Dear Teachers and Administrators: I want to thank each of you for your role in getting our division off to such a fantastic start this year! As I have had the privilege to see during my school visits, teachers already are providing excellent learning work and opportunities for our students.

That’s a great lead-in to our 2015-16 School Year Teacher Performance Appraisal (TPA) cycle. The Performance Appraisal process is so important because it strengthens and extends our professional learning culture. This in turn ensures that we are meeting the educational needs of all students. While you can read about our TPA philosophy and technical guidance, I’d like to share with you some thoughts about three of our division’s priorities this year: goal setting, learning walks, and an update to the TPA that will take effect next year.

Goal Setting

September is the best time to set goals for student academic growth and for our own professional development. Keep in mind as you develop your goals for student academic growth that alignment with your school’s strategic improvement plan and our division’s strategic plan is very important. It helps to ensure the depth and long-term viability of our achievements for students. As educators, we value flexibility in how best to achieve our individual goals, but as part of a world-class team, we are unified by our common purpose outlined in our division’s strategic plan.

In thinking about our own professional development and growth, the most useful guidance we have results from our summer work with school administrators. We outlined five focus areas: student communication skills; digital integration with student learning; the seven pathways to contemporary learning; mathematical thinking; and relevant and challenging learning experiences. Each of these areas supports our School Board’s strategic priorities.

Learning Walks

The use of learning walks for supervision, collegiality and feedback has been a part of our division’s commitment to continuous improvement for more than a decade. One benefit of our long-standing use of this model has been a steady accumulation of helpful indicators. We selected four of those this year upon which to focus: the level of thinking (Bloom’s Taxonomy) indicated by student activities; the level of engagement of students; choice (student seating, use of varied technologies, varied student activities); and the evidence of learning designed to build Lifelong-Learner Competencies (LLLC). Each principal and staff may also develop up to three school-based indicators that support their school’s strategic plan. Principals will talk about individual competencies in our monthly meetings, using observations from our own learning walks.

TPA Update

The TPA’s fundamental underpinnings and the supporting tools we use should be dynamic and periodically reviewed and updated to incorporate the most current evidence-based practices. Last year, for example, a small group of schools and a department piloted a paperless appraisal system. This year, roughly half of all schools are piloting the program with the goal of county-wide implementation in 2016-17. During this year, our Human Resources staff will be seeking your advice on how to improve and streamline the TPA to make it best work for you. Please look for more details soon.

Our Learning Walk and TPA processes are best practices when principals share aggregate learning walk data, both individually with teachers as well as with their entire school team. Being able to reflect on this data and identify promising areas for development, improvement and growth are powerful strategies for fulfilling the high expectations we have for all students. When fully implemented and aligned with our Framework for Quality Learning, the TPA is a powerful performance model for teachers, administrators and, most importantly, students. As our practices improve, their learning experience improves.

Thank you for your full engagement in our Learning Walk and TPA processes and for all your wonderful work each day on behalf of our students, their families, and your colleagues.

Matthew S. Haas, Ed.D.
Assistant Superintendent