Student Learning Objectives (SLO) Guidebook 2014-15

2/4/2015

Table of Contents Overview of the Guidebook ……………………………………………………………………………………….………………..3 An Introduction to SLOs …………………………………………………………………………………………….…..……………3 • What is an SLO? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..…….….4 • How can SLOs support teaching excellence? …………………………………….…………..………………5 SLO Process and Timeline ………………………………….……………………….………………………………….…………..6 • Key dates…………………..…………………………………………………………………………….………….………………7 • Roles and responsibilities…………………………………….……….…………………………………………….…...7 o Teachers………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………......7 o Evaluators……………………………………………………………………………………..………………………7 o SLO Ambassadors…………………………………………………………………………….…………………..8 Writing SLOs ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………..8 • Writing an SLO: Step-by-step ……………………………………………………………………….………………..8 Approving SLOs …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………13 Scoring SLOs …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………...15 Special Guidance 1. SLO coverage …………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………….16 2. Assessments………………………………………………………………………………………………….……...………….16 3. New teachers……………………………………………………………………………………………….……….………....17 4. Absenteeism……………………………………………………………………………………………….………….…….....17 5. Mobility/late arrivers……………………………………………………………………………………….…….……….17 6. Change in teacher assignment……………………………………………………………………….…….……..….17 7. Teachers assigned to multiple schools…………………………………………….……….…………...........18 8. Teachers of low contact hours……………………………………………….……………………….……….….....18 9. Special education teachers ……………………………………………………….………………………….…….….18 10. Adaptive Physical Education teachers…………………………….……………………………………………..18 SLO Tools and Resources • TSS resources …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………18 • City Schools contacts …………………………………………………………………………………………………….18 Appendices • Appendix A: SLO Assessment Table ………………………………………………….……………………………...19 • Appendix B: Special Education Guidance …………………………………………….…………………………..28 • Appendix C: SLO Template ……………………………………………..…………………….……………………..……30 • Appendix D: SLO Approval Rubric………………………………..……………………….……………..………….32 • Appendix E: SLO Ambassador Job Description…………..……………………….……………..………….34

2|Page

Overview of the Guidebook Baltimore City Public Schools is implementing a new evaluation for teachers, the Teacher Effectiveness Evaluation, to ensure excellent teaching and learning in every classroom. As a part of this new system, City Schools plans to use Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) to help measure student growth for teachers in tested and non-tested grades and subjects, beginning in the 2014-15 school year. In 2013-14 the field test focused on the SLO process, and as a result, most teachers in the district are familiar with the creation and submission process. In 2014-15, teachers will draft one SLO that will comprise 35% of their annual evaluation. The purpose of this document is to provide background and guidance for teachers and evaluators for the 2014-15 SLO process.

An Introduction to SLOs Student learning is the most important measure of the success of a teacher, a school and our district. It is our central mission. A key part of improving student learning is setting clear, measurable learning goals for students, and educators throughout our district already engage in this process. Individual teachers do this as a matter of good practice, teams of teachers are setting SMART goals, and special education teachers are setting IEP goals, to name a few examples. Student Learning Objectives are intended to reinforce this good practice that many educators already embrace, in which teachers examine their students’ strengths and areas for growth early in the year, set individual and group goals for students, and gauge their growth over the year toward those goals. SLOs simply formalize this practice. They also help guide data-driven instruction, provide an anchor for collaborative planning and promote student-learning focused dialog between teachers and their evaluators. Once SLOs are fully implemented, it is City Schools’ expectation that, as a part of the Teacher Effectiveness Evaluation, SLOs will: • Support teachers and school leaders in using student performance data to drive instruction and school improvement; • Collect information about how educators affect student growth and achievement; • Promote rigorous expectations for students and as practitioners, set ambitious learning targets; • Provide immediate feedback to educators on professional progress and practice; • Provide data to alert teachers and school leaders when students are not making adequate progress during the school year and help identify appropriate interventions; and

3|Page

•

Provide additional data to help identify practitioners’ individual strengths and weaknesses.

What is an SLO? Student Learning Objective (SLO): A specific, long-term goal for student learning, customized to a teacher’s particular students. SLOs are designed to both support instruction and measure student growth for teacher evaluation. SLO goal-setting starts with teachers reviewing baseline data of students and setting a growth goal based on the data in collaboration with their administrator(s). Educators can measure progress towards the goal using multiple types of assessments or measures such as performance tasks, portfolios, course exams or interim assessments, among others. SLOs may be written to address an entire class or multiple classes of students; they may include goals that are tailored to address small groups or even individual students, depending upon teachers’ assignments and the needs of the students they serve.

Based on data about the teacher’s current students

Collaborative with colleagues and school leaders

Aligned to current curriculum standards

…an instructional goal …for specific students …for a specific time interval

SLOs should be based on highFocused on the Specific and quality assessments in order for the most valuable measurable learning process to yield accurate or meaningful results. City Schools has identified or recommended quality assessments for most courses and content areas for which teachers’ SLOs will be written. This will ensure consistency across the district and reduce the burden of assessment design and selection on teachers and evaluators. Educators will customize the SLOs to reflect the starting places of their students.

4|Page

SLOs can be summarized with simple statements that describe what students will know and be able to do at the end of the course. SLOs are most powerful when they address the most important learning goals for the most important part of a teacher’s course load, and when they are developed in collaboration with colleagues and the evaluator to assure alignment with school and district learning goals. Below are some examples of SLO student learning targets. Additional content specific SLOs will be available to use as reference.

• • • •

Grade 4 ELA: 75% of students will correctly answer 75% of Literacy Interim 3 assessment questions addressing standards 1 or 2. Grade 5 Math: 60% of students will score proficient or advanced as measured by the Interim 3 assessment. World History: 12 of 20 students will score 70% or higher as measured by the middle of course assessment. Grade 3 Writing: 5% of students earn a score of a 3 or 4 in the area of ideas/research, as identified by the Explorations in nonfiction writing rubric.

How Can SLOs Support Teaching Excellence? The process of setting goals, monitoring progress against those goals and evaluating performance is strong instructional practice. SLOs promote these strong practices across school and districts. Additional benefits include: • SLOs promote reflective and collaborative teaching practice. Rich discussions about student learning that occur during and after SLO development can improve instruction. These discussions happen between teachers and their evaluators and among teachers in a grade-level or content area. • Teachers perceive SLOs as relevant and empowering as compared to schoolwide measures of student growth. The SLO process allows principals and teachers to influence how teachers are evaluated and design learning objectives that are customized to the context of each teacher’s course and students. • SLOs promote aligned curriculum, assessment and standards. The SLO process typically requires teachers and principals to identify the standards of focus and to map out how assessment(s) will measure progress against those standards. In designing an SLO, a teacher must consider how his or her curriculum and instructional strategies will help students meet the standards.

5|Page

•

SLOs are adaptable to any teacher. Teachers of all grades and subjects can demonstrate their impact on student learning with SLOs because SLOs do not rely solely on standardized assessments.

SLO Process and Timeline Whether a staff member writes an SLO or not is based on the staff member’s job title. The BTU Evaluation by Job Title document is available as an addendum to this document. Teachers may confer with one another, with their evaluator, and with the SLO Ambassadors at their school as they prepare their SLO for submission. Teachers will submit their SLO to their evaluator for review and approval by. Evaluators can request revisions as needed to ensure that the SLO meets quality standards (See Approving SLOs below) and will approve the SLO once they’ve determined it has met these standards. Evaluators must ensure that all SLOs are approved in TSS by. By March 31, 2015, teachers will present the evidence of their students’ growth to their evaluators. Evaluators will in-turn assign a rating to each SLO, based on the scoring plan included in each SLO by April 15, 2015. Below is an overview of the SLO process for 2014-15 as well as a chart with key dates. Please note that SLOs will be included as a part a teacher’s composite score for their evaluations in the 2014-15 school year under the Teacher Effectiveness Evaluation. Key Dates for the 2014-15 SLO Process

6|Page

Key 2014-15 SLO Process Dates Teacher submission of SLO for evaluator approval

February 19, 2015

SLO review and approval window for evaluators

February 19 - March 9, 2015

SLO approval deadline

March 9, 2015

Progress monitoring of SLO by teacher

March 9 - 31, 2015

Submission of final SLO to administrator for scoring

March 31, 2015

SLO review and scoring window*

March 20 – April 15, 2015

* Dates are contingent on the Office of Achievement and Accountability’s data reporting deadlines to MSDE

Roles and Responsibilities for the 2014-15 SLO Process Teachers Teachers hold primary responsibility for ensuring that their SLO addresses the most important learning goals for their course load within the limited timeline. Teachers are responsible for:  Collecting and reviewing baseline data for their students;  Drafting an SLO per the guidance and submitting to evaluator by February 19, 2015;  Working with their evaluator to have their SLO approved by March 9, 2015;  Presenting and reflecting on the evidence of their students’ progress toward the targets set in the SLOs by March 31, 2015. Evaluators Evaluators hold primary responsibility for assuring the quality of Student Learning Objectives. Each participating principal or evaluator is responsible for: • Collaborating with participating teachers and approving SLOs by March 9, 2015; • Reviewing data and scoring teachers’ SLOs by April 15, 2015; and • Discussing the results and progress on teachers’ SLOs as well as implications for next year by June 2015. SLO Ambassadors In order to build capacity across the district at each school, every school has one or two SLO Ambassadors. Similar to 2013-14, SLO Ambassadors will become school-based experts on the SLO process, and along with principals and assistant principals, will help teachers at their school understand and participate in the new process. Unlike principals and assistant principals, however, SLO Ambassadors will again serve in a non-evaluative role. Each SLO Ambassador will be responsible for: • Actively participating in related professional development and training; • Supporting teachers in the initial preparation of their SLO;

7|Page

• • •

Providing ongoing support as needed to teachers (e.g., analyzing SLO-related data, discussing instructional strategies); Supporting teachers as they prepare for the final submission of their SLO data; and Providing ongoing feedback to the district about the SLO process.

Writing SLOs While SLOs will vary from teacher to teacher and course to course, all teachers can follow these basic steps to write strong SLOs:

Writing an SLO: Step-by-Step The table below includes step-by-step instructions for completing the SLO template for 2014-15: SLO Component Guidance for 2014-15 1. Basic Information This should match the name on a teacher’s payroll stub. • Teacher This should match the employee identification number on a teacher’s payroll stub. • Employee ID #

8|Page

SLO Component • School • School # • Subject • Grade Level(s) • # of Students Addressed by SLO • Interval of Instruction 2. Standards Addressed by the SLO

3. Assessment

Guidance for 2014-15 For teachers who serve multiple schools, this should match the teacher’s primary or “payroll” school. This should correspond with the teacher’s primary or “payroll” school. This should match the official title of the course as listed in SMS. An SLO should typically cover only one grade level, but in certain cases it may be appropriate for the SLO to cover multiple grades. Before articulating a specific objective, teachers should identify the students to whom the target will apply. SLOs may be set for entire classes of students or multiple sections of the same course in order to cover the largest number of students possible. Teachers should indicate if they teach year-long, semester-long, or trimester courses. Teachers should define the content that is most important for students to learn during their time with them. In making this determination, teachers should prioritize content aligned to the Maryland College and Career Readiness Standards (MCCRS), wherever possible. They may also look to other international, national, state, local or industry standards in identifying the content that students should learn. Other guidance for completing this section of the template include: • List specific standards (number and title; should include short descriptor sentence and not just the standard number and title) that will have been met/mastered if the SLO is achieved. City Schools is especially interested in seeing MCCRS listed when appropriate • Address critical content, skills or knowledge necessary for advancement to future coursework o That is, if students do not master these standards, they will not be able to progress to the next level o Only list content standards that are tied to the critical content addressed by the SLO The selection of assessments is a crucial component of an SLO. These measures enable teachers, teacher teams and evaluators to determine master toward and attainment of the learning target in the SLO. An assessment can be any measure that allows students to demonstrate what they know and can do, such as a final exam, performance task, portfolio or standardized test (except PARCC, MSAs, HSAs). Teachers are encouraged to consult City Schools’ list of recommendations for content and assessments in Appendix A (SLO Assessment Table) and select an assessment from this list for their grade and content area. If City Schools has not recommended an assessment for a particular course, then teachers and evaluators should agree on the most appropriate assessment, given the content being taught and the needs of the students being assessed. Like the SLO itself, identified assessments should be aligned to the relevant content standards and key concepts for the course, be rigorous and challenging for students, and provide clear, objective measures of success. Assessments should answer the question: “How

9|Page

SLO Component

Guidance for 2014-15 will I know if my students have learned the key content?” Examples of assessments that may be appropriate for SLOs include: • Approved course exams • Subject- or grade-level specific district-created tests • Standardized assessments used in one or more schools o PARCC, MSAs, and HSAs are not acceptable as the results from these assessments arrive after evaluation deadlines • CTE industry exams • Performance-based assessments, such as presentations, projects or tasks scored with a rubric • Major course projects, such as research papers • Portfolios of student work scored by an approved rubric • Teacher-created assessments: If no other assessments are available, City Schools recommends that assessments be created in teacher or district teams following the guidance below and the valuable guidance in other assessment resources. Whenever possible, individual teachers should not create assessments

4. Baseline Data

Below is guidance for appropriate assessments for SLOs. Assessments should: • Be aligned to MCCRS, international, national, state, local or industryrecognized standards and to the SLO learning target (meaning that the assessments measure the skills or content addressed by the SLO) • Address the full range of topics and skills included in the SLO • Include a sufficient number of test items • Incorporate test items that vary in levels of difficulty • Include a variety of assessment types (e.g., multiple choice and open-ended responses) • Be appropriate for the length of instruction listed for the SLO • Be realistic in terms of the time required for administration • Be developed collaboratively, if teacher-created Once teachers know what they will be assessing students on and how, they should gather baseline data about where students are starting. This will help the teacher set optimal targets and effectively plan instruction. Baseline data may be gathered in a number of ways. Teachers identify students’ baselines by considering a variety of data sources including skill inventories, submitted student work, diagnostic assessments, and performance in class. Teachers should determine with their evaluators and colleagues the most appropriate method of gathering baseline data. Other tips for collecting baseline data include: • Baseline data can be collected from: o Assessments o In-class assignments o Observations • If the course/subject is a continuation from the another year/semester,

10 | P a g e

SLO Component

5. Student Learning Target

Guidance for 2014-15 previous data would be relevant • Include any additional student data or background information used in setting the target (e.g., ESOL status, Special Education incidence) • Break down the data and look for performance patterns or groupings Be sure to attach your roster and relevant baseline data to the SLO when you submit it to your evaluator for review. The SLO should state a specific target for student achievement. The target should be ambitious but achievable, given the teacher’s students’ baseline data • “AMBITIOUS” can be determined by past performance of students, a year’s growth, or percentage of students who attain mastery • “ACHIEVABLE” can be determined by the baseline data for current students as well as performance of past students on the assessment Types of Targets

Examples of targets: • Growth, tiered target: o Grade 2 ELA  80% of students will meet their tiered growth goals:  Students who read on or above proficient on the BOY TRC assessment will increase from__(a)___% to _(d)__% as measured by March progress monitoring.  __(b)___% of students read below proficiency on BOY TRC. _(e)___% of these students will read on or above proficient as measured by March progress monitoring.  Students reading far below proficiency on BOY TRC will decrease from _(c)__% to _(f)__% as measured by March progress monitoring.

11 | P a g e

SLO Component

Guidance for 2014-15 • Mastery, group target: o Engineering Design and Development Working in teams, all students will design and develop an original solution to a valid open-ended problem by applying the engineering design process. My goal is for all 11 students to receive an 80% or higher rating in each of the following components:  Creating a problem statement and justification  Research on current and past solutions  Designing, developing and testing a prototype  Documenting process and outcome  Juried presentation City Schools is focused on mastery goals for most content areas except K-4 DIBELS/TRC. Teachers may write tiered goals if they have appropriate baseline data to group students into tiers and feel comfortable writing tiered goals. SLO Hazards These common errors make an SLO unscorable:

6. Rationale for SLO

In the rationale section, the teacher should explain why he/she picked the objective, and how it: • Addresses critical content or skills and • Is appropriate for the students and the instructional interval

7. Potential Instructional Strategies to Reach Objective 8. Potential Progress Monitoring Strategies 9. Scoring Plan

The teacher should give his/her evaluator an idea of what he/she thinks are their most effective and targeted instructional strategies to reach the objective, and should make these strategies as content-specific as possible. The teacher should describe interim assessments and other progress checks he/she will use during the school year/semester to see whether students are on track to meet their stated target. Below are guidelines for developing the achievement ranges in the scoring plan: • Start with FULL ATTAINMENT: It should range from your SLO target at the low end up to 9 percentage points above that level for students who exceeded (except for tiered targets) • Then complete EXCEPTIONAL ATTAINMENT: Range will be 10 percentage points above full attainment up to 100%

12 | P a g e

SLO Component

Guidance for 2014-15 • Now complete PARTIAL ATTAINMENT: This range starts 10 percentage points below full attainment and goes up to just below full attainment • INSUFFICIENT ATTAINMENT comes last: Zero to just below partial attainment Example: A target of 80% of students reaching the target would have achievement ranges of the following: • Level 1 (Insufficient Attainment): Zero to 69% • Level 2 (Partial Attainment): 70% - 79% (because 10 percentage points below 80% is 70%) • Level 3 (Full Attainment): 80% - 89% • Level 4 (Exceptional Attainment): 90% - 100% (because 10 percentage points above 80% is 90%) In addition, it helps to cite the number and percent of students in each category.

Approving SLOs While SLOs may look different across classrooms, schools and other districts, strong SLOs have a few key characteristics in common: • • •

They prioritize content that is aligned to Common Core State Standards, international, national, state, local or industry-recognized standards; They identify a high-quality assessment to measure student progress; and They articulate rigorous, but reasonable, expectations for student growth.

Teachers will submit their SLOs by February 19, 2015 to their evaluator for approval by uploading the completed SLO template into TSS along with the supporting documentation. The evaluator will make sure the SLO is complete and that it is sensible for the teacher and his/her students, and most importantly, the evaluator will apply the SLO Approval Rubric to each submitted SLO. It asks a set of questions about the SLO. For the SLO to be approved, the evaluator must be able to answer every question in the affirmative. Below are the criteria from the SLO Approval Rubric evaluators should use for approving SLOs: SLO Component Approval Criteria: 1. Basic Information 1a) Is the SLO written for the correct course assignment as outlined • Subject in the SLO guidebook? 1b) Does the SLO cover the appropriate set of students on the • # of Students teacher’s roster for the appropriate course(s) as outlined in the SLO Addressed by guidebook? SLO 2. Standards 2a) Do the standards identified align to Common Core State Addressed by SLO Standards, international, national, state, local or industry-recognized

13 | P a g e

SLO Component

3. Assessment

4. Baseline Data

5. Student Learning Target

6. Rationale for SLO 7. Potential Instructional Strategies to Reach Objective 8. Potential Progress Monitoring Strategies 9. Scoring Plan

Approval Criteria: standards? 2b) Do the standard(s) selected address critical content, skills or knowledge necessary for advancement to future coursework (i.e., if students do not master standards, they will not be able to progress to the next level)? 3a) Are the selected standards/content appropriate for the instructional interval defined? 3b) Is the assessment aligned to standard(s) targeted? Does it provide evidence relative to the target? Is it appropriate for the student population? 3c) Does the assessment follow the guidance established by City Schools in the SLO guidebook? 4a) Is the baseline data recorded and analyzed to provide a descriptive picture of the student sample? 4b) Is the roster of students and their essential baseline data included in the template or attached? 5a) Is the target anchored in baseline data for current students? 5b) Is the target rigorous yet attainable? • Rigor is determined by analyzing past performance of students to determine a reasonable goal for mastery/growth given the instructional period. Does the rationale for the SLO demonstrate that the SLO will measure student learning of critical content? Are the instructional strategies appropriate to support reaching the objective? Will the progress monitoring strategies allow the teacher to know if s/he is on-track to attaining the objective? Does the scoring plan follow the guidance outlined in the SLO guidebook?

The evaluator can set up a short meeting to discuss SLOs, as appropriate. In this meeting, the teacher and evaluator should discuss: • Whether the SLO is approved – if not, what revisions are needed; • How the SLO will measure the teacher’s impact on student learning; • Plans for supporting student learning toward the SLO target; and • Ways the evaluator can support the teacher in meeting the objective.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Every SLO in 2014-15 must be approved by March 9, 2015. Therefore, evaluators should review SLOs as soon as possible after they are submitted to allow time for feedback, revisions and resubmission.

14 | P a g e

If the SLO does not meet one or more criteria, the evaluator should return the SLO to the teacher with guidance about how to improve it and a deadline for resubmission. Evaluators will complete the approval process using the rubric in TSS. The SLO will be submitted as an assignment and the approval rubric will be used to grade it. SLO Ambassadors are available to assist with this technical process. Evaluators can plan to discuss the teacher’s progress on the SLO as a part of other meetings scheduled with teachers, as appropriate.

Scoring SLOs Once the data required by the SLO are available, teachers will submit their students’ results to their evaluator using the SLO Scoring Sheet by March 31, 2015. The SLO Scoring Sheet will be available on TSS. The scoring sheet asks the teachers to describe and submit the results of the SLO and to reflect on his/her success in helping their student meet the targets in their SLO. Evaluators will review student performance data to determine the SLO score. The score will be based on the scoring plan that was included in the SLO when it was written. Ideally, the teacher and evaluator will meet to discuss the results and their implications for the teacher’s instructional practice in the next school year. The scoring deadline is April 15, 2015. We encourage evaluators to plan ahead since some of the SLO final results will be available sooner than others. SLO results will be included in a teacher’s composite evaluation score under the Teacher Effectiveness Evaluation.

Special Guidance City Schools has developed special guidance for SLOs on the following topics: 1. SLO coverage 2. Assessments 3. New teachers 4. Absenteeism 5. Mobility/late arrivers 6. Change in teacher assignment 7. Teachers assigned to multiple schools 8. Special education teachers 9. Adaptive physical education teachers 1. SLO Coverage For which class(es)/students should a teacher’s SLO be written?

15 | P a g e

Teachers should write the SLO for the course/class with the largest number of students. For teachers with multiple courses, they should use the course with the largest number of students even if that means including students from multiple class sections. For example, a high school English teacher who teaches three sections of English 9 (with 26, 27 and 28 students) and one section of English 10 with 26 students would write the SLO for the English 9 course and include all 81 students. Is there a minimum number of students required for the SLO? The SLO should include a large number of students and in most cases, will cover an entire class or course since teachers are not allowed to select sub-groups of students. Ideally, the SLO should include more than 10 students, but some teaching situations make this difficult. Teachers should write SLOs for as many students as possible. 2. Assessments What guidance does City Schools have regarding selecting or creating assessments for SLOs? In addition to the guidance in Appendix A (SLO Assessment Table), City Schools offers the following information for assessment selection and creation for SLOs: Additional Considerations in Selecting or Creating Assessments for SLOs Alignment to Content Standards and Key Concepts

Rigor and Complexity

• •

• • •

• • • Clear, Objective Measure of Success

• • • • •

Items/tasks cover key subject/grade-level content standards Where applicable, items/tasks cover knowledge and skills that will be of value beyond the semester – either in the next level of the subject, in other academic disciplines, or in career/life Where applicable, there are low- and high-end stretch items that cover prerequisite objectives from prior years and objectives from the next year/course Scoring system is weighted appropriately for question complexity Overall, the items/ tasks are appropriately challenging for the grade-level/course and for the particular students being assessed (e.g., appropriate depth of knowledge and correct reading level) Many items/tasks require critical thinking and problem solving Multiple-choice questions are appropriately rigorous or complex (e.g. multistep, four or more choices) Key content standards/concepts are assessed at greater depths of understanding and/or complexity Items/tasks are written clearly and concisely Items/tasks provide students multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery/growth Tasks and open-ended questions have rubrics that (1) articulate what students are expected to know and do and (2) differentiate between levels of knowledge/mastery Item types and length of the assessment are appropriate for the subject/grade level Test administration is standardized across different classes/sections of students

16 | P a g e

What if I teach two courses (ex. World History and English I) and the assessment for my largest class isn’t as good as the one for my next largest class? Is it acceptable to write the SLO for the class with the better assessment? Yes. Teachers have flexibility to write their SLOs based on what seems most meaningful as long as they meet the 10 student minimum. A good example where this may apply is for CTE teachers who use a variety of assessments based on the grade level. In some cases, the higher grade use industry certification exams which may be of higher quality than the assessments for lower grades. 3. New Teachers Will new teachers have an SLO? Yes, all teachers in tested and non-tested areas, including new teachers, will have one SLO in 2014-15. 4. Absenteeism How will the SLO account for chronically absent students? • Chronic absenteeism and chronic tardiness should be taken into account in initial tier assignments and/or target-setting. However, teachers cannot include an attendance qualifier in the student learning target (e.g. “80% of students who have a 75% attendance rate will meet proficiency…”) 5. Mobility/Late Arrivers How will the SLO account for students who join class after SLO is set or leave class before endof-year assessment? • Students who arrive after the SLO is approved are not included in the teacher’s SLO. • Students who leave after the SLO is approved but before the SLO assessment are not included in the teacher’s SLO. • Highly mobile students who leave after the SLO is approved but then return before the assessment can be excluded from the teacher’s SLO at the discretion of the evaluator. • The roster that is submitted with the final results should include notations for students who are not included in the final result calculations. 6. Change in Teacher Assignment Can the SLO be adjusted if a teacher’s assignment changes after the SLO is submitted? If there is an unexpected teaching assignment change after the SLO is approved by March 9, 2015 an SLO will not be used to measure student growth for that teacher. 7. Teachers Assigned to Multiple Schools If a teacher (such as an art or music teacher) teaches in multiple schools, how should that be handled for the SLO? Teachers who serve multiple schools will have their SLO based at their “payroll” school and cover only that school’s students.

17 | P a g e

8. Special Education Teachers Will special education teachers write SLOs? Is there any special guidance for them? Special educators should continue to write SLOs with appropriate goals for their students depending on their baseline data and progress thus far. Refer to Appendix B (Special Education Guidance) for details. 9. Adaptive Physical Education Teachers Will adaptive physical education teachers write SLOs? Is there any special guidance for them? For the 2014-15 school year, adaptive physical education teachers will not write SLOs.

SLO Tools and Resources TSS Resources Each school will have its own SLO course within TSS where teachers and evaluators can access the following materials: • SLO 101 video modules • SLO guidebook • SLO template • SLO bank (covers most content areas) • SLO approval rubric reference document • SLO scoring sheet • TSS help guides City Schools Contacts For additional questions about SLOs, please contact [email protected].

18 | P a g e

Appendix A: SLO Assessment Table Teacher Category

Early Learning Home Teachers

Recommended SLO Content

Cognitive Development

Goal Type

Growth

Teachers should be encourage to use the districtguided framework for creating a work sampling portfolio

Possible Not Recommended Sources of Assessments Recommended Assessments Baseline Data Work Sampling Portfolio

E-LAP/LAP D

Student work samples, previously administered assessments

Early Learning Preschool

ELA

Mastery Spring Literacy Performance Assessment

End of Year assessments will not be scored in time

Student work samples, previously administered assessments, including unit and interim assessment performance

PreK

ELA

Mastery Spring Literacy Performance Assessment

End of Year assessments will not be scored in time

Student work samples, previously administered assessments, including unit and interim assessment performance

PreK and K

ELA

Growth

TRC March progress monitoring

End of Year assessments will not be scored in time

*Refer to the Assessments section for guidance on teacher created assessments 19 | P a g e

Teacher Category

Grades 1-5 who teach at least 1 section of ELA or Math

Recommended SLO Content

Either ELA or Math (teacher’s choice) If they teach multiple grades, teachers should write teachercreated SLO for whatever their largest class is

Goal Type

Possible Not Recommended Sources of Assessments Recommended Assessments Baseline Data

Mastery ELA ELA  DIBELS TRC/Quarter 3 Interim Assessments/ Growth Extended if using Writing TRC Projects/ SFA 4sight, 3rd quarter administration

Math Unit Assessments (may combine more than one unit), Quarter 3 Interim Assessment

Grades 1-5, if a teacher is departmentalized and does not teach any sections of either ELA or Math

Departmentalized content area If they teach multiple grades, teachers should write teachercreated SLO for whatever their largest class is

Mastery Teacher created unit assessment meeting City Schools criteria*

ELABOY Amplify data/Interim Assessments questions related to standards 1 and 2/ Power Writes/ Extended Writing Projects

Math  it is not Math Teachers recommended may use unit postassessments from for teachers to develop a growth quarter 1 through goal using Unit 3, Teacher created pre and post assessments, assessments Interim Assessments

Mock Science MSA Grade 5

Teacher created assessment meeting City Schools criteria*

District provided unit assessments

*Refer to the Assessments section for guidance on teacher created assessments 20 | P a g e

Teacher Category

Grades 6-8 who teach at least one section of either ELA or Math

Recommended SLO Content

Either ELA or Math If they teach multiple grades, teachers should write teachercreated SLO for whatever their largest class is

Goal Type

Possible Not Recommended Sources of Assessments Recommended Assessments Baseline Data

Mastery ELA Quarter 3 Interim Assessment/ LDC

Math Quarter 3 Interim Assessment, Topic Assessments

ELA  Quarter 1 and 2 Module Assessment(s) / Quarter 1 and 2 LDC / Quarter 1 and 2 Building Vocabulary assessment/ Math  it is not Quarter 1 and 2 recommended Rev It Up for teachers to assessment / develop a growth Formative Writing goal Tasks (from Curriculum Modules Quarters 1 and 2) ELA  RISE

End of Quarter Assessments, End of Topic Assessments

*Refer to the Assessments section for guidance on teacher created assessments 21 | P a g e

Teacher Category

Recommended SLO Content

Grades 6-8, if a teacher is departmentalized and does not teach any sections of either ELA or Math

Departmentalized content area If they teach multiple grades, teachers should write teachercreated SLO for their largest class

Goal Type

Possible Not Recommended Sources of Assessments Recommended Assessments Baseline Data

Mastery LDC If teaching science, district created science unit assessments, middle of course, or laboratory activities

Mock Science MSA Grade 8

Teacher created assessment meeting City Schools criteria*

If teaching social studies, Stanford “Beyond the Bubble” or history day participation Teacher created assessment meeting City Schools criteria*

*Refer to the Assessments section for guidance on teacher created assessments 22 | P a g e

Teacher Category

Recommended SLO Content

Secondary Math

Teacher should write SLO for their largest class

Goal Type

Possible Not Recommended Sources of Assessments Recommended Assessments Baseline Data

Mastery AP practice test (if appropriate)

Interim Assessments, End of Topic Assessments

Interim 3 Assessments End of Topic Assessments Middle of Course Assessments Grades 9-12 English & Language Arts

Teacher should write SLO for their largest class

Mastery AP practice test (if appropriate)

RISE / MAP

ELA  LDC Quarter 3, Interim Assessments

LDC- Quarter 3 Interim 3 Assessments

*Refer to the Assessments section for guidance on teacher created assessments 23 | P a g e

Teacher Category

Grades 9-12 Science

Recommended SLO Content

If teacher teaches a course assessed by HSA, teacher should write SLO for that course otherwise teacher should write SLO for their largest class

Goal Type

Possible Not Recommended Sources of Assessments Recommended Assessments Baseline Data

Mock HSA Mastery AP practice test Biology (recommend an actual AP test from past year)

Teacher created assessment meeting City Schools criteria*

LDC Middle of Course Assessment (for semester long courses) Unit Assessments (for Biology) Laboratory Activities Teacher created assessments meeting City Schools criteria (this will not be the case for SY 1516)

*Refer to the Assessments section for guidance on teacher created assessments 24 | P a g e

Teacher Category

Recommended SLO Content

Grades 9-12 Social Studies

If teacher teaches a course assessed by HSA, teacher should write teacher-created SLO for that course otherwise teacher should write SLO for their largest class

Goal Type

Possible Not Recommended Sources of Assessments Recommended Assessments Baseline Data

Mastery AP practice test (if appropriate)

Mock HSA American Government

Teacher created assessment meeting City Schools criteria*

Teacher created assessment meeting City Schools criteria*

Teacher created assessment meeting City Schools criteria*

n/a

Teacher created assessment meeting City Schools criteria*

LDC- Quarter 3 Middle of Course Assessment Stanford “Beyond the Bubble

Career & Technology Education (CTE)

Health Grades 6-12

If teacher teaches more than one course and/or grade level, teacher should write teachercreated SLO for largest class

Mastery Certification Exams

If teacher teaches more than one course and/or grade level, teacher should write teachercreated SLO for largest class

Mastery Middle of Course Assessment

Midterms Teacher created assessments

LDC Teacher Created Assessments

*Refer to the Assessments section for guidance on teacher created assessments 25 | P a g e

Teacher Category

Fine Arts Grades K-12 (Visual Art, Music, Theater, Dance, etc)

World Languages (French and Spanish) Grades K-12

World Languages (non Spanish and French)

Recommended SLO Content

Teacher created assessment meeting City Schools criteria* (see samples for additional information)

Possible Not Recommended Sources of Assessments Recommended Assessments Baseline Data

Mastery Teacher

n/a

Teacher created assessment meeting City Schools criteria*

created assessments meeting City Schools criteria*

If teacher teaches more than one course and/or grade level, teacher should write teachercreated SLO for largest class

Mastery Performance Based Assessments (Please see samples and additional guidance on TSS course)

n/a

Teacher created assessments meeting City Schools criteria*

Other language teachers should develop teachercreated SLO for largest class

Mastery Middle of Course assessments

n/a

Teacher created assessments meeting City Schools criteria*

ESOL teachers should develop teacher-created SLO for largest class

Mastery Teacher created assessments

n/a

Teacher created assessments meeting City Schools criteria*

Grades K-12 ESOL

Goal Type

Performance Based Assessments

Performance Based Assessments (Please see samples and additional guidance on TSS course)

*Refer to the Assessments section for guidance on teacher created assessments 26 | P a g e

Teacher Category

Recommended SLO Content

Goal Type

Possible Not Recommended Sources of Assessments Recommended Assessments Baseline Data

Library

Librarians will not be developing SLOs

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Physical Education

If teacher teaches more than one course and/or grade level, teacher should write teachercreated SLO for largest class

Mastery Teacher created assessment meeting City Schools criteria*

n/a

Teacher created assessment meeting City Schools criteria*

Grades K-12

*Refer to the Assessments section for guidance on teacher created assessments 27 | P a g e

Appendix B: Special Education Guidance General SLO Recommendations for Special Education

   

General Educators and Special Educators in co-taught classes write SLOs that include all students enrolled in the course regardless of IEP status. SLOs should be written based on curriculum aligned assessments and not IEP goals. Special Educators who teach in a self-contained class or PRIDE program will write SLOs based on curriculum aligned assessments and/or the STAR assessment. Special Educators in Life Skills/PAL write SLOs based on their Styer-Fitzgerald curriculum.

Diploma Track Students Special Education Guidance: Co-Teaching Model (100%)



If you are a special educator who teaches in an inclusive setting only AND follows the co-teaching model 100%...  Then…Special Educators and General Educators collaborate to write an SLO including ALL students regardless of IEP status  SLOs should be identical for special educator and general educator  If a special educator co-teaches multiple classes, SLOs must only be written for 1 class  This applies to special education teachers who are planning and delivering instruction 5 days a week for the entirety of the class period.

Special Education Guidance: Push-In Services



Special Education Guidance: LRE C (SelfContained)



If you are a special educator in an inclusive setting only AND do not follow the co-teaching model 100% (i.e. you only work with the class a few times or a few hours per week or you co-plan but you focus on a subset of students)…  Then…Special Educators write SLOs for their Special Education students on curriculum aligned assessments  If a special educator co-teaches multiple classes, the SLO must only be written for the largest class If you are a special educator who teaches in a self-contained (LRE C) setting ONLY  Then…Special Educators write SLOs for their class based on curriculum aligned assessments  If a special educator teaches multiple classes, SLO may be written for 1 class only.  If special educator teaches a multiple grade class, SLO should be written to include all students. One SLO can be written with students on different grade levels written as

28 | P a g e

tiered goals (* teachers would need to select goals based on the ELA CCSS as other content standards do not have a true progression across all grade levels). Special Education Guidance: LRE C and Inclusion/Push-In

Special Education Guidance: LRE C w/ Resource Students (LRE A and LRE B)





If you are a special educator who teaches in a self-contained setting AND an inclusive setting  Then…Special Educators write SLOs for either their students in a self-contained setting or inclusive setting depending on which setting the majority of their students receive services in for the given content area. If you are a special educator who teaches in a self-contained setting (LRE C) and receives resource students (LRE A and LRE B) during the day  Then…Special Educators write SLOs for the students they are the primary provider of instruction for the designated content area. The primary provider is the person who provides 60% or more of the student’s instruction.  Example: If you are teaching ELA and students from the general education class come to you every day for ELA instruction, than these students would be part of the SLO.

Certificate Track Students Life Skills/PAL

Teachers write SLOs for all students using the Styer-Fitzgerald Curriculum. Each student will have 1 goal aligned with the StyerFitzgerald curriculum. The Student Learning Target will be for 80% of all the goals for all the students to be met.

29 | P a g e

Appendix C: 2014-15 Student Learning Objective (SLO) Template 1. Basic Information Teacher Name: School: Grade Level(s):

(January 2015) Employee ID#: School #: # of Students Addressed by SLO: Interval of Instruction for course:

Subject:

☐ Semester course ☐ Full-year course ☐ Trimester ☐ Other:

2. Standards Addressed by SLO: List the standards that align with Common Core State Standards, international, national, state, local or industryrecognized standards. Please list a summary of the standards or the full standards rather than simply the standard heading (e.g., RH.6-8.2)

3. Assessment: Provide the name of the assessment being used to measure the student learning target. Provide the rationale if the assessment is not selected from the list in the SLO guidebook. If the assessment is teacher-created, describe the assessment and explain how it was developed and how it will be scored. For guidance, refer to the SLO guidebook.

4. Baseline Data: Include what you know about the targeted students’ performance/skills/achievement levels at the beginning of the year/semester, as well as any additional student data or background information used in setting the target. The student roster and relevant baseline data may be copied into this section or attached to the template.

5. Student Learning Target: State your specific target for student achievement. The target should be ambitious but achievable, given your students' baseline data.

6. Rationale for SLO: Explain why you picked this student learning objective. Explain how this SLO will measure student learning of critical content.

7. Potential Instructional Strategies to Reach Objective: Provide examples of instructional strategies you will employ to support students to meet the objective you set. (Teachers should give their evaluator an idea of what they think are their most effective and targeted instructional strategies to reach their objective and should make them as content-specific as possible.)

Page 30 of 34

Appendix C: 2014-15 Student Learning Objective (SLO) Template (January 2015)

8. Potential Progress Monitoring Strategies: State which evidence you will use to monitor students’ progress toward the objective. (Teachers should describe interim assessment and other progress checks they will use during the school year/semester to see whether students are on track to meet their stated target.)

9. Scoring Plan: See Scoring Plan Guidance chart below for consideration. Insufficient Partial Attainment of Full Attainment of Attainment of Target Target (2 points): Target (3 points): (1 point): The teacher has The teacher has The teacher has demonstrated some demonstrated a demonstrated an impact on student considerable impact on insufficient impact on learning, but did not meet student learning by meeting student learning by falling the target. the target. far short of the target. Achievement Range:

Achievement Range:

Achievement Range:

Exceptional Attainment of Target (4 points): The teacher has demonstrated an outstanding impact on student learning by surpassing the target by a meaningful margin. Achievement Range:

Scoring Plan Guidance Below are guidelines for developing the achievement ranges in the scoring plan: • Start with FULL ATTAINMENT: It should range from your SLO target at the low end up to 9 percentage points above that level for students who exceeded (except for tiered targets) • Then complete EXCEPTIONAL ATTAINMENT: Range will be 10 percentage points above full attainment up to 100% • Now complete PARTIAL ATTAINMENT: This range starts 10 percentage points below full attainment and goes up to just below full attainment • INSUFFICIENT ATTAINMENT comes last: Zero to just below partial attainment Example: A target of 80% of students reaching the target would have achievement ranges of the following: • Level 1 (Insufficient Attainment): Zero to 69% • Level 2 (Partial Attainment): 70% - 79% (because 10 percentage points below 80% is 70%) • Level 3 (Full Attainment): 80% - 89% • Level 4 (Exceptional Attainment): 90% - 100% (because 10 percentage points above 80% is 90%) In addition, it helps to cite the number and percent of students in each category.

Page 31 of 34

Appendix D: 2014-15 Student Learning Objective (SLO) Approval Rubric (FOR REFERENCE ONLY – ACTUAL APPROVALS WILL BE ENTERED DIRECTLY INTO TSS) Teacher: School: Subject: SLO Component:

Approval Criteria:

1.

Basic Information

•

Subject

•

# of Students Addressed by SLO

2.

Standards Addressed by SLO

3.

4.

5.

Assessment

Baseline Data

Student Learning Target

6.

Rationale for SLO

7.

Potential Instruction al

Employee ID#: School #: Evaluator:

Is the SLO written for the correct course assignment as outlined in the SLO guidebook? Does the SLO cover the appropriate set of students on the teacher’s roster for the appropriate course(s) as outlined in the SLO guidebook? Do the standards identified align to Common Core State Standards, international, national, state, local or industry-recognized standards? Do the standard(s) selected address critical content, skills or knowledge necessary for advancement to future coursework (i.e., if students do not master standards, they will not be able to progress to the next level)? Are the selected standards/content appropriate for the instructional interval defined? Is the assessment aligned to standard(s) targeted? Does it provide evidence relative to the target? Is it appropriate for the student population? Does the assessment follow the guidance established by City Schools in the SLO guidebook? Is the baseline data recorded and analyzed to provide a descriptive picture of the student sample? Is the roster of students and their essential baseline data included in the template or attached? Is the target anchored in baseline data for current students? Is the target rigorous yet attainable? • Rigor is determined by analyzing past performance of students to determine a reasonable goal for mastery/growth given the instructional period. Does the rationale for the SLO demonstrate that the SLO will measure student learning of critical content? Are the instructional strategies appropriate to support reaching the objective?

Page 32 of 34

Meets

Does Not Meet

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

☐

Comments/Revisions Needed

Appendix D: 2014-15 Student Learning Objective (SLO) Approval Rubric (FOR REFERENCE ONLY – ACTUAL APPROVALS WILL BE ENTERED DIRECTLY INTO TSS) SLO Component:

8.

9.

Strategies to Reach Objective Potential Progress Monitoring Strategies Scoring Plan

Approval Criteria:

Will the progress monitoring strategies allow the teacher to know if s/he is on-track to attaining the objective? Does the scoring plan follow the guidance outlined in the SLO guidebook?

Approved (meets all criteria, including those ☐ specified for content area) Additional Comments (include when revisions are due): ☐

Meets

Does Not Meet

☐

☐

☐

☐

Comments/Revisions Needed

Not Approved (does not meet one or more of the criteria; needs revisions)

Page 33 of 34

Appendix E: 2014-15 Student Learning Objective (SLO) Ambassadors Job Description Overview Baltimore City Public Schools launched the Teacher Effectiveness Evaluation in 2013-14 to better support our teachers in providing the most effective instruction for our students. The experiences from the 2013-14 school year were used as practice in preparation for the 2014-15 school year. Starting in the 2014-15 school year, all teachers in tested and non-tested grades and subjects will use SLOs as a student growth measure. In order to build capacity across the district at each school, every school principal will nominate one or two SLO Ambassadors. SLO Ambassadors will continue to be the school-based experts on the SLO process, and along with principals and assistant principals, will help teachers at their school understand and participate in the SLO process. Unlike principals and assistant principals, however, SLO Ambassadors will serve in a non-evaluative role. Ambassadors primarily will support teachers at their school to use data to set ambitious and attainable growth goals for the students, help teachers monitor their progress on those goals throughout the year, and support teachers in preparing their SLO for final submission. Preferred Qualifications City Schools provides the following guidance for principals to consider in the selection of their SLO Ambassadors. While these are preferences, not requirements, City Schools believes these are some of the most essential attributes a principal should take into consideration when nominating teachers for this role. SLO Ambassadors should have some or most of these characteristics: • • • • • • •

Be currently employed by City Schools Received either an “Effective” or “Highly Effective” rating on the 2013-14 Teacher Effectiveness Evaluation Have a minimum of three years of teaching experience Possess excellent communication skills Have prior experience in working with adult learners and leading professional development sessions and training Have experience in mentoring or coaching teachers Have experience in other teacher leadership roles (e.g., department or grade level chair)

Page 34 of 34