Act 54 and Compass Overview
Student Growth Measures
NTGS
Value Added
Professional Practice
100
Act 54 requires that 50% of the performance evaluation of all educators (principals and teachers) be based on measures of student growth. The law requires student learning measures to be determined using a value-added approach for grades and subjects in which the necessary data are available; for other grades, the law requires BESE to develop an alternative process for measuring student growth. The law requires targeted support for all teachers whose students are not making adequate progress, requires annual evaluations, and extends the grievance procedures of due process to teachers. Act 54 also requires that value-added methods be used for school accountability measures.
What is Act 54 and Compass Overview?
100
Where available, the value-added assessment model will be used to measure student growth. In Non-Tested Grades and Subjects (NTGS), where value-added data is not available, Student Learning Targets (SLTs) set at the district, school, or classroom level will be used to measure student growth.
What is how will student growth be measured?
100
These are data-driven goals, aligned to standards that express an expectation of student growth over a given period of time.
What are SLTs?
100
This is a statistical approach that combines students’ prior years test data and demographic factors with current year LEAP or iLEAP results to determine whether they made more or less academic progress than would be expected for students with their educational history. Value-added assessments are designed to create a more equitable way to examine student results by shifting the focus from where student ended the year and instead analyzing how much progress students made during the year.
What is the Value-Added Model?
100
One of these and at least one one other of these are required per year. .
What is how many observations are required each year?
200
Beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, student growth measures will become part of each teacher’s and principal’s evaluation. As prescribed by law, an Advisory Committee on Educator Evaluation (with 50% of members required by law to be classroom teachers) was established and made recommendations to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to align state policies with the provisions of Act 54. The recommendations of ACEE were presented and adopted by BESE in December 2011.
What is the timeline for implementing the requirements of Act 54?
200
Teachers in the following areas will receive value-added scores for the 2012-2013 school year: Grade 3 (ELA, Math); Grades 4-8 (ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, Reading); and Grade 9 (Algebra I, Geometry). Value-added assessment data will be available by June 1 of each year.
What is which teachers will receive value-added results?
200
The LDOE will provide a list of common assessments that may be used to measure student progress and a library of exemplar SLTs in various NTGS areas. The state will also provide multiple, ongoing training opportunities for school leaders on how to establish Student Learning Targets beginning in April. Additionally, SLT Academies will be hosted by the LDOE in conjunction with the summer trainings on Common Core State Standards. These trainings will occur in June and July for teachers.
What is how the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) supports educators in developing and assessing SLTs?
200
These will be used as part of teacher evaluations based on the requirements of Act 54, beginning in 2012-2013. These results can be used by teachers to guide selection of professional development opportunities, guide development of professional growth plans in their schools, and allocate resources to capitalize on strengths and mitigate weaknesses. For example, if a school has a teacher who is making exemplary progress in mathematics, or with a particular group of students, the school could create a professional learning community around this teacher’s work to diffuse that teacher’s approach to other classes.
What is how are Value-Added scores going to be used?
200
It is an observation that lasts for the entirety of a lesson and is preceded by a pre-observation conference and followed by a post-observation conference
What is how an observation is defined?
300
Educators who are struggling to meet standards of effectiveness will be placed on an intensive assistance plan, designed to address their individual areas of need. The educator is to be formally re-evaluated within one year of being placed on the intensive assistance plan.
What is remediation and support be provided to educators who are struggling?
300
This designation refers to teachers who either: 1) teach grades and subjects that are not tested via the state’s current annual standardized testing program; or 2) teach in a grade and/or subject area where there is no prior year assessment data available for their students. The student growth component of the evaluation for this group of teachers will be based on pre-determined Student Learning Targets (SLTs).
What is teachers teaching Non-Tested Grades and Subjects?
300
A standard rubric for evaluating teachers in NTGS areas has been developed for use statewide to ensure consistency in assessing the student growth component of evaluations. Evaluators of NTGS teachers will be trained and certified by the LDOE. The Department is also working to expand the reach of the Value-Added Model, as valid assessments become available for adoption, which will increase the number of teachers who can be compared using value-added data. A standardized NTGS rubric will be available in April.
What is how will the state ensure consistency of SLT implementation across districts?
300
Value-added assessment is based on a statistical model that weighs many factors to determine typical achievement. A student’s prior year achievement is the most heavily weighted factor. Other variables taken into account are: whether a child is gifted, receives free/reduced lunch, 504 status, English Language proficiency, prior discipline history, attendance, classroom composition variables, and disability status (e.g. emotionally disturbed, learning disabled, or other health impaired, etc…).
What are the factors taken into account in the Value-Added Model?
300
How do districts use alternate observation tools?
What is submit justification for how the tool will support student achievement and how validity will be ensured?
400
Extensive training of specific components of COMPASS have already been provided to district administrators, principals, and teachers statewide. Additionally, the LDOE will provide training on the Compass observation tool; the SLT process and rubric; and the Human Capital Information System (HCIS) during late spring and summer 2012. These trainings will be primarily for school leaders and other evaluators.
What is will there be training provided on the new evaluation system?
400
1. Streamline the process for assessing Student Learning Targets at the beginning of the year by shifting to an approval process, rather than rating on a five point scale. 2. Clarify criteria for evaluating performance on Student Learning Targets at the end of the year and make more adaptable to different types of 3. Provide more comprehensive guidance and resources to support implementation, (e.g. Model SLT library,
What is simplifying the SLT's?
400
1. Guidance around how to effectively set and assess Student Learning Targets is lacking. 2. Components of the rubric for evaluating Student Learning Targets are unclear.
What is the SLT process is too complicated; thus we are streamlining the process?
400
These are included in the assessment if he/she attended school for the majority of the school year (the requisite dates will be provided annually); remained enrolled at the same school from early in the school year until test time; took the regular state assessment; and is enrolled in grades 4-8. In addition, prior achievement data must be available for the student, and a teacher must agree that he/she taught the student for the year in question. If a student was taught by two different teachers during the course of the year (i.e., Teacher A taught reading in the fall, while Teacher B taught reading in the spring), then the two teachers would share the score.
What is which students are included in Value-Added data?
400
The principal can designate these to complete observations.
What is can the principal designate other leadership team members outside of themselves to serve as observers?
500
Time contraints are too prescriptive, the number of conferences is too time consuming, and HCIS is misaligned with the performance managment system.
What reasons to streamline the pilot?
500
A standard rubric for evaluating teachers in NTGS areas has been developed for use statewide to ensure consistency in assessing the student growth component of evaluations. Evaluators of NTGS teachers will be trained and certified by the LDOE. The Department is also working to expand the reach of the Value-Added Model, as valid assessments become available for adoption, which will increase the number of teachers who can be compared using value-added data. A standardized NTGS rubric will be available in April.
What is how will the state ensure consistency of SLT implementation across districts?
500
List the process for providing more comprehensive guidance for the SLT process.
What is Model SLT library, common assessments and SLT guidebook?
500
Initial work in Louisiana has found results to be more consistent than some other reports have found. The pilot work, the statewide advisory panel, and BESE have worked together to create a policy model for incorporating value-added results that provide protections against one year aberrations in data and triggers significant decisions when results are consistent over multiple years.
What are the concerns that value-added results are inconsistent from year to year?
500
Quantitiative and Qualitative data will be conducted by a member of the administrative team.
What is who should complete the final teacher evaluation?
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