Feedback provided by teachers in 16 pilot programs is helping Denver Public Schools retool its new teacher performance framework as it prepares to try it at more schools.
“We’re very happy to see overwhelming support for the system,” said DPS superintendent Tom Boasberg. “We look forward to even more constructive feedback.”
Leading Effective Academic Practice, or LEAP, has been tested for the past four months at 16 schools. It will roll out to 96 percent of the district this fall.
Before the pilots were launched, a majority of staff at each school voted to approve participation in the year-long test.
“I’m finding it interesting, the extent to which teachers are willing to give this evaluation system a try — and then to provide feedback,” said Pam Shamburg, the pilot manager, and Denver Classroom Teachers Association liaison.
Under the LEAP framework, teachers are evaluated in part based on four observations per year — two by their principal, and two by peer observers. In the past, teachers were observed once every three years.
A 28-page rubric created to guide the observations is being changed over the summer to clarify how elements of effectiveness apply to teachers of English language learners, gifted and talented, or special education students.
The framework is also being changed to match the effective qualities with coaching support and professional development.
“The driving, primary purpose of this system is aimed at coaching, developing and supporting teachers,” Boasberg said. “The evaluations tied to the framework are only one component.”
To help convey what effective qualities and practices might look like in the classroom, DPS created videos. Those videos and other resources can be used to help teachers improve the qualities described in the framework.
The district will hire 40 outside observers to make sure that those assessing teachers have the appropriate background knowledge. This would mean, for example, that observers with a background in science would be available to help assess science teachers.
By fall, a new component will be introduced to incorporate student perceptions and feedback into the evaluations.
Another 50 percent of teacher evaluations will be based on student test scores, in accordance with a bill passed last year designed to improve teacher performance.
DPS is collecting research to find the best way of configuring the test component. For the time being, LEAP does not connect a less-than-effective rating with any negative consequence.
