step: supporting teachers as empowered professionals

7/28/2019 STEP: Supporting Teachers as Empowered Professionals

1/30

Educators 4 Excellence-Los AngelesSupporting Teachers as Empowered Professionals

Los Angeles

Teacher Policy Team on Career Pathways

June 2013

STEP: Supporting Teachers asEmpowered Professionals


2/30

Educators 4 Excellence-Los Angeles

Supporting Teachers as Empowered Professionals

2

ContentsPreace

A Letter rom Teachers to the Mayor o Los Angeles

Our Design Principles

Overview: Supporting Teachers as Empowered Proessionals

Proposed Pathway Steps and Measures

Types o Roles

Emerging Teachers: Creating a Foundation

Professional Teachers:Building on the Basics

Lead Teachers: Pushing Ourselves, Pushing One Another

Innovating Teachers: Leading the Leaders

Valuing Our Partners: Learning rom UTLA, LAUSD and Others

Conclusion

Reerences

Appendix: Our Teacher Policy Team Process and Methodology

Teacher Policy Team

3

4

5

6

8

12

16

20

24

25

26

27

28


3/30


PrefaceIn the past year, Los Angeles district and

union leaders took important steps orward

in rolling out a new multi-measure evalua-

tion and support system or Los Angeles

educators.

In the spring o 2012, a Teacher Teacher

Policy Team at Educators 4 Excellence-Los

Angeles generated a white paper outlin-

ing a set o research-based recommenda-

tions or teacher evaluation. The goal was

to break the stalemate around this issue by

uniting recommendations rom our district,

union and national models. In December

2012, Los Angeles joined hundreds o other

school districts in putting orth a new deal

or teacher evaluation that was ratied by

our district and union.

The new evaluation system should help us

identiy how teachers are pushing students

to new levels o achievement. The next ob-

vious question is: What will we do ater we

evaluate teachers?

We came together as a team o teachers to

research this question by exploring local,

national and international models or rais-

ing student achievement and the prestige o

our proession. What we propose here is a

career pathway that is grounded in the idea

that highly eective teachers should be re-

warded and empowered to expand their in-

fuence to peers and students.

Thereore, we also believe its critical that our

district and union leaders continue to work

together to rene and hone our evaluation

instruments to make them clear and con-

sistent across schools. Our evaluation sys-

tems should do more than evaluate whether

teachers are meeting or not meeting

expectations. We need multiple bands o

eectiveness to honor teachers desire to

grow in their proession and constantly work

toward mastery. With that in place, our dis-

trict, schools and teachers will be poised

and ready to take on the many new opportu-

nities this career path promises. We believe

this is critical to truly proessionalizing and

elevating teaching.


4/30



4

Dear Mayor o Los Angeles,

Los Angeles is a city o dreams and aspirations. People rom allover the world fock here to ollow their passion and achieve

greatness. They believe in the promise o our city as a place where

anyone, regardless o where he or she came rom, can succeed.

But as educators, we see that all too oten this promise is broken

or our youth. Their ZIP code oten determines more o their

destiny than does their drive or potential. Our students, amilies

and community are hungry or truly great teachers. Yet too many

talented individuals leave the proession because there is a lacko encouragement, opportunity and support or their ongoing

learning. This is the time to elevate teaching to its proper status as

a dynamic proession that requires a huge heart, relentless drive,

sophisticated knowledge and skill, and tireless spirit.

This white paper oers our leaders a toolkit o strategies or

carving out career pathways to elevate our expectations and

aspirations or the uture o the teaching proession. These

strategies have been developed by the very teachers at the helm

o LAs classrooms.

Sincerely,E4E-Los Angeles Teacher Teacher Policy Team on Career Pathways

Our important work is to discover our students interests, spark

their passion and help them grow. But teachers need

our education leaders to do the same or us.


5/30


Focused on

Students

Each role or opportunity o the career pathway must be directly linked topositive outcomes or our students.

Focused on

Developing

Proessionals

Teachers should have opportunities to grow, develop and gain leadershipthroughout their careers. Movement through the career pathway should bebased on perormance using a robust, multi-measure evaluation system,rather than simply considering years o service.

Focused on

Leveraging Leaders

Roles and opportunities should not just build teacher-leaders, but share their

expertise with colleagues and, ultimately, reach more students.

Multiaceted and

Flexible

No additional role should be required at any stage o a career pathway.Teachers who do choose to take on these roles should be able to returnto their students at any point i they nd that the role is not a t or them.Teaching is a multiaceted proession, and our career pathway shouldrecognize the many areas in which teachers grow and build expertise.

Transparent

A great career pathway should reward perormance, leadership and impact

on students, not ones ability to navigate a maze o paperwork. The processor qualiying or each stage and role must be clear, consistent, equitableand easy to understand.

Feasible, Aordable

and Ecient

We recognize the limits o our budget as well as our school and districtcapacity. Each role should leverage the resources available in the mostecient way possible, and we should invest wisely in the roles that willimpact the largest number o students.

Our Design Principles


6/30



6

OverviewSupporting Teachers as Empowered Professionals

Emerging

Teacher

Professional

Teacher

Innovating

TeacherLead

Teacher

Professional Teachers

will build a portfolio of

leadership skills to

tackle more

challenging

assignments, increase

their effectiveness and

manage a heavier

course load.

Ratings should be

consistent, but need

not be consecutive

to advance to the

next stage.

Cumulative

ratings

Pathway

steps

Lead Teachers

will expand their

influence beyond the

classroom by

proposing and taking

on additional roles

and mentoring peers.

Innovating Teachers

will increase school

leadership capacity

by assisting in

evaluations, training

mentors and building

a culture of ongoing

growth.

Emerging Teachers

will receive a variety

of supports to help

them face the

challenges of early

career teaching and

lengthen their

careers as effective

educators.

3 effective

ratings required

N/A

or 2 highly effective

ratings required

5 effective

ratings required

or 3 highly effective

ratings required

7 effective

ratings required

with at least 1 highly

effective rating required

Proposed Pathway Steps and Measures


7/30


While each one o these roles may require teachers to teach ewer or smaller classes,this pathway is designed as a menu o options or teachers who wish to take on ad-

ditional leadership. No teacher who wants to ocus solely on his or her own class-room should be orced to do otherwise. Additionally, each opportunity is designedto expand the infuence o teacher-leaders, which ultimately increases the number oeective teachers and improves student achievement.

Enables teachers to keep a full

course load while taking on

extra responsibility. We believe

teachers should be compen-

sated for the extra leadership

and responsibility they provide

to their students and schools.

Both Hybrid and Out-of-Classroom Roles should be compensated to reflect their wider

impact on students and schools.

Empowers teachers to take on

leadership roles that require

them to spend significant time

away from their own classrooms

but does not force them to

leave the classroom entirely.

Empowers teachers to step

outside of the classroom

temporarily in order to expand

their impact to a greater

number of students and

colleagues.

In-Classroom Role Hybrid Role Out-of-Classroom Role

Types o Roles

A Menu o Options


8/30



8

Current ProblemFor too many o us, the rst ew years o teaching arelargely sink or swim years in which we are let to navi-gate our classrooms with little support or eedback. Eventhe most adept natural athletes need a high-qualitycoach, time to learn the basics and chances to see great-

ness in action. Too oten, these supports are given onlyperunctorily, or not at all.

Emerging Teachers Need...

Time to refect on practice in the company o experts

Social and emotional support

Pedagogical and classroom management support

Opportunities to see great teaching in action

A manageable course load and roster

Strategies or Supporting SuccessEmerging Teachers need a variety o supports to helpthem ace the challenges o early-career teaching anddevelop into lielong eective educators. These teacherswill benet rom the structured eedback this rst stageprovides, and utilize these opportunities to develop their

Creating a Foundation for Success

crat. When teachers leave this rst stage, they will have

received the proper support to show three years o eec-tive teaching or two years o highly eective teaching.

Building Our Leaders:

Teacher Development

Relevant Professional Development: Emerging Teach-ers, like any new entrants to a proession, have a dier-ent set o needs than their more experienced colleagues.Schools can leverage Mentors, coaches and administra-tors to create proessional development tailored to theneeds o new teachers in their building.

Leveraging Our Leaders:

Expanding Access to Colleagues

Robust Mentorship Program: Too oten new teachers aretoo overburdened and overwhelmed to identiy and seek

Emerging

Teacher

Emerging Teachers


9/30


0.96% 0.32%

7.37%

41.35%

50.0%

In a career pathway or teachers, how

impactul do you believe the ollowing role

could be in leveraging and retaining great

teachers and driving student achievement?

Teacher who is a mentor providing

content, social and emotional support

NOT IMPACTFUL

MINIMALLY IMPACTFUL

SOMEWHAT IMPACTFUL

IMPACTFUL

CRITICAL

(310 respondents)

Educators 4 Excellence. Attracting and Retaining Teachers. Teacher Survey. May 2013.


10/30



10

Improved induction and training that provides all new teach-ers with the support they needshould include high-quality

training ormentors, speciic and requent eedback or

new teachers, release time or them to observe expert teach-

ers, and some choice or new teachers in terms o the mentor

teachers rom whom they seek help.

U ni ted Te ac hers Los Angeles, Te ac her Eval uati on an d Development Fram ework, 2010

out mentors. A ormal school-based mentorship program

(oered by Lead Teachers) will give Emerging Teacherspedagogical and emotional support to navigate early ca-reer challenges.

Shadowing Opportunities: With a reduced or speciallyarranged schedule, Emerging Teachers should have timeto observe other classes and learn eective teachingpractices. This emulates the approach o ull-time teacherapprenticeship programs such as the Boston Teacher Resi-dency or the Aspire Teacher Residency, which are bothseeing aster rates o student growth than their state aver-

ages in both math and language arts.1,2


Expanding Access to Students

Appropriate Scheduling or Class Load: Emerging Teach-ers should either teach a smaller load o classes (or ex-ample, our periods instead o ve in a middle or highschool, or a smaller number o students in elementary

school) or receive a specialized schedule to ensure a

shared planning period with their Mentor or Content Spe-cialist. Administrators and Mentors should also ensure thatthe Emerging Teacher is not disproportionately assignedstudents with higher needs (see page 11).

Caveats and Considerations

When considering a mentorship program that eaturesa reduced teaching load or new teachers, it is impera-tive to acknowledge the increased workload on otherteachers at the school site.

We know that some schools have a disproportionatenumber o new teachers on a yearly basis. I a schoolhas more Emerging Teachers than any other category,scheduling and the workload o experienced teachersmay become unduly burdensome. We recommend thatthe district provide additional support or capacity toschools that have a high concentration o new teachers.


11/30


A joint study by the Strategic Data Project and Harvard University ound that

new teachers in the Los Angeles Unied School District (LAUSD) are more like-ly to have students in their classrooms who are urther behind academically.

These novice teachers are also less likely to have predictability and continuity

in their teaching assignments rom year to year than their more experienced

peers.3 This is especially problematic, since the same report joins a chorus

o studies showing that teachers are still growing in their rst ew years, and

thereore require additional support.

Mr. Smith is in his rst year o teaching high school math. He begins his day by

shadowing a 10-year veteran Algebra I teacher in his building, helping withsmall group activities, grading and other needs. He then teaches his own Alge-

bra I class, where he requently gets visits and observations by his Mentor or

Content Specialist. He then has a period that is aligned with his Mentors ree

period to debrie his class and receive eedback. He teaches Algebra I or the

next two periods, and then has an opportunity to debrie with his Content Spe-

cialist and get tips or the next day.

Individual schools set schedule

LAUSDs Education Service Centers track new teacher retention

Impact on Student AchievementBenefits to the District

Focusing OnAppropriate Scheduling and Class Load

Why this makes

sense or LAUSD

What this could

look like

Who can control

this

Providing time or shadowing and mentorship willmaximize on-the-job learning that happens amongteachers in the rst two years.

Providing increased supports or new teachers willdecrease the cost o attrition, estimated at over$450 million each year or Caliornia.4

Having administrators and teacher-leaders createproessional development at their schools lever-ages internal resources more eciently.

Supporting and monitoring Emerging Teachers en-sures that students at hard-to-sta schools get ac-cess to better instruction.

Increasing Emerging Teacher retention providesgreater stability or students.

Tailoring proessional development to EmergingTeachers at the school site would enable us toaccelerate the learning curve or teachers and in-crease student gains.


12/30



12

The Current Problem

The risk o attrition is highest in the early years o a teach-ers careerone out o ve will leave the proession bythe third year o their careers, and three out o ve willleave beore the th year.6 Unortunately, this is also thetime when teachers are making their greatest leaps in

eectiveness.7 Instead o retaining teachers who are mak-ing leaps in perormance, we are losing droves o teach-ers at the moment they are having the greatest impact onstudent learning.

Proessional Teachers Need

Opportunities to ocus on honing their crat

Pathways to build leadership skills

Dierentiated levels o support in pedagogy andclassroom management

Opportunities to see masterul teaching in actionA manageable course load and roster

Supporting Success

Proessional Teachers will begin to build a portolio oleadership skills to enable them to tackle more challeng-ing assignments, increase their project eectiveness andmanage a heavier course load. When teachers leave thisstage, they will have shown ve years o eective or three

years o highly e ective teaching.


Teacher Development

More Professional Development (PD) Autonomy: In therst stage o a teachers career, decisions about proes-

sional development are made almost entirely by the ad-ministrator and Mentor. In this second stage, teachers

Professional

Teacher

Building on the Basics

Professional Teachers


13/30


1.92%

8.33%

21.79%

46.15%

21.79%


impactul do you believe the ollowing roles



Teacher who writes and leads

professional development

NOT IMPACTFUL

MINIMALLY IMPACTFUL

SOMEWHAT IMPACTFUL

IMPACTFUL

CRITICAL

(310 respondents)



14/30



14

A rewarding career pathway is one where I can improve in the classroom

without being orced out and where I can utilize my own area o interest to

help the whole school improve.

Edward Kusell -Z igel man, high sc hool math and dance, D orsey High Sc hool

should be able to work with their Mentors and admin-

istrators to build an Individual Growth Plan and controlPD selection. While the goals should be agreed uponwith the aid o the Mentor and administrator and madea piece o the evaluation, the method to reach the goalsshould lie increasingly in the hands o the teacher. Thedistrict should work to expand the proessional develop-ment resources oered via its online platorm, and teach-ers should be encouraged and empowered to seek outother opportunities as needed.


Expanding Access to ColleaguesPeer Observer: Building on the experience o shadow-ing as an Emerging Teacher, teachers in this stage shouldbe encouraged to give inormal eedback to colleagueswhile simultaneously learning best practices. These no-stakes eedback orms should go into the teachers ownportolio o contributions to school and community, as evi-dence o both collaboration and pedagogy.8

We recommend that the Peer Observer be an in-class-room role, to ensure that they are immersed in the crat

o teaching. We also recommend that there be a reason-able cap on the number o observations conducted toallow teachers to ocus on their own classrooms.

Content Specialist: While new teachers will receivemore holistic support rom their Mentors, in order to dis-tribute leadership, Proessional Teachers should havethe opportunity to act as Content Specialists, and workwith Emerging Teachers on their specic content areas.

We recommend that the Content Specialist be a hybrid

role to enable this coach to be able to visit and consult

with new teachers, while honing and improving his or

her own practice.In-House Consultant: A career pathway must enableour schools to leverage teachers as early adopters oemerging technology and innovations who can sharetheir enthusiasm and expertise with peers. The In-HouseConsultant provides an opportunity or teachers who haveexpertise outside o their subject area to share knowledgeand training with colleagues (see page 15).

Leveraging Our Leaders: Expanding Access to

Students

Appropriate Scheduling and Class Load: ProessionalTeachers will have a lighter course or student load i theydecide to take on one o these leadership roles. To refectthe variation in learning styles and speeds, we recom-mend that their schedules be created in consultation withtheir Mentors, who will know the most appropriate andreasonable schedule.


Just like any leader, Peer Obser vers, Content Special-ists and In-House Consultants need to be evaluated ontheir eectiveness. They should be given regular eed-back on their perormance in these leadership roles.Teachers who are rated below eective in their ownclassroom should not be allowed to continue in their ad-ditional leadership role. Instead, these teacher shouldbe able to ocus on honing their crat.

As the role o In-House Consultants is developed, thereshould be clear rubrics and exemplars to help deter-mine the continued eectiveness o each role, and bestpractices should be shared regularly across schools to

maximize eciency.


15/30


The district has many new initiatives on the horizon, rom Common Core

implementation to tablet integration to technology-enhanced or Blend-ed learning. This position is an opportunity or enthusiastic early adopt-

ers to take on leadership roles. Additionally, this enables our district to

distribute inormation on innovations more quickly and eciently while

building on key learning and eedback rom early implementation.

Mr. Smith, having completed his induction program, has graduated rom

Emerging Teacher to Proessional Teacher. He now teaches a ull class

load. Mr. Smith has gone to several PD sessions on Common Core and

has already started to change the way he teaches graphs and trends. He

applies at his school site and is awarded a position as an In-House Con-

sultant on Common Core. He visits schools that are urther along in the

process, gathers best practices, develops workshops or his colleagues

and opens up his classroom as a model lab or Common Core, which al-

lows him to be both a ull-time teacher and an In-House Consultant.

School approves In-House Consultants

LAUSD and its Education Service Centers share high-priority categories

or consultants (or example, Common Core, Technology Integration or

Project-Based Learning)

Focusing OnIn-House Consultants

Why this makes

sense or LAUSD

What this couldlook like

Who can control

this


Leveraging early adopters allows the district to pi-lot, improve and generate buy-in on new innova-tions in public education beore going to scale.

Increasing the requency o inormal observationsthrough Peer Observers adds capacity to schoolsites.

Increasing supports or early-career teachersreduces the money and skill that are lost whenteachers turn over in the second to th years otheir careers.

Supporting early-career teachers means we will in-crease teacher retention during the years in whichtheir student achievement gains are being maxi-

mized.Leveraging early adopters ensures that students

gain equitable access to District innovations byspeeding up the process or sharing new inorma-tion and training.

Utilizing in-house experts ensures that all studentshave teachers who receive support, proessionaldevelopment and access to new technology.


16/30



16

The Current ProblemAs we hit our stride in our careers, teachers desperate-ly crave ways to continue to develop and to assist col-leagues in their growth. As proessionals in the businesso learning, we want the same opportunities we promiseour studentsconstant development, ongoing support

and new challenges.

Lead Teachers Need to Impact

Our proessional and career growth

Our colleagues, grade teamsand departments

Innovations in pedagogy

School policies and protocols

Supporting Success

Lead Teachers will continue to build skills in creative prob-lem solving, data analysis and project management. Allo these skills will be built through projects that serve theirstudents, schools and districts. The teachers who leave

this stage will have shown seven years o eective teach-

ing, with at least one year o highly eective teaching.


Teacher Development

Full Autonomy in Professional Development: LeadTeachers should be empowered to utilize the districtsweb-based platorm to develop Individual GrowthPlans with their administrators and manage their ownprogress.


Expanding Access to ColleaguesMentor: Mentors can take on the important responsibil-ity o guiding early teachers through the challenging rstew years o their careers. This is an exciting option or

Lead

Teacher

Pushing Ourselves, Pushing One Another

Lead Teachers


17/30


1.61%

4.19%

17.10%

45.81%

31.29%


impactul do you believe the ollowing role



Opportunities for teachers to write

proposals for programs and new roles

based on school needs

NOT IMPACTFUL

MINIMALLY IMPACTFUL

SOMEWHAT IMPACTFUL

IMPACTFUL

CRITICAL

(310 respondents)



18/30



18

Teachers need career paths in order to ind a good it

proessional ly, discover their talents and eel ul illed.

Mar in a Velez , hig h sc hool Sp anis h, IC EF Lou Dantzler

Lead Teachers who wish to help build the pipeline o

the proession. Mentors should be evaluated on peror-mance in this role separately rom their perormance asa teacher. This should be conducted by Mentor Evalu-ators (see page 20). Additionally, their continued par-ticipation should be based on their eectiveness as Men-tors and their continued eectiveness with their students.

We recommend that Mentor Teachers be a hybrid rolein order to accommodate the time teachers will need toconduct observations, deliver eedback and engage inproessional development o mentees.



Educator Entrepreneurship Grant: The district shouldprovide Lead Teachers with options to und innovativeideas that contribute to student achievement and theschool community. Lead Teachers can apply or district

grants to und additional school roles or programs that

are rooted in research and address the particular needso their school communities (see page 19).


Lead Teachers who serve as Mentors are at the sametime growing proessionals. They require training, sup-port and accountability or their role as Mentors. Boththe Mentor and mentee should have the opportunity togive input on the quality o the match and program.

Successul implementation o school-based grants wouldrequire district leaders to be thoughtul about the reviewand selection process and provide clear guidelines andrubrics or applicants. We recommend that LAUSDs Ed-ucation Service Centers take on the application reviewprocess. These local centers will be better equipped tohelp judge local needs and identiy common trends andnecessities across sites.


19/30


In a district that has over 25,000 teachers who serve over 600,000

students, it is unrealistic to expect a single district oce to know the

needs o each individual school and community. But teachers in the

classroom every day see rsthand the policies, programs and initiatives

that have the potential to transorm their students lives. Allowing

teachers to design those solutions would encourage teacher leadership

and entrepreneurship, and inspire decisions to be made closer to the

child.

Mr. Smith is a highly eective sixth-year teacher who has advanced rom

Proessional to Lead Teacher. In collaborating with other schools as an

In-House Consultant, he sees an opportunity or his school to improve

parent engagement, which is clearly linked to student achievement.7

He proposes the role o Family and Community Liaison. This role would

entail engaging in community outreach, acilitating parent workshops

and strategically building partnerships between teachers and amily. I

he can use data at the end o his one-year grant to demonstrate the roles

eectiveness, he can apply or urther unding to strengthen or expand

his program.

Teachers in collaboration with administrators create grant proposals

LAUSDs Education Service Centers approve proposals

Focusing OnEducator Entrepreneurship Grants (EEG)

Why this makes

sense or LAUSD

What this could

look like

Who can controlthis


Providing more autonomy and innovation opportu-nities may incentivize better retention rates, savingcosts o attrition

Leveraging teacher leaders at school sites will re-duce need and cost o external proessional devel-opment consultants

Increasing the number o community partnershipsin our schools will build school capacity

Requiring programs to have student achievementor student need as one o their metrics o successensures a ocus on students

Forging community partnerships can help addressother, non-academic barriers to learning

Increasing student access to community advocatesand partners will build relationships that can beleveraged or college and career


20/30



20

The Current ProblemResearch consistently shows that a teachers impact on stu-dent achievement tends to plateau ater year seven.10,11In act, teachers in year ve were shown on average tohave similar impacts to teachers in year 20.12 This stag-nation is a disservice to our students learning and our

own proessional growth.

Innovating Teachers Need to Impact

Our proessional and career growth

Our colleagues, grade teams anddepartments

Proessional learning communities

District policy and protocols

Supporting Success

Innovating Teachers should lead both by transerringknowledge and leadership to others, and by modelingongoing proessional growth. Innovating Teachers shouldcontinue to take on new projects and challenges to ex-pand their access to more colleagues and students.


Teacher Development

Full Autonomy in Professional Development: InnovatingTeachers should continue to have ull autonomy over theirown PD selections in collaboration with their administra-tors and their individual growth plans. These individualsshould be rewarded or meeting goals with increased op-portunities to learn rom their colleagues at other schools,in other districts and at conerences.

Leveraging Our Leaders:Expanding Access to Colleagues

Mentor Evaluator: Any Innovating Teacher who has beena Mentor should be empowered to work with administra-tion to support other teachers who are taking on this re-sponsibility. As a teacher supporting several Mentors, he

Innovating

Teacher

Leading Leaders

Innovating Teachers


21/30


1.61%5.47%

29.26%

42.44%

21.22%


impactul do you believe the ollowing

opportunity could be in leveraging and

retaining great teachers and driving student

achievement?

Teacher whose role is to align

community and curriculum across

feeder schools (elementary, middle and

high schools)

NOT IMPACTFUL

MINIMALLY IMPACTFUL

SOMEWHAT IMPACTFUL

IMPACTFUL

CRITICAL

(310 respondents)



22/30



22

Outstanding teaching impacts numerous students

each year, but the improvement is multiplied when

those outstanding teachers are given the roles and

responsibilities to have a broader impact.

Katherine Woodield, high school math, Lakeview Community Char ter High School

or she would also be able to see patterns across grade

levels or departments. The Innovating Teacher would thenbe able to acilitate improved support and training orMentors based on sta trends and needs.

We recommend that the Mentor Evaluator role be an in-classroom role, since check-ins and ollow-ups with Men-tor teachers can happen on an as-needed basis.

Peer Evaluator: Drawing on recommendations romLAUSD and UTLA, we believe peer evaluation should bepart o a multiple measure evaluation system. As with all

Innovating Teachers, Peer Evaluators must be rated highlyeective. It is critical that teacher observers be trainedand calibrated.

We recommend that the Peer Evaluator role be a hybridrole to give evaluators adequate time to observe class-rooms, provide meaningul eedback and ollow up withstruggling teachers.



Inter-School Coordinator: Innovating Teachers shouldhave the opportunity to impact students across schoolsites by making sure there is a seamless transition be-tween neighboring elementary, middle and high schools.Inter-School Coordinators could be tasked with analyz-ing data to determine where breaks are occurring in PK

through 12. They would then ensure curriculum alignment

across elementary, middle and high schools in their eed-er patterns.13 For instance, an Inter-School Coordinatormight strengthen literacy skills alignment to ensure thatelementary students are prepared or middle school, whoare then, in turn, prepared or high school. A study romUSC ound that school networks that implemented strongeeder patterns had aster turnarounds and more lastingreorms.14 An Innovating Teacher who has had exten-sive experience with curriculum alignment as a ContentSpecialist may be specially suited to build that strong net-work.

We recommend that the Inter-School Coordinator be anout-o-classroom role and based in one o LAUSDs Educa-tion Service Centers. This will accommodate the manyschools involved in a eeder pattern and suciently sup-port teachers across school sites.


Our colleagues in other districts have consistently oundthat mentors and evaluators need to be two very distinctroles.

In Hillsborough County, FL, or example, they attributemuch o the success o their mentorship program to thenon-adversarial nature o the program and the brightlines drawn between evaluative visits rom peers andsupportive visits rom mentors.15


23/30


LAUSD has taken the rst steps to develop and implement a thorough,

multi-measure evaluation system. In order to ensure successul implementa-tion, schools need to have the capacity to provide meaningul observations

and eedback. Teacher leaders may be our most under-leveraged tool or

supporting peers and our new evaluation system. Our strongest and most

eective teachers should be encouraged to take on Peer Evaluator roles.

Currently, state law prevents us rom ully leveraging highly eective teach-

ers as Peer Evaluators.16 To help rectiy this problem, our District must

advocate or changes to state law, which allows only licensed administrators

to be ormal evaluators o teacher practice. Luckily, both our District and

union agree and have called or ormal peer observers to be part o teacherevaluation.

Mr. Smith has progressed rom Lead Teacher to Innovating Teacher. Over

the course o his 20-year career, he has taken on a wide range o leadership

roles, including returning to his classroom ull time. He now serves as a Peer

Evaluator, helping to improve the quality o instruction in his school.

Schools select District-normed and trained Peer Evaluators

District provides norming and training to Peer Evaluators

Why this makes

sense or LAUSD

What this couldlook like

Who can control

this

Focusing OnPeer Evaluators


Increasing school capacity to conduct observa-tions supports the implementation o the Districtseducator evaluation system

Utilizing and expanding on technology reduceslong-term spending on proessional development

Increasing capacity to oer teachers eedback,mentorship and support improves quality o studentinstruction

Strengthening instructional alignment between el-ementary, middle and high schools drives studentachievement


24/30



24

Valuing Our Partners: Learning rom UTLA, LAUSD and OthersOur recommendations refect research on sound strategies proposed rom

UTLA, LAUSD and other districts.

Leverage the voices o teacher-leaders in decision making

Support all teachers rom induction through retirement

Empower teachers to crat policies that serve their own schools and students

Embed proessional development in every stage o a teachers career

Strengthen the peer assistance and review process

Focus on roles that expand reach and impact o highly eective teachers

Focus on roles that can be used to support struggling teachers

Focus on roles that can keep highly eective teachers in the classroom

Provide intensive support or teachers in their early years (Aspire Public Schools,

Hillsborough County Public Schools)Create a multiaceted pathway to capture dierent areas o interest and passion

(Baltimore City Schools, DC Public Schools)

Value the teachers who choose not to take on any extra roles (Arizona CareerLadder Program, Cincinnati Public Schools)

Learningrom UTLA

Learningrom LAUSD

Learning romother districts


25/30


Conclusion

It is a privilege to be a teacher; to have a hand in shaping young minds

who are the very uture o our city and nation. More than a noble proes-

sion, our job requires creative problem solving, management expertise

and dynamic leadership. Giving teachers a path to grow in their class-

rooms and within their careers has the potential to inspire a dogged pur-

suit o continuous learning and excellence. This is precisely what we want

to teach our students.


26/30



26

1. Does Practice-Based Teacher Preparation Increase Student Achievement? Early Evidence rom the Boston TeacherResidency, National Bureau o Economic Research, 2011.

2. Aspire Public Schools: Academic Achievement, http://www.aspirepublicschools.org/?q=results0910 (October2012).

3. SDP Human Capital Diagnostic: LAUSD, Strategic Data Project and Harvard University, 2012.

4. Teacher Attrition: A Costly Loss to the Nation and to the States, Alliance or Excellent Education, 2005.

5. No Dream Denied: A Pledge or Americas Children, National Commission on Teaching and Americas Future,2003.

6. Many Ways Up, No Reason to Move Out, Center or Teaching Quality, 2011.

7. How and Why Do Teacher Credentials Matter or Student Achievement? CALDER, 2007.

8. See E4E-Los Angeles 2012 Policy Teams Breaking the Stalemate or a more detailed look at this proposal.

9. A new wave o evidence, Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 2002.

10. Teacher-student matching and the assessment o teacher eectiveness, National Bureau o Economic Research,2006.

11. Teachers, Schools, and Academic Achievement, Econometrica, 2005.

12. Ladd, Helen, Value-Added Modeling o Teacher Credentials: Policy Implications, Duke University and CALDER,2008.

13. Every residential address has a School Feeder Pattern, which assigns students to an elementary school, middle orjunior high school, and high school.

14. Improving schools through networks: A new approach to urban school reorm, USC Rossier School o Education,2002.

15. With addition o mentors, district retains more teachers, Empowering Eective Educators, 2012.

16. See Caliornia Education Code Sec. 44665.

References


27/30


Appendix: Our Process and Methodology

Identiying Our Policy Focus

E4E-Los Angeles held more than 20 ocus groups withroughly 150 teachers who teach in our district schoolsand polled E4E members to identiy the most importantand impactul policy issues.

Reviewing Research

The Teacher Policy Team met or several months toreview research on dierent national attempts to addressteacher attraction and retention as well as local strate-gies being proposed or piloted by UTLA, LAUSD andlocal charter networks. Additionally, the Teacher Policy

Team held conversations with leaders rom LAUSD, TNTPand other national experts.

Conducting Local ResearchThe Teacher Policy Team conducted over 120 peer andadministrator interviews to gather critical stakeholdereedback. We also conducted a survey o over 300teachers and school leaders, including E4E-LA membersand non-members, to understand the most essentialstrategies or attracting and retaining great teachers inhard-to-sta schools.


28/30



28

Teacher Policy TeamLisa Alva WoodHigh School English

Roosevelt High School

Omar AraizaFourth Grade Special Education

NOW Academy

Sada AshraSixth Grade History

Community Charter Middle School

Phylis HomanThird Grade

Harry Bridges K-8 Span School

John KannoskyHigh School Art

Animo Venice High School

Edward Kussel-ZigelmanHigh School Math and Dance

Dorsey High School

Brandy PricePrincipal

Ingenium Charter School

Jennier Ramirez

KindergartenBarack Obama Charter School

Christopher RecordsSpecial Education

School o Social Justice at Linda E. Marquez High School

Bianca SanchezSecond Grade

NOW Academy

Kelly VallianosThird Grade

Dominguez Elementary School

Marina VelezHigh School Spanish

Lou Dantzler High School

Katherine WoodeldHigh School Math

Lakeview Charter High School


29/30


For ar too long, education policy has been created withouta critical voice at the tablethe voice o classroom teachers.

Educators 4 Excellence (E4E), a teacher-led organization, ischanging this dynamic by placing the voices o teachers at

the oreront o the conversations that shape our classroomsand careers.

E4E has a quickly growing national network o educatorsunited by our Declaration o Teachers Principles and Be-lies. E4E members can learn about education policy and re-search, network with like-minded peers and policymakersand take action by advocating or teacher-created policies that

lit student achievement and the teaching proession.

Learn more at Educators4Excellence.org.


30/30

Los Angeles

step: supporting teachers as empowered professionals

Documents