SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT THROUGH

T-TESS: A SYSTEMIC APPROACH

Eddie Damian

Senior Consultant Leadership Experience, Fort Bend ISD

Founder, My Campus Goal Board.com

Facilitator: Eddie Damian • Senior Consultant Leadership Experience, Fort Bend ISD

• Facilitated “Just in Time” training for T-TESS pilot principals

• TEPSA President, 2015-2016

• Doctorial Candidate, University of Houston-Clear Lake

Objectives: • Review the FBISD journey

• Lessons learned from a T-TESS pilot district/campus

• Learn from our experience: Our challenges

• Learn from our experience: Our success stories

• First up- Goal setting

• Self-evaluation and self monitoring

• Resources

PDAS vs. T-TESS

Summative Formative

Compliance Growth

Checklist Discussion

Directing Coaching

"Great teaching is at the core of every quality education

system."

"Research shows that there is no greater in-school factor

than having an outstanding education in the classroom."

T-TESS is aligned to research-based, best practices for

teaching and learning.

The T-TESS Rubric aligns directly with the new Texas Teacher

Standards.

The T-TESS process provides for actionable, timely feedback,

allowing teachers to set goals and identify professional

development that will lead to refinement in knowledge and

skills.

T-TESS Thoughts…

“Proficient”

It’s a Process, not an Event. “We must embrace the fact that we will be public learners with this

process. This means that we will spend additional time studying and

applying the rubric in structured professional learning forums beyond

today’s session to ensure that we understand it and are applying it as

intended.”

“The campus goal is that we’re T-TESS experts and are using the tool to

learn and grow as an organization…. Administrators, teachers, students

and other stakeholders.”

The keys to evaluation: Must be formative,

timely, on-going, and relationships must be built.

The appraisal cannot be something that is done

to me, it must be something done WITH me.

The T-TESS Process 1. Teacher Self Assessment

2. Goal Setting Conference and Professional Development Plan (PDP)

3. PDP Implementation

4. Formative reviews

5. Prepare for EOY conference

6. EOY Conference

7. Preliminary Goal Setting and Planning for the following year.

• Standards and Alignment

• Data and Assessment

• Knowledge of Students

• Activities

Planning

• Classroom Environment, Routines, and Procedures

• Managing Student Behavior

• Classroom Culture

Learning Environment

• Professional Demeanor and Ethics

• Goal Setting

• Professional Development

• School Community Involvement

Professional Practices and

Responsibilities

• Achieving Expectations

• Content Knowledge and Expertise

• Communication

• Differentiation

• Monitor and Adjust

Instruction

T-TESS Rubric Overview

Fort Bend ISD…The big picture Positive Challenges

• You really get to know teachers

• No 2nd appraisals initiated

• The growth model was

embraced by teachers

• Allows for coaching

opportunities

• Takes time

• “Proficient”

• Systems needed to track goal

setting progress.

• No TINA

What you may expect…

Positives Challenges

• Increase in student-centered focus for teachers and administrators

• Depth in instructional planning and teaching

• Stronger teacher/admin relationships

• Growth for all involved

• Time management for

administrators

• Guide teachers through re-

defining the word 'Proficient' by

staying focused on the rubric

• Writing a smart goal and not

viewing it as punitive

• Evidence collection of 'progress

towards the goal' and the

domains

T-TESS and T-PESS can Overlap!

Indicator 4C: The principal purposefully engages families and community members in meaningful student learning experiences.

Distinguished

Develops and utilizes relationships with parents/guardians and the

community to develop good will and garner fiscal, intellectual, and

human resources in support of the school’s improvement agenda.

Leverages the influence and synergy of the school and community

stakeholders to work together to support high levels of student

achievement

What do you think?

What is something that you can transfer, delegate, or automate that will give you 1 hour per week?

1. Observations/walkthroughs and instructional leadership activities

2. Duty and supervision

3. Completing Paperwork

4. Meetings with teachers

5. Meetings at/with central office or consultants

6. Meeting with parents and stakeholders

7. Creating and responding to email

8. ARD’s/RTI/504 meetings

9. Discipline

10.Personal lunch and breaks

11.Planning /Data review

12.Other activities

Growth

Goals

Data • Ongoing review of teacher and student

performance data and the relationship between these two

• Ongoing review of areas of reinforcement, refinement and professional development which contributes to teacher growth

• Ongoing review of goals and progress towards the goals through data analysis and professional development

Self-Assessment , Goal Setting and Professional

Development Plan

What do you think? Let’s think about the purpose of the goal setting conference. Take 60

seconds to answer these three questions:

1. What do you view as the purpose for a goal setting conference?

2. What are the benefits for you?

3. What are the benefits to the teacher?

What does the Teacher Goal-Setting and Professional Development (GSPD) Plan

• Each teacher will conduct a self-assessment by reviewing data and

reflecting on professional practices to determine teacher and student

needs.

• As a result of the self-assessment, the teacher formulates targeted

goals to discuss with the appraiser during the GSPD Conference.

• The GSPD Conference ensures that both the teacher and appraiser

are clear about the goals and actions to reach the desired outcomes.

• reflective conferences, faculty meetings, department/grade levels

meetings, peer coaching.

• The teacher will maintain data/evidence to track goal attainment and

participation in PD activities detailed in the approved plan.

Goal Setting Template

Discussion:

Read this question and discuss the meaning with your group.

“Feedback should be based upon evidence of student learning, not

focused solely on teacher behaviors.”

What is this statement saying?

• What would be some examples of goals based on “teachers

behaviors”?

• What would be some examples of goals based on “evidence of

student learning”?

Goal (What do you want to achieve?) I want 90% of my student to pass STAAR Reading. Drill Down! What is the biggest barrier needed to overcome to improve your reading scores? Reading Comprehension. What areas of reading comprehension? Main Idea and Fact or Opinion How do you know? Actions (How will you accomplish the goal?) Time, Training, Materials, Observations, Self Study, etc. Evidence of Goal Attainment (How will you know your goal has been met? How will you know whether or not it has impacted instruction and student achievement?) Formative Assessments, Pretest and Post tests (More than STAAR)

Goal (What do you want to achieve?) Dimension (What is/are the correlating dimension[s])? TEK 4.2 (E) representing decimals, including tenths and hundredths, using concrete and visual models and money percentage was 55%. We will increase this TEK objective to 75%. The correlating dimensions are 1.1, 1.2, 2.4, 2.5

Actions (How will you accomplish the goal?) We will incorporate this TEK into our weekly spiral reviews, station work, homework, and small group.

Targeted Completion Date (When do you anticipate your goal will be met?) I plan to achieve 75% on this TEK by May 2016.

Evidence of Goal Attainment (How will you know your goal has been met? How will you know whether or not it has impacted instruction and student achievement?) -Pre/Post CFA's -Spiral Review Quizzes -2015-2016 STAAR Scores

Final Thoughts…Goal Setting • Goal setting: No one is a finished product

• The goal setting process helps to develop habits of self-assessment reflection and adjustments in teaching. Teachers must own their specific goal. This is the plan of "how"

• Appraisers and teachers agree on goals and actions.

• Teachers maintain evidence of goal and activities attainment throughout the year to bring to the end of the year conference.

• Principals can't be everything to everyone.

What Principal Langston would do differently

…

Campus

• Provide staff with extensive smart goal training.

• Include TTESS checkpoints in the school calendar (hybrid approach).

• Establish a system for coaching.

http://bit.ly/1Q6yBJO

What Principal Langston

has learned through

this experience

…

• Principals must be clear on their 'Why'!

• Teachers have to know and believe that their professional success is a priority for their principal

• The growth of the principal has a direct impact on the growth of a teacher and the learning of a student.

• I am an instructional lead learner!

@PrincipalLang

Promising Practices from FBISD • I mapped out every meeting and placed them on my calendar

in August.

• Complete the “write up” within 24 hours. Don’t let it pile up.

• Review evidence/artifacts in faculty meetings.

• Provide sample goals. Staff had difficulty with this.

• Rubric! Rubric! Rubric! Have the rubric out at all faculty

meetings/PLC’s/Team Leaders meetings.

• Teachers respond better to face-to-face feedback. Plan for it.

Lessons Learned from FBISD • Consolidate meetings. I will preconference and have the goal setting

meeting with teachers in Sept. Pre-conference and MOY goals in November.

• Schedule observations early! It took me at-least 2 hours to write a meaningful observation.

• Start the observations in early September (especially for issues).

• Connect goals to personal needs and campus/district goals. This will make it meaningful.

• I will take one dimension and dissect it at each faculty meeting.

• Spend more time on identifying goals.

• I will take T-TESS questions from the staff and address them in my publication.

For your consideration

How will you measure the different appraisers ratings throughout the

year? Should you check and reinforce this practice? “Recommended practices” refers to what it will be like in 5 years.

Stretch yourself, but don’t take on too much.

For more information and free

resources

EddieDamian.com