The Hawaii State Department of Education has expanded its teacher evaluation pilot program for the 2012-13 school year.
The DOE is currently piloting the program in 18 schools in the Zones of School Innovation (Nanakuli-Waianae and Kau-Keaau-Pahoa complex areas).
The DOE is adding 63 schools that volunteered to join the pilot program, bringing the total number of schools to 81 in the next school year.
The pilot program includes input from teachers, principals and administrators.
The proposed evaluation system includes four research-based tools, all geared to generate greater feedback to support teachers. This evaluation system would use:
· A common observational process adapted from Charlotte Danielson’s well-recognized instructional model
· A student survey, which offers detailed feedback on how each teacher’s instruction is perceived by the students in their classroom
· A model that measures student academic growth relative to their peers with similar academic history (this measure is not the federal requirement of proficiency, but rather measuring where students began at the start of the year, and the growth they demonstrated over the course of the year) and;
· Student learning objectives, using a rigorous process where teachers set planned goals, based on the content standards, for what students will learn over a given time period. (The objectives would be driven by a thorough review of available data reflecting students’ baseline skills, and reflect collaboration and consultation with colleagues and administrators).
The State of Hawaii received $75 million in federal Race to the Top funding to pursue a number of ambitious education reforms in August 2010. The State’s Race to the Top application committed to expand the pilot program by an additional 40 schools in the 2012-13. The complex areas and schools participating in the pilot program will test the components of the new system, and provide critical feedback on how to refine and improve it prior to statewide implementation in the 2013-14 school year. For more information about Hawaii’s new teacher evaluation pilot program, log onto: hawaiidoereform.org/Teachers-and-Leaders.
See the original article at: KHON2 Developing Stories
