The Connecticut State Department of Education is publishing a bi-weekly column to help school administrators effectively implement the new educator evaluation requirements in their schools and districts. This first installment offers suggestions for measuring student growth in grades and subjects for which standardized assessments are not available.

As building leaders, you play a key role in helping teachers to establish and implement effective Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) that capture the most important learning that occurs within each grade or subject and is measured by high quality Indicators of Academic Growth and Development (IAGDs). Done well, the SLO process provides teachers a voice and values their ability to set rigorous goals based on knowledge of their standards, curriculum and the assessments to measure growth and development, as well as school context and student data.

Selecting appropriate SLOs and Indicators of Academic Growth and Development (IAGDs) can be challenging, especially in content areas that are not measured by the state or other standardized assessments. The Guidelines for Educator Evaluation (June 2012) require teacher SLO’s to be assessed using standardized measures where such standardized assessments are available and appropriate. State or district standardized measures are generally the most valid and reliable sources for student growth and performance data. However, in content areas or grade levels where standardized measures are not available, other assessments may be used. To develop fair and accurate SLOs and select or, in some cases, develop appropriate assessments to measure IAGDs, teachers should consider the following methods for assessing student growth: 1) state or other available standardized assessments that are aligned to the content taught, 2) commercially produced assessments which align with content standards, 3) district-developed measures, 4) teacher-created assessments provided they are fair, valid and reliable measures of student learning. The primary purpose of assessment should be to measure what the teacher is teaching and what the students are learning. No assessment should be used just to collect evidence for an SLO.

While building leaders are predominately focused on whole school measures by which schools are judged (i.e. CMT and CAPT or the coming SBAC assessments), we should not lose sight of the fact that teachers’ SLOs should represent the most important learning content for students in their class/subject. In many instances, a non-tested grade or subject area may support learning that is measured by a state or district standardized assessment, but will not use the state or district standardized test to measure the SLO. Therefore, requiring a teacher in a non-tested grade/subject to use the standardized district reading assessment as the IAGD, because it is the standardized test available in the district, may not be an appropriate or accurate measure of student growth. For example, teachers of visual art, music, theatre, and dance all promote similar skills needed to develop reading literacy.

Communicating by creating and performing in the arts often enhances students’ desire to read, write and speak. Skills in these content areas can lead to developing a better sense of metaphors, symbols, and underlying themes, increased ability to express and find meaning in text, improved abstract reasoning skills and better spatial-temporal reasoning skills used in reading. However, the teacher would not set a reading SLO, but rather a goal that would support reading and literacy through the content of the course taught. The assessment used as the IAGD would likely focus on the content, but should be aligned with literacy skills in the Common Core State Standards.

As an instructional leader in your building, you can support your teachers through the SLO process by providing quality feedback and targeted support throughout implementation, discussing instructional strategies and supports to reach their goals and encouraging collaborative practice among educators. SLOs are not just an evaluative tool, but an instructional tool. They embody what good instructional practice should be: a purposeful review of data, meaningful collaboration, analysis of student needs, and outcome-focused goal setting tied to classroom instruction. It is important to emphasize that setting SLOs is a process and not just an end result. To ensure the development of high quality attainable, but ambitious SLOs, the key is to commit to a cycle of continuous improvement throughout the year. Remind teachers that SLOs are flexible and can be adjusted or revisited as needed.