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The proposed rules for the
"State Performance Evaluation
Model for Teachers" can be
found
These rules have
passed through JCAR and are
currently waiting ISBE Board
approval. PERA rules require
that a Joint Committee,
consisting of an equal number
of teachers and administrators,
be formed by November 1 of the
year prior to the District's PERA
Implementation date. This Joint
Committee has 180 days to come to agreement on all
issues related to use student growth for teacher
performance-based evaluation purposes.
I have copied all the changes and additions to the
Part 50 Rules in this communication. I highly
recommend that all administrators read these rules
closely. Prior to the text of the rules I will try to
summarize some of the most important new rules.
Educators have generally been referring to the
PERA rules that require agreement to be the State
Default Rules. These are now titled the "State
Performance Evaluation Model for Teachers."
In general, the PERA Joint Committee needs to
decide all issues related to student growth for teacher
evaluation purposes. The committee will have to
decide the following:
The percentage of student growth for teacher
evaluation must be at least 30 percent (can be 25
percent first two years of implementation) and no
more than 50 percent. The default is 50 percent.
What type of assessments should be used? The
performance evaluation plan shall identify at least two
types of assessments for evaluating each category of
teacher (e.g., career and technical education), grade
and one or more measurement models to be used to
determine student growth that are specific to each
assessment chosen.
The evaluation plan shall include the use of at
least one Type I or Type II assessment and at least
one Type III assessment.
The joint committee shall identify the specific
Type I or Type II assessment to be used for each
category of teacher.
The evaluation plan shall require that at least
one Type III assessment be used for each category of
teacher. If the joint committee determines that neither
a Type I nor a Type II assessment can be "identified,"
then the evaluation plan shall require that at least two
Type III assessments be used.
The Part 50 Rules require that a type of
assessment must be "identified" by the PERA Joint
Committee. ISBE has defined identified to mean two
different things: 1) there are no assessments
available, thus for the teacher(s) there is no
assessment to identify or 2) identified = agreed upon.
There may be assessments available, but the joint
committee cannot come to agreement.
How will a PERA Joint Committee determine the
type of assessment? The first thing the committee
should do is complete an inventory by category of
teacher, of what Type I, II and III assessments the
district is presently using. The committee will then
need to decide on what Types each category of
teacher will be responsible to use. If the committee
cannot agree there is a defined conflict resolution
process described in the rules.
What are Student Learning Objectives (SLO's)
and does every PERA Joint Committee have to
require SLO's? SLO is a process for the teacher to
arrive at an assessment to be used for student growth
evaluation purposes. There is no requirement that the
committee must choose SLO's but if there is no
agreement the default model contains an SLO.
What does the SLO process specifically require?
The ISBE prepared template for SLO's requires 1) a
list of the student population whose achievement will
be measured; 2) a description of the learning goal; 3)
standards related to the learning goal; 4) a description
of the assessments and scoring procedures
established that measures the student understanding
of the learning goal; 5) identification of growth
expectations established at the beginning of the SLO;
6) identification of adjustments made to the identified
growth expectations at the midpoint of the SLO
process; 7) documentation of the number or
percentage of students who achieved the identified
growth expectations; 8) an explanation of how the
qualified evaluator translates the number or
percentage of students who achieved the identified
growth expectations into a final student growth rating;
and 9) a final growth rating assigned at the conclusion
of the SLO process.
Can the growth expectation be changed at the
midpoint? There is no rule prohibiting the changing of
the growth expectation at the midpoint.
How does the PERA Joint Committee assess the
different ability levels of students? ISBE recommends
in the default model that the committee use a value
Elements of the state student growth default plan
Dr. Richard Voltz
IASA Professional
Development
