Educator Effectiveness: Mid-Interval Review

Sharon Seely contributed this post. Click here to read more of Sharon's thinking.

I woke up this morning thinking, “it’s January…It’s January…IT’S JANUARY!”

Do I have a New Year’s resolution?  Am I going to make one?  Will I keep it to myself or will make it public?  I have heard that more resolutions are attained when they’re made public, holding you accountable.  I’ll think about that one.

So, I started thinking, “What have I accomplished so far this school year?What did I state is my Educator Effectiveness SMART goal for this year?” 

Okay, (school) resolution #1 – re-read my SMART goal at least once a month.

I began by looking back at how I came up with my SMART goal to start with.

At the beginning of the school year, I did what the classroom teacher were doing, self-evaluating.  Last year, I used Danielson’s book Enhancing Professional Practice’s rubric for Instructional Specialists.  This year I used Teachscape Rubrics for Instructional Specialists.  I like that this resource contains sample indicators of proficiency for each component.  After completing my self-evaluation, I looked at the areas I needed to focus more time and attention on.  Those areas became my SMART goals.

Self-Evaluation using Instructional Specialist Rubric

SMART goal written based on self-evaluation results

January – Mid-Interval Review

• Am I at least halfway to meeting my goal(s)?
• What changes, if any, do I need to make to attain my SMART goal? 
• Do I need to rewrite my SMART goal?
• Sometimes unexpected needs arise and we need to change our focus.  It is totally okay to hear.  Being responsive to our teachers’, schools’ and district’s needs, is our job!

Today, I plan to look at my 2015-16 SMART goal, evaluate my progress so far, ask another coach to peer-review, possibly make some changes and move forward to achieve what I have said I would do.   Have a Happy 2016!

Resources: Literacy-Related SLOs

Literacy-Related SLOs: DPI's 2015 Literacy (un)Conference

Literacy-related school or student learning objectives (SLOs) provide a unique opportunity to improve academic achievement for students, strengthen professional practice, and collaborate with colleagues. DPI's 2015 Literacy (un)Conference highlights the voices of more than ten Wisconsin literacy leaders; each discusses his/her experience with SLOs.

The videos do not focus on the procedural or compliance aspects of SLOs. Instead, each featured literacy leaders speaks honestly about his/her experience. Topics include:

• the SLO as an authentic inquiry process for educators (think: action research)
• strategic assessment within the SLO process
• rigor and focus
• coaching around SLOs
• literacy-related SLOs (disciplinary literacy)

The videos (each less than four minutes) can be used in the following ways:

• "I never thought about that!" Watch one or more to push your thinking about SLOs
• "I have a video for that!" Be familiar with content of videos to be able to share as appropriate in coaching sessions, professional learning communities, or other professional learning situations
• "My staff development is missing a little something. . . " Select one video to intentionally share with your staff as inspiration as they begin thinking about and/or writing their SLO(s) for this year
• "This is perfect for ______!": Maybe you're not responsible for staff development related to SLOs. Share one or more of the videos with the person/people in your district who may be able to use the videos in their work.