include math, writing, reading and science sections for specific grades. Even the SAT and the ACT tests are limited to core subjects. That leaves out many teachers in both districts who don’t focus on those areas, and those questions have become the main focus of teachers and administrators across the state as they enter the final year of the law’s test phase.

“The state and the district are still figuring out what that will look like. That’s still in progress. I think there will be a piece for TCAP, and there will be a piece for growth,” said Starla Pearson, principal of Aurora Frontier K-8. “But 65 percent of our teachers are in classrooms where TCAP is not given — kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade, music, P.E., the school counselor. We’re working hard to figure out what can a body of evidence look like to contribute to that.”

The state sets the bar on standards in subjects including P.E., art and music, but districts have flexibility when it comes to testing those standards. Amy Sommer, a Latin teacher and Foreign Language Department Chair at Cherry Creek High School, has been working with other foreign language teachers across the Cherry Creek district to come up with a way to test for growth.

“All of the foreign language and world language coordinators have been working together, starting in force last year, at creating assessments that we will use. We might be piloting something this year, that’s the goal,” Sommer said. “As it gets defined, if every content area is expected to have its own assessment to demonstrate student growth, we want to be on the front end of that.”

The quality teaching standards spelled out under the law range from vague to highly specific. Teachers get a single score combined from abstract standards such as demonstrating leadership, reflecting on their practice and establishing a safe, inclusive learning environment. At the same time, they receive a single score for specific, quantifiable measures such as student achievement, student test scores and academic growth.

Despite all of those unanswered questions, the criticisms from teachers and principals surrounding the new law has dampened in the past three years. According to Pearson, a lot of that has to do with collaboration within the district, it’s teachers and administrators during the pilot process. Pearson, who’s worked in schools for nearly 30 years, said the focus has shifted to making sure the law does its intended job.

“It always feels a little threatening when something new comes on like this. I think that was probably that initial reaction,” Pearson said. “I think as this state works to build understanding, it’s clear the intention isn’t trying to get rid of teachers. It isn’t trying to get rid of principals.”

Pearson added that the push to make teachers more effective is nothing new.

“There isn’t anything on this rubric that I wouldn’t want to be. There’s nothing that I wouldn’t want every teacher in my building to be,” she said. “We’re still setting high standards … This just kind of changes the way we go about getting those results.”

Reach reporter Adam Goldstein at agoldstein@aurorasentinel.com or 720-449-9707