KNOWLEDGE BRIEF | FEBRUARY 2014
Professional learning
drives Common Core and
educator evaluation
IN B RIEF
nEffectively integrating
and implementing new
initiatives requires
professional learning.
nHigh-quality professional
learning occurs regularly
amongteams at the school level.
1
KNOWLEDGE BRIEF | FEBRUARY 2014
Professional learning drives Common Core
and educator evaluation
Co-authors: Joellen Killion and Stephanie Hirsh
Editor: Tracy Crow
Designer: David McCoy
This is one in a series of quarterly knowledge briefs exploring the theory and practice
of effective professional learning. Available to members of Learning Forward, these
digital publications help practitioners build a deeper foundation and take next steps
on specific school improvement questions. An executive summary is available to
share with colleagues and non-members.
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2
KNOWLEDGE BRIEF | FEBRUARY 2014
Professional learning drives Common Core
and educator evaluation
G
erald Mizuki teaches English at
Hanson Middle School. He is active in his
school and serves on the school’s standards-based
grading task force. The district and his school serve
a large population of high-poverty, multilingual
students and are deeply engaged in implementation
of the state’s new curriculum aligned to Common
Core standards. Like many of the teachers in his
school, Mizuki has limited knowledge of instructional
strategies that will help him fully implement the
Common Core standards. He knows he needs to
invest considerable effort to move beyond the
awareness-level of knowledge he has already built
from the summer workshops he and his colleagues
attended on the standards. For Mizuki, the time
built into the school schedule for multiple team
meetings per week and an extended period of time
each month is an important contributor to his
continued growth and effectiveness.
Leaders in Mizuki’s school system also recognize
that expectations on principals and teachers are
enormous and explicitly defined the role of the
central office in supporting everyone in making
the transitions to the new content standards and
employee evaluation systems. The district has
adopted Learning Forward Standards for
Professional Learning and is committed to
continuous improvement through learning
communities.
Learning aligned
Professional learning catalyzes improvement. When
effective, it contributes to strengthening individual,
team, school, and system performance so that every
student achieves. The key to the successful
implementation of any initiative, whether it is new
standards for students or new performance standards
for educators, is professional learning.
3
KNOWLEDGE BRIEF | FEBRUARY 2014
Professional learning drives Common Core
and educator evaluation
When schools and school systems face multiple new
initiatives, understanding how to integrate them is
critical to success. At a time when schools, school
systems, and states are responsible for implementing
Common Core or college- and career-ready standards,
even as educator effectiveness systems are evolving,
educators are challenged to successfully manage and
implement multiple priorities. The ultimate key to
successful integration and deep levels of implementation
is the quality of the professional learning that educators
engage in every day.
Effective professional learning at the school level
Putting learning teams to work
occurs among a team of teachers learning in a cycle
Many systems and schools have invested in learning
of continuous improvement. Within this framework,
communities and set aside time for them to meet.
learners address their specific learning needs, have
Such teams offer an essential structure and process for
ongoing opportunities for practice and feedback, and
supporting the learning and application of learning
monitor results. Without a team working in a learning
that is required for successful implementation of
cycle, learning is more likely to be episodic and less
student content standards and teacher evaluation
likely to affect practice. At its best, professional
processes. Meaningful implementation of these
learning fosters collective responsibility for the
initiatives will depend on the quality of work
success of all students.
conducted in learning communities.
Assumption 1
Assumption 2
Assumption 3
Effective professional
learning is the means to
implementing and integrating
multiple systemwide initiatives,
such as Common Core
standards and educator
evaluation systems.
Professional learning
transforms practice when
educators learn regularly in
collaboration during the work
day, with support from
supervisors and
coaches.
A cycle of continuous improvement defines essential processes
to support ongoing learning and
includes examining key data,
studying new information, practicing and revising strategies, giving
and receiving feedback,
and regularly reviewing
progress.
4
KNOWLEDGE BRIEF | FEBRUARY 2014
Professional learning drives Common Core
and educator evaluation
Below we continue the story of Mizuki to demonstrate how to leverage professional learning
within a cycle of continuous improvement to support the implementation of content standards
and new educator effectiveness systems. Read how the individual, the team, and the school
advance their work as they integrate multiple initiatives.
The cycle of continuous improvement
Analyzes educator,
student, and school
data to identify
student learning
needs
STEP
7
Taps external
assistance when
necessary.
1
Defines educator
professional learning
goals based on student
STEP
learning needs.
2
Selects and implements evidence-based
designs for professional learning to
achieve professional learning
goals.
STEP
6
Informs ongoing
improvement in teaching, leadership, and
learning.
STEP
5
2. Defines educator professional
learning goals based on student
learning needs.
Based on this information, he worked with his
supervisor, coach, and department colleagues to write
his goals for his professional growth plan. He learned
by doing this that several other members of his
department identified academic rigor and curriculum
and standards alignment, his goal areas, as goals for
their professional growth.
STEP
Provides job-embedded coaching
and other forms
Assesses and evaluates
of assistance to
the effectiveness
support transfer
of professional
STEP of learning.
learning.
3. Selects and implements evidencebased designs for professional
learning to achieve professional
learning goals.
Mizuki and the other members of his department
formed a small learning community to focus on their
shared goals throughout the year, meeting weekly as
a team. They worked collaboratively with the school’s
instructional coach, their department chair, and other
expert teachers to explore options for increasing their
understanding of academic rigor, the standards, and
the standards-based curricula, studying and selecting
instructional strategies appropriate for young adolescents,
and implementing and giving one another feedback on
their efforts. Together, members of the team:
STEP
3
4
1. Analyzes educator, student, and
school data to identify student
learning needs
Mizuki’s most recent evaluation, based on supervisor
observations, student feedback, and multiple forms
of student achievement data, identified three areas of
strength and two areas for growth. In particular, his
supervisor indicated that his classroom curriculum
needed to be far more purposively aligned to the new
curriculum based on the Common Core standards.
•Leveraged schoolwide learning opportunities to
meet their needs. The faculty at Hanson was
reading Hattie’s Visible Learning for Teachers:
Maximizing Impact on Learning for a schoolwide
book study to connect the book’s strategies to
their state and district performance rubrics for
teacher evaluation. The team used the book
5
KNOWLEDGE BRIEF | FEBRUARY 2014
Professional learning drives Common Core
and educator evaluation
study as a basis for expand their understanding
of effective teaching strategies, and especially
the role of academic rigor.
•Studied the college- and career-readiness
standards and analyzed the curricula for their
grade levels and across other middle grades to
identify student learning outcomes for their
grade levels and across disciplines.
•Met with other teachers to discuss and share
challenges and successes in how they had
changed their classroom curricula and instruc tion based on the new standards and curricula.
•Accessed and reviewed several state-provided
video resources to observe how teachers
addressed rigor within their lessons.
•Observed each other and other teachers within
their school and discussed their approach to
increasing academic rigor within their disciplines
that worked most effectively with different types
of learners.
•Examined student work and student learning
monthly, especially for the disenfranchised and
low-performing students in their classes and
planned for the subsequent month; and
•Met weekly with each other to share, analyze,
and reflect on curriculum alignment and
academic rigor and to discuss problems related
to implementation and student success.
and to support and enhance their colleagues’
learning.
5. Assesses and evaluates the
effectiveness of professional
learning.
At the meetings in which the team and coach examine
student progress, the teachers bring student assessment
results and work samples to analyze the effectiveness
of their professional learning on increasing the academic
rigor, implementation of standards, and alignment of
curriculum in their classrooms. They use their learning
time to plan instructional strategies for addressing
learning needs of students who are underperforming.
They also identify the student learning outcomes that
will allow them to measure progress over the next
month.
6. Informs ongoing improvement in
teaching, leadership, and learning.
Periodically a school administrator meets with the
team members during their planning time, listening,
observing, and offering guidance if requested. They
keep a log of the meetings and samples of teacher
and student work to support schoolwide learning.
The principal invites the team to share its ongoing
work with the whole faculty and offer conclusions to
the faculty regarding academic rigor and standards
and curriculum alignment using student evidence.
The team constructs a short video that highlights
their most successful strategies and students’
perceptions about the academic rigor.
4. Provides job-embedded coaching
and other forms of assistance to
support transfer of learning.
At the end of most meetings, the coach schedules
time to meet with each teacher individually and visit
their classrooms. During each individual meeting
with the instructional coach, teachers identify an
individual focus for applying the new learning
and for coach feedback. They consider options for
classroom-based support including model teaching,
co-teaching, or observation and feedback. They invite
their colleagues to visit as appropriate. Within the
team, members also identify what each teacher will
bring back to the team as evidence of their learning
7. Taps external assistance when
necessary.
When team members encounter areas where they
need more support than their coach and supervisors can
provide, they turn to the school district’s learning
management system for resources. Together with
their supervisor and the coach, the team identifies
appropriate opportunities for extended learning or
relevant support from technical assistance providers
that might help them bolster their knowledge and
skills, looking beyond the district when necessary.
6
KNOWLEDGE BRIEF | FEBRUARY 2014
Professional learning drives Common Core
and educator evaluation
Increase in performance at the proficiency level
on the state assessment for Mizuki’s class
In Mizuki’s annual evaluation, his supervisor rates
him as distinguished on professional responsibility and
effective in planning and preparation and instruction.
Seventy-four percent of his English students, an increase
of 15%, perform at the proficient level on the state
assessment and 50% of his limited English students, an
increase of 14%, perform at proficient level. Mizuki
credits his students’ growth to his professional learning
and looks forward to continuing collaborative
learning and growth.
75%
15%
50%
14%
25%
0
The rest of his learning team sees positive increases for
students as well, increasing the capacity of the school to
implement the Common Core standards with fidelity.
English students
Limited English
students
Professional learning pulls it all together
Our theory of action for how professional learning
ress toward the standards requires assessments of
connects to success in schools is straightforward.
student learning that inform teaching and leadership
Success for every student depends on effective teaching
decisions. Effective educator evaluation systems
and leadership. Effective teaching requires clear stu-
establish clear expectations for educator performance
dent standards that establish high-level expectations
and provide support for continuous growth and
for student learning. Monitoring and measuring prog-
development.
When evaluation systems for teachers incorporate
performance standards for the instructional practices
required to achieve the content standards, and when
evaluation systems for leaders are based on leadership
performance standards that integrate instructional
leadership, shared leadership, and collective
responsibility, evaluation systems serve as a lever for
advancing implementation of the standards and use
of assessment data to realize high levels of student
learning. Standards-based professional learning is
the lynchpin for systems to achieve this goal.
7
KNOWLEDGE BRIEF | FEBRUARY 2014
Professional learning drives Common Core
and educator evaluation
Discuss the questions below with your team or reflect individually to
deepen your understanding of the ideas in this brief and advance practices.
Where do we agree or have questions about the assumptions listed in the
circles on p. 4? What assumptions do we hold about the alignment among
professional learning, Common Core, and educator evaluation?
How effectively are we using professional learning in our school or district
to align our multiple initiatives and advance student learning? What changes
might we consider?
What’s
next?
In what ways are we leveraging professional learning to achieve individual,
team, school, and district goals? What changes might we consider?
Who in the system has a role in strengthening professional learning to
support the successful implementation of student content standards and
educator evaluation systems? How might their roles shift given the process
outlined in the brief?
With whom do we need to talk to take a next step to make improvements
in our school or district?
Additional resources
Several Learning Forward resources are available to examine and improve professional learning to
support standards implementation. Start with the resources described here and visit the full list at
www.learningforward.org/publications/implementing-common-core.
Professional Learning Plans: A Workbook for States, Districts, and Schools
www.learningforward.org/docs/default-source/commoncore/professional-learning-plans.pdf
Professional learning plans establish short- and long-term guidance for professional learning and its
implementation. This workbook offers information and tools to walk educators through seven planning
steps, from data analysis to setting goals to identifying learning designs to monitoring impact.
School-based Professional Learning for Implementing the Common Core
www.learningforward.org/publications/implementing-common-core/professional-learning-units
Explore four units created to help principals and teacher leaders develop their capacity to facilitate schoolbased collaborative professional learning. Complete with background information, tools, slides, and handouts,
the four modules cover key topics in leading professional learning tied to implementing content standards.
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