The future of PGES

During the August Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) meeting, Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) Associate Commissioner Amanda Ellis provided the board with an update on results from the 2014-15 implementation of our Professional Growth and Effectiveness System (PGES). This was the first year that every district implemented the system for teachers and leaders. Also, every local school board implemented the Superintendent Professional Growth and Effectiveness System. In my June 26 blog, I discussed the national perspective on this issue.

The results from Kentucky mirrored those that have been released in most other states. More than 90 percent of our teachers and leaders received ratings of accomplished and exemplary. Some will take this as good news and others will say that Kentucky has wasted five years and significant resources to implement a state evaluation system that has a mismatch between student performance and teacher performance.

The group that calls the PGES a waste of time and resources will point to the student achievement distribution in Kentucky. This distribution shows that slightly more than 50 percent of our students are achieving proficient and distinguished performance on state tests while more than 90 percent of teachers and leaders are receiving the highest ratings of performance.

The Kentucky Board of Education made a key decision to not include the PGES results in the state accountability model for 2015-16. Key reasons for the decision were the concern about the results and concerns about time to implement the system and problems with the technology system used by PGES.

The key question should not focus on the past but on the future. Certainly, the KDE team agreed with KBE that the PGES system was not ready for inclusion in the accountability model. However, it is critical to be clear about the purpose of PGES. The purpose was not to rank and rate teachers. The ranking and rating system was a federal requirement. Most major corporations have learned that evaluation systems that rank and rate do not lead to a more productive and engaged workforce. The basic purpose of the PGES was to promote professional growth and elevate the teaching profession.

Moving forward, I hope the KBE and KDE will focus on a couple of key issues.

Issue #1) – Ask teachers if the feedback they receive from PGES helps them improve their instruction. We know that many of our principals struggle to provide feedback to teachers since the principals may not have the content knowledge in a specific area. However, PGES allows for peer observers and also student feedback. These two sources in addition to the principal could provide excellent suggestions on how to improve. Also, it is very important that Kentucky focus time and effort on training principals on how to provide solid instructional feedback.

Issue #2) – KDE must partner with our universities, leadership training programs and other partners to provide coaching and feedback on how to develop rigorous but fair student growth goals. Every teacher in Kentucky should have student growth goals. Every principal will be evaluated on how well the teachers meet those student growth goals. KBE and KDE should look closely each year at the correlation between student growth goal performance and teacher/principal performance on PGES.

Issue #3) – KDE and districts must address time and technology concerns. The amount of time required of teachers and principals to complete the PGES measures must be manageable. The technology must be user-friendly and be seen as a time saver rather than a time consumer.

Issue #4) – This year the PGES data represents only the tenured teachers who were in their evaluation year cycle. The PGES data did not include statewide data from first year teachers or teachers not in their evaluation cycle year. It is still too early to make any long-term decisions on the future of the PGES system.

Issue #5) – KDE must focus training and support not only at the teacher and principal level, but also at the district level. Too often, central office administrators do not have the capacity to coach principals on how to provide instructional feedback to teachers. There are excellent models in our districts and KDE needs to identify those best practice districts and provide those models to all districts.

If any state in the nation can serve as a model for the implementation of a teacher and leader effectiveness system that improves student learning outcomes, it will be Kentucky. We have all the necessary ingredients: terrific teachers, strong leaders, terrific collaboration among partners and a focus on children.

Hopefully, everyone will give our schools and KDE the time needed to make the necessary adjustments in training and support.

The truth about teaching

Teacher Appreciation Week is drawing to a close. But I didn’t want it to pass without a nod to our state’s great educators. In my travels around the country, I often brag on our teachers. They are the ones on the front lines of learning day in and day out and are primarily responsible for the progress we have seen in recent years.

Coach John Wooden once said that the teaching profession contributes more to the future of our society than any other single profession. I agree. Regular readers of my blog know that I often cite the importance that other countries place on the teaching profession. We should follow their lead. As businessman Lee Iacocca once noted, in a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something else.

Most of us think we know what it means to teach, and by extension, to be a teacher.

But, the truth is, most people don't really know much about teaching. Their memories and perceptions come from being students — not teachers who spent hours, days and months preparing for them to arrive in their classrooms.

Most people have no knowledge of hours-long curriculum planning meetings, weekends spent correcting students' work or the time spent on professional learning seeking out new teaching strategies to help students master critical concepts.

Most people have never managed a classroom of 25 or more students, some of whom come to school angry or neglected, leery that another adult will let them down, but at the same time craving someone who will listen to them, see them, believe in them and help them.

Most people don't know what it is like to stress over learning new, more in-depth standards, master yet another new technology, or feel like a failure when all their hard work results in barely a percentage blip on state assessments.

In the public eye, teachers often swing between being revered and reviled. They are either members of the noblest profession or they are viewed as incompetent and ineffective.

These are simplistic, one-dimensional characterizations. Neither offers a true portrait of what it means to teach. In fact, the two extremes allow the realities of those who teach our children to be glossed over, unsaid and unshared.

Our preconceived notions and assumptions stop us from really knowing the first-year high school special education teacher who deals with students who cannot control their emotions and act out by swearing, throwing things, and sometimes physically harming themselves.

We don't get to meet the teachers who keep snacks in their desks so students don't go hungry, who buy winter coats, hats and mittens for children who come to school cold, or who purchase new shoes for those who can't afford them. Then there are the teachers who often work summers to raise money to help send students on field trips and to sporting events — experiences these students wouldn't otherwise have, if not for the teacher's selfless acts.

We seldom hear about teachers who help students afford the medications they need or who, often anonymously, pay to have heat, electricity or water turned back on for struggling families so their students will have the basics at home.

We miss out on learning about the teacher who regularly helps students' families read their mail because they cannot read well enough to understand it.

Or the teacher who logs 50 hours in one nine-week period volunteering time after school so that students can have the experience of being part of a drama production.

Yet, all of these teachers are real — dedicated, compassionate professionals who want the best for their students.

Few, however, take the time to learn what teachers really do and what is happening in their classrooms. Teachers ignite the spark of learning in children. They inspire, encourage and support our children. Great teachers don’t see students for what they can’t do, but help them discover what they can do.

If all the current critics of public education spent just one day with a teacher in a classroom, they would learn the truth about our public education system, the progress our students are making and the dedication and professionalism of our teachers. 

Too often we think we know what teachers do and what they need to do better. But we don't really know unless we listen to those who know — those who teach.

Teachers educate our children, but they also have much to teach all of us about what is happening in our schools. Let's take the time to not only thank them, but also talk with them and to listen to what they have to say.

A road map for moving forward

This week, the Interim Joint Education Committee received several reports. For me, two reports were of particular importance. 

The Advance Kentucky team provided an evaluation report for this outstanding program. Advance Kentucky team utilized the Kentucky Center for Education and Workforce Statistics to answer several research questions including, “Does participation in AP Math, Science, and English courses impact high school success, college remediation rates, and college performance and persistence?” The research study came back with overwhelmingly positive results for Advance Kentucky. It is clear that, when compared to a peer group with similar demographics, Advance Kentucky students: 
     • graduate from high school at higher rates and with higher GPAs
     • show twice the gains from PLAN to ACT
     • go to college at higher rates and take far fewer remedial course 
        once in college
     • earn higher college GPAs as first semester freshmen and return at 
        higher rates second semester

A recent news release highlighted some of the great work that Advance Kentucky and our high schools are doing across the state. I hope a key learning point for the Interim Joint Committee was the return on investment for a program like Advance Kentucky. 

The General Assembly provides funding for a number of programs in Kentucky that are basically flow through funds through either the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) or the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE). Given the continued decline of education funding, it is imperative that our General Assembly look closely at the return on investment of these programs. Some, like Advance Kentucky, are an excellent investment while others that have been funded for 20 plus years do not have the results to show a good return on investment.

Stu Silberman and the Prichard Committee presented a second report to the General Assembly. The Prichard Committee convened a task force on improving teacher effectiveness more than a year ago and the task force recently published a final report; an executive summary is also available. The task force report connects numerous efforts of the Prichard Committee, KDE, CPE, and Education Professional Standards Board in recommendations to the General Assembly. The task force report and recommendations provide an excellent road map in moving forward with recruiting and retaining excellent teachers in Kentucky.

Terry Holliday, Ph.D.
Education Commissioner

NOTE:  I plan on taking some time off over the holidays, so, I will not post a blog for the next two weeks. My blog will return on January 10. Hope you and yours have a great holiday and a happy new year!

Legislative Agenda for 2013

As legislators return next week, I want to ask superintendents, local boards and readers of this blog to contact their local legislators to push for a couple of issues.

1 – Raising the dropout age – I recently sent Governor Beshear a letter supporting this legislation. The legislation is also a priority for the Kentucky Board of Education. I hope readers will review the letter and contact their local legislator to support this important legislation.

2 – Preschool funding – This is a fairly straightforward concept and one that I know local superintendents support. We need to move from the complicated formula that has been used for preschool funding since the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) to a fairer and simpler formula.

3 – Career and Technical Education (CTE) – The Governor, through executive order, merged the Workforce Cabinet CTE program with the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) CTE program and placed the merged program under KDE. We need legislation this term to sustain this merger.

4 – Teacher/Principal Effectiveness – Last session we were able to get legislation through the House and a resolution through the Senate to implement the work of our Teacher/Principal Effectiveness committees. The session adjourned prior to the House and Senate agreeing on a compromise bill. A similar bill will be filed when this session reconvenes and we need strong support from all stakeholders to move the bill through quickly. Failure to move the bill through this term could have a negative impact on federal funds and Race to the Top grants.

Finally, I sent a letter to Governor Beshear that expresses my concern about support for our schools. I hope that readers will take time to review this letter and contact their local legislators to express concern about school funding.

Kentucky has made tremendous progress as evidenced by recent EXPLORE/PLAN scores, AP scores, ACT scores, NAEP scores, and Education Week’s Quality Counts report. However, we will not be able to maintain our progress without some restoration of funds for schools.

I am concerned about the recent announcement by the Kentucky School Boards Insurance Trust (KSBIT) and the Kentucky School Boards Association (KSBA) about the unexpected $50-60 million assessment to districts to cover shortfalls and the increased costs for districts that will come as result of having to procure new insurance coverage once KSBIT is closed.

Also, I am concerned that federal sequestration (cut of 9.2 percent) will happen in March with impact seen in the 2013-14 school budgets.

Given that this is not a budget session for our legislators should not deter readers from beginning this conversation with local legislators about additional education funding. We do anticipate discussion at some point, possibly in a special session dealing with tax reform. It is critical that education be a primary consideration of any tax reform discussion.

I hope readers will use the information in my letters to the Governor and this blog as you contact your local legislators.

Collaborative Work to Help the Teaching Profession

This week I was struck by what is happening in Chicago with the teacher strike, contrasted against the collaborative work going on in Kentucky. Over the past few days, Kentucky was very much focused on elevating the teaching profession. The Prichard Committee has launched a task force to look closely at improving teacher effectiveness. This task force has been charged with looking at teacher preparation, professional development, recruiting and retaining great teachers, and supporting teachers. Hats off to Executive Director Stu Silberman and the task force for looking at these issues in a thoughtful way and engaging teachers in the process.

Also this week, I dropped by to visit with my Teacher Advisory Committee, which was working with our professional development task force. This task force is an outgrowth of our selection as a model state to develop guidelines for professional development and support of teachers as they implement the Common Core State Standards. I was excited to see the group working very hard to develop key recommendations for professional development that I hope will in turn provide the framework for legislation for the 2013 session.

Another group that I am working with is the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). This group is developing accreditation standards for teacher preparation programs. I am co-chairing the accountability and public reporting committee. Our challenge is to develop key outcome measures for teacher preparation programs, levels of accreditation, public reporting and transparency guidelines, and annual performance requirements.

The national conversation about teachers and the teaching profession was certainly highlighted through the Chicago teacher strike. One of the key issues leading to the strike was the proposed teacher evaluation system that would include some measure of student performance. In Kentucky, we have been working with teachers and other stakeholders for almost two years to develop a statewide teacher effectiveness system.

The goal of our system is not teacher dismissal but teacher professional growth. In the past, our teacher evaluation systems have been narrowly focused without a lot of feedback and support for teacher professional growth. Our proposed system would greatly improve the feedback that teachers receive during the evaluation cycle and also provide access to the best professional development in the world, customized to meet the needs of the individual teacher and thus meet the needs of students in the teacher’s classroom. I was provided with an early look at our comprehensive software system that will provide teachers and administrators with the tools to bring our proposed system to fruition.

I am thankful to be in Kentucky and working with stakeholders who believe in collaboration to elevate and improve the teaching profession.

Student, Parent and Teacher Engagement

Summer vacation is coming to a close, and Kentucky students are heading back to school, refreshed and ready to learn new skills and challenge themselves to achieve at higher levels in the 2012-13 school year.

Rigorous curriculum, data-driven instruction, high-quality teachers and strong school leadership all play a role in increasing student achievement. But student engagement, as research has shown, is also critical in improving student outcomes.

Quite simply, engaged students are more likely to perform well academically. They invest in their learning, devote time to their studies and persist despite challenges and obstacles. They participate and care about the quality of their work beyond grades. They are committed because they see their studies have significance beyond the classroom.

Achieving positive engagement and positive learning results in Kentucky schools, however, does not just fall to students. It is a collaborative effort that hinges on the involvement of school leaders, teachers, parents and community members.

Teachers are key players in fostering student engagement. They work directly with students and typically are the most influential persons in a student’s educational experience. Creating a culture of high expectations and excellence, developing and delivering challenging, interactive and relevant lessons and activities, and being encouraging and supportive to students are all ways in which teachers can foster student engagement in the classroom.

Parents and guardians also play a pivotal role in student success through engagement. Schools must break down any barriers that impede family involvement in a child’s education and work diligently to increase interaction between adults and students at school and at home. Schools and teachers can do this by creating a welcoming and inviting environment at the school for parents, providing opportunities for parents to collaborate with the school and/or teachers to identify and support student needs, and keeping the lines of communication open. If done thoughtfully and intentionally, cultivating solid family engagement is well worth the time invested.

Parents should realize that they do not have to be present in the classroom during the school day to be involved in their child’s learning; they can offer substantial support from home by reinforcing the importance of taking school seriously, attending classes and completing homework. They also can work with the school or their child’s teacher to identify tasks they could complete at home after work hours that would be helpful. In addition, parents can and should monitor their child’s Individual Learning Plan (ILP) and use it to engage in conversations with their child about school work, goal-setting and college and career aspirations. 

 

According to our Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning (TELL) Kentucky working conditions survey, educators say one of the most important components for successful schools is parent and volunteer engagement in support of teachers and their schools. As we analyzed the data from low-performing schools, in particular, and compared student learning outcomes with parent and volunteer engagement, we found strong correlations -- the greater the engagement, the greater the student success.

So my message this week is simple: Get involved in our schools. It makes a difference. In fact, it is critical to the change we are working for in our schools here in Kentucky.

Certainly, we appreciate everything our communities have and are doing to support Kentucky schools. But there is always room for more. As we begin the 2012-13 school year, I call on everyone – school leaders, teachers, parents and community members – to find ways to increase engagement in our schools. Doing so will not only ensure our students are ready for college and careers, but also help transform our schools and keep Kentucky competitive in the global marketplace.

Teacher Preparation Improvement

This week, Kentucky received some good news about our progress in educating students. Indeed, Kentucky has made significant progress in education results since 1992. However, the report also showed that the U.S. is in the middle of the pack with regard to pace of education improvement.

My takeaway from the report is that yes, Kentucky has made great improvements, but we have much work to do to ensure our students are competitive in today’s global environment. To accelerate the pace of improvement in Kentucky and the nation, a key strategy will be to improve teacher preparation programs.

Currently, there are three major initiatives being conducted that will address teacher preparation programs. The U.S. Department of Education will soon announce new rules and guidelines for Title II that will impact teacher preparation. These guidelines will require states to evaluate teacher programs based on levels of performance and also will require states to report on teacher preparation programs based on the student learning results of the programs’ graduates. Also, the guidelines will require either state or national accreditation of programs.

The second initiative relates to the accreditation process for teacher preparation programs. The former National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC) accreditation groups have merged into the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). Currently, I am serving on a commission to develop the new accreditation standards for teacher preparation programs for CAEP.

Finally, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is working to define classroom-ready and leadership-ready standards for teachers and principals. This work is very similar to the work that CCSSO did on the Common Core Standards and principles for accountability that were the basis for the No Child Left Behind waivers that 26 states have now received.

While these initiatives represent three distinct approaches to improving teacher preparation programs, they are being informed by each other, and the outcomes from the work will be very similar. Because Kentucky and the nation must improve student learning outcomes so that our students are college- and career-ready, it is a given that the most important strategy to accomplish this vision is to ensure we have teachers in every classroom that are prepared to meet the challenge.

Our teacher preparation programs have done excellent work for many generations, but the challenges that today’s teachers are facing are much more difficult than ever before. We are asking teachers to not only provide equity of access, but to also provide equity of outcomes. These outcomes are much higher than at any point in the history of our nation.

Reforming Teacher Preparation Programs

Over the past few weeks, I have attended several meetings that, on the surface, do not seem related but are very much connected.

I serve on the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the nation’s report card – the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). We had our quarterly meeting recently, and there were two presentations that caught my interest.

The first presentation related to the changing demographics in our nation. Over 90 percent of the population growth in our country in the past 10 years has been in ethnic minorities. For the first time in our history, the majority of births this past year were to minority populations. The nation’s demographics are shifting so that by 2025, the majority of school-age children will be minorities. There are many positives about this data; however, there are concerns that minorities often also have large percentages of poverty, and poverty is a strong indicator of lower performance on state and national assessments.

The second presentation that piqued my interest was an analysis of the demographic change on the NAEP scores over the past 30 years. Our schools have done a tremendous job over the past 30 years. All groups of children – white and non-white – have increased NAEP performance by as much as 20 to 30 points over the past 30 years. However, the overall NAEP has moved only a couple of points.

In statistics, this is called Simpson’s Paradox. The paradox is that all groups have improved significantly, but due to changing demographics and increasing percentages of students in poverty and non-white categories, the NAEP overall average has not increased as much as individual groups.

This has tremendous implications for teacher preparation programs. While our teachers have done a terrific job over the past three decades in raising achievement of all children, the challenges are going to continue to be more difficult. Students with special needs such as disabilities and language barriers are going to require a significant change in the way teachers are prepared. ALL teachers need training and support in diagnosing and meeting the needs of a growing diverse population. Our teacher preparation programs and certainly our professional development programs must adapt to the challenges.

The next meeting I attended was the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). This group is recommending new standards for the accreditation of teacher preparation programs. The group had the same conversation as did the NAGB board. Given the changing demographics of our nation’s children, there are tremendous implications for change in the way schools of education prepare our nation’s teachers.

Over the coming months, I will keep readers informed about the progress of the CAEP standards. These standards have a direct impact on Kentucky schools of education and our licensure system. Our Kentucky teachers and teacher preparation programs have done tremendous work over the past 20 years in improving student performance in Kentucky. However, just like the rest of the nation, our demographics are changing.

Our students are bringing more challenges to the classroom than ever before. It is imperative that our P-12 systems work very closely with teacher preparation programs to provide prospective teacher candidates with clinical experiences and training that prepare them for the children they will be teaching. Our state and national economies are very much dependent on our ability to ensure that children of poverty and children with learning challenges are prepared for college and careers.

Changing the Way Educators Learn

For this week’s blog entry, I asked Associate Commissioner Felicia Cumings Smith to author a piece about professional learning. Felicia’s staff in the Office of Next-Generation Learners is keenly aware of the need to rethink the way Kentucky educators engage in training and learning to support their students and ensure their success.

As Kentucky continues to lead the nation with its college- and career-ready agenda, it cannot deny the critical role that professional learning plays. Being selected by Learning Forward as the Demonstration State for Implementing the Common Core Standards has enabled us to elevate the discussion related to professional learning and begin to analyze what steps are needed to support educators becoming more effective in their teaching and learning practices.

A report -- Transforming Professional Learning in Kentucky: Meeting the Demands of the Common Core State Standards -- authored by Linda Darling-Hammond (Stanford University) and Barnett Berry (Center for Teaching Quality) offers a look into the professional learning policy landscape in our state. Several recommendations deserve our immediate attention as we seek to ensure that all students have access to highly effective teaching, learning and assessment practices that will prepare them for college and career success.

In particular, the following suggest shifts in practice for a systems approach to professional learning for Kentucky educators:

1.      creating a “culture change” around professional learning — particularly with use of time during and beyond the school day; accessing/capitalizing on internal expertise; and focusing more on learning than on complying with a time requirement for professional development hours

2.      ensuring there is coherence and integration of professional learning systems — between higher education and P-12 (transition, remediation, preparation, professional learning/recertification)

3.      developing a clear vision of professional learning and growth that translates into practice for all (ultimately, ensuring equity in students’ access to effective teachers, leaders, and learning experiences)

The aforementioned document may be found on the Kentucky Department of Education’s website here. The work of the Professional Learning Task Force, which is comprised of individuals representing teachers, administrators and partners, is referenced throughout.

As Kentucky continues to build momentum for meeting the state college and career readiness goals, professional learning and educator effectiveness will be foundational to these conversations.

Felicia Cumings Smith, Associate Commissioner

Office of Next-Generation Learners

Set Aside May 8 to Thank a Teacher

Kentucky Derby Weekend is here, and I am sure a lot of you are planning to enjoy the fastest two minutes in sport, whether it be in person at Churchill Downs or more remotely at home or at a Derby party. It’s a wonderful event for Kentucky and spotlights many of this state’s strong traditions.

Another great tradition in Kentucky’s recent history is its efforts to improve learning for all students. It is an ongoing process and one that has involved incredible work this year, particularly by Kentucky teachers.

It is often said that teachers do not receive the recognition for the work they do. That is why I encourage everybody to take a few minutes on May 8, National Teacher Appreciation Day, to thank teachers for the wonderful work they do every day to ensure our children are successful.

Tremendous change has occurred in Kentucky public education system this year with the implementation of new standards and state tests, the creation of the Unbridled Learning accountability system and the development of the new teacher and principal Professional Growth and Effectiveness System (PGES).

Kentucky is a national leader in the effort to increase student achievement and prepare kids for life after high school. That excites us and brings us great pride. But I realize it also brings its share of stress and uncertainty, especially for teachers and others who feel pressure to learn and master the changes so they can raise achievement for all students and accomplish the goals we have set.

Yet, despite the additional work and the continued budget cuts, lack of textbook money and limited resources for professional development, I have been continually impressed with what I have seen as I visit classrooms throughout Kentucky. As I visit schools across the state and talk to educators, I am impressed by the high expectations Kentucky teachers are setting for their students and themselves and the innovation they are undertaking in their classrooms. Teachers have risen to the occasion as they have worked to implement new Common Core Standards, prepared for the new K-PREP assessments and Program Reviews, and developed innovative ways to ensure Kentucky students are engaged in meaningful learning that will ensure they are college- and career-ready.

A lot of states have been undertaking similar work in their schools. Not all those efforts have been productive or collegial. Some have resulted in legal wrangling.

In Kentucky, however, teachers are partners in our efforts to create new curriculum, instruction, assessment and evaluation systems that will help us ensure all children have the skills they need to succeed after graduation. At every stage, teachers have been at the table, working in networks to implement new standards, piloting new practices and systems and alerting us to implementation issues and problems that we may not have foreseen. This is exemplified by our ongoing, strong collaboration with the development of the Professional Growth and Effectiveness System.

In turn, I and the Kentucky Board of Education have continued  to seek out teacher input and insights through the TELL Kentucky survey — a tool that offers us valuable information as we focus on doing a better job of preparing teachers for the classroom and supporting those that are already there with effective professional development.

Kentucky is blessed to have such hard-working professionals in our schools. Showing our appreciation to them on May 8 is a small act. But it is one that I know would be much appreciated and is very much deserved.

Kentucky Is Committed to Education Technology

Since coming to Kentucky in 2009, I have been very impressed with the commitment to technology that is apparent throughout the commonwealth’s schools. I believe this commitment originates at the state level with a great plan and support from the General Assembly. Kentucky is certainly a leader among states with regard to state solutions for software and 21st-century classrooms.

Kentucky has a distinct advantage with the uniform student information system (Infinite Campus). This tool allows parent, student and educator access through a variety of platforms. Also, Kentucky has a strong advantage with the live@edu product from Microsoft. Kentucky was the first state in the nation to use cloud services for e-mail and storage. This was made possible by having a statewide active directory for e-mail addresses for educators and students. This active directory also has opened many other software solutions.

The Continuous Instructional Improvement Technology System (CIITS) is a powerful tool for educators across Kentucky. This tool provides educators with access to resources to support the implementation of the common core standards and teacher/principal evaluation systems.

The ASSIST software is another exciting tool for Kentucky educators. This tool will provide a single source for the development, implementation and monitoring of comprehensive school and district improvement plans. Schools and districts will not have to complete separate improvement plans for a variety of funding sources, and the plans will not have to be submitted in paper format. Also, schools and districts will submit Program Reviews required by 2009’s Senate Bill 1 through the ASSIST software.

MUNIS is our statewide solution for school finance. Over the past few months, we have been moving school districts to the MUNIS cloud solution. To date, we have over 100 of the 174 districts on the cloud. The cloud solution helped those districts impacted by recent storms meet payroll and financial obligations.

Individual Learning Plans (ILPs) are available for every student in Kentucky starting in 6th grade. During our recent Operation Preparation focus, we were able to increase the use of the ILPs by over 50 percent for parents of 8th-grade students. The ILP is an excellent way for parents to have conversations about long-range education plans for their children.

iTunes U is another great source for educators, students and parents. The resources from Kentucky educators, colleges and other sources are growing exponentially through this free and easy-to-access tool.

These are just a few of the great tools available to Kentucky educators, students and parents. Kentucky is certainly a 21st-century state when it comes to the use of technology. Again, this is due to strong financial support from the General Assembly; however, the FY 13 and 14 budget has taken a step back from this commitment. While we understand the short-range revenue shortfall, it is certainly our hope that the General Assembly will renew the commitment to education technology as soon as possible. I hope educators will let legislators know what a great impact technology has on the students, classrooms, schools and districts across Kentucky.

What Teachers Say About Working Conditions

At the Kentucky Board of Education’s April meeting, the board received the final report from the TELL Kentucky survey. This survey was a collaborative effort of many education partners and Governor Steve Beshear to ask teachers about teaching and learning in Kentucky schools.

More than 42,000 educators responded. To find out more about the survey, go to www.tellkentucky.org.

The report received by the board had several key findings, and I highlight a few of those below. The full executive summary is on the TELL Kentucky website.

Overall, Kentucky educators are satisfied with the teaching and learning conditions in their school. More than eight out of 10 educators (84 percent) agree that their school is a good place to work and learn, and more than four out of five teachers (83 percent) want to continue teaching in their current school buildings.

In comparisons with five other states conducting similar surveys, Kentucky educators are more positive about their teaching conditions in several important areas, including access to instructional technology and having sufficient time for professional learning opportunities that are well-aligned with their school improvement plans.

The area of greatest concern noted by teachers is time. Many Kentucky educators report that class sizes are insufficient for them to meet student needs, and only half agree that efforts are made to minimize paperwork that can distract from time for instruction.

Positive views of school leadership are related to quality standards, teacher assessment and school-based decision making (SBDM) councils, but more attention may be needed in areas related to conditions that build trust and mutual respect. Educators’ perceptions of school councils are largely favorable, as more than eight out of 10 (84 percent) agree that overall, their SBDM councils provide effective leadership in their schools. But three out of 10 educators (or more than 12,600 teachers in the state) disagree that there is an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect in their schools, and nearly three out of 10 (28 percent) report that teachers are not comfortable raising issues and concerns that are important.

Community support and involvement is most strongly connected with school-level student performance. Nearly all educators agree that teachers provide parents/guardians with useful information about student learning and that their schools maintain clear, two-way communication with parents/guardians and the community. Community support and involvement provide strong and statistically significant influences on student learning while controlling for student, teacher and school characteristics.

Community support and involvement and school leadership are critical influences on teachers’ future employment plans. The analysis of individual teacher employment plans and estimated retention rates in TELL Kentucky schools indicate that leadership support, community involvement and the processes and systems in place to manage student conduct are important areas to address to enhance teacher retention. Teachers are more likely to remain working in schools where there are parents and school leaders that create trusting environments and where teachers feel safe and engaged.

I encourage school councils, school boards and principals to revisit the results from the TELL Kentucky survey and ensure specific strategies are in place to address community support and involvement. Meeting with the Parent Advisory Council this week, a recommendation was made to ask schools and districts to revisit the Missing Piece of the Proficiency Puzzle scoring rubric to identify specific issues that could be addressed to improve parent and community engagement. For more information about the Missing Piece rubric, click here.

Metlife Survey Provides Reinforcement for Teacher Support

This past week, Metlife released the latest report for the Metlife Survey of The American Teacher. Readers can find the full report at http://tinyurl.com/7tlj6q6. This survey has been conducted since 1984 to give a voice to students, teachers and parents. The survey looks at views concerning the teaching profession, parent and community engagement and effects of the current economy on families and schools. There were some very interesting findings in this year’s survey.

According to the survey, there was a dramatic drop in teacher satisfaction this year. Those indicating they were “very satisfied” fell from 59 percent in 2009 to 44 percent in 2011. This is the lowest satisfaction rating in the history of the survey. The percentage of teachers who say they are fairly likely to leave the profession has increased by 12 points since 2009, from 17 percent to 29 percent.

To understand the drop in satisfaction and increase in likelihood of leaving the teaching profession, we can look at the impact of the economic downturn. Three-quarters (76 percent) of teachers reported declines in school budgets. Two-thirds (66 percent) of teachers reported layoffs in their schools. A majority (70 percent) of teachers reported increases in class sizes. Teachers also reported increases in poverty among students and families they serve, which has led to increased demands for health and social support services.

On a positive note, parents and teachers report an increase in parent and community engagement with schools. However, parent engagement is not universal among all schools. Parent and community engagement also have an impact on teacher satisfaction. In schools with high parent engagement, teachers are twice as likely to be very satisfied as compared to schools with low parent engagement (57 percent vs. 25 percent). Critical parent-school involvement activities include communication, volunteer opportunities, involving families in curriculum activities and decisions, involving parents in school decisions, coordinating school and community resources, and assisting families with parenting skills.

As I travel Kentucky, I see wonderful teachers and administrators who are excited about our focus on college and career readiness. However, I also see teachers who are frustrated with the continued decline of education dollars. The decline in education funding has led to increased class size, reduction of arts and practical living programs, reductions in planning time, reductions in materials and textbooks, and reductions in professional development. Additionally, teachers across the nation feel under attack due to the focus on using standardized test data as the most important component of evaluation.

First and foremost, I am a teacher, and I identify with the struggles and concerns of teachers. It is my hope that the key decision makers for the state budget are listening to the concerns of teachers. While we all know that we are in a difficult spot at the present time, I do hope that the positive signals from the economy will translate into support for our teachers.

Support for teachers leads to satisfied teachers, which leads to low turnover, which leads to positive impacts on the future of Kentucky – our children!

Teacher and Principal Effectiveness

A key requirement for states requesting a waiver for the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and for states receiving Race to the Top (RTTT) funds is the adoption, development and implementation of teacher/principal evaluation and support systems that improve the effectiveness of instruction.

Kentucky has been methodical in our development of the evaluation and support systems. Through the excellent work of the Teacher and Principal Effectiveness Steering Committees, we are very close to the field test of the multiple measures of the system and very close to the deployment of the support system (the Continuous Instructional Improvement Technology System, or CIITS).

I find it ironic that many states who received the first and second rounds of RTTT funding are struggling with development and implementation of the teacher/principal evaluation and support systems -- just this week I read of the struggles in New York ($700 million from RTTT), Tennessee ($501 million from RTTT) and Hawaii ($74.9 million from RTTT) -- while Kentucky has moved ahead with little to no funds available for the work. This is a remarkable testament to the dedication and collaboration between teachers, principals, parents, administrators and Kentucky Department of Education staff in focusing on students.

As we begin the field test of the teacher/principal evaluation system in February and roll out the formative assessment and professional development components of the CIITS system in coming weeks, I thought I would highlight the specifics of the NCLB waiver requirements with regard to teacher evaluation systems.

Highlights from ESEA Flexibility document from U.S. Department of Education, 9/23/2011

Principle 3: Supporting Effective Instruction and Leadership – page 5

To receive this flexibility, an SEA and each LEA must commit to develop, adopt, pilot, and implement, with the involvement of teachers and principals, teacher and principal evaluation and support systems that: (1) will be used for continual improvement of instruction; (2) meaningfully differentiate performance using at least three performance levels; (3) use multiple valid measures in determining performance levels, including as a significant factor data on student growth for all students (including English Learners and students with disabilities), and other measures of professional practice (which may be gathered through multiple formats and sources, such as observations based on rigorous teacher performance standards, teacher portfolios, and student and parent surveys); (4) evaluate teachers and principals on a regular basis; (5) provide clear, timely, and useful feedback, including feedback that identifies needs and guides professional development; and (6) will be used to inform personnel decisions.

Student growth is defined on page 9 of the same document – the change in achievement for an individual student between two or more points in time. For the purpose of this definition, student achievement means grades and subjects required under ESEA section 1111(b)(3). State assessments of reading and math meet this requirement. Also, a local education agency (LEA) may use other measures of student learning such as pre-tests, end-of-course exams, performance-based assessments, student learning objectives, performance on English-language learner assessments and other measures of student achievement that are rigorous and comparable across schools within an LEA.

The waiver requires the Kentucky Board of Education to adopt the guidelines for the evaluation system by June 2012. The full system must be in place by the 2014-15 school year. Our delivery plan currently has the field test in spring 2012, full state pilot in 2012-13 and statewide implementation in 2013-14. Districts will always have the option pursuant to KRS 156.557 to develop local evaluation systems that meet state education agency guidelines.

I want to personally thank the members of our Teacher and Principal Effectiveness Steering Committees for their hard work and dedication to students and professional growth of all certified staff in Kentucky.

Teacher Evaluation for Growth

It was an exciting week for education in Kentucky. We started the week with a presentation to the Interim Joint Committee on Education. The major focus of the presentation was the work of the Teacher Effectiveness Steering Committee.

I asked this group to develop a teacher effectiveness model that would promote teacher growth, increases in student learning and a holistic approach to defining effective teaching. I met with the committee this morning to discuss the implications and challenges to their work thus far.

One document that the committee utilized to frame our discussion this morning was the National Education Association (NEA) position paper on teacher assessment and evaluation. This document provides several excellent points.

* Current systems of assessing, evaluating and supporting teachers too often fail to improve teacher practice and enhance student growth and learning.

* Current policy discourse about teacher evaluation is mired in a rewards-and punishment framework that aims to measure effectiveness of each teacher, categorize and rank teachers, reward those at the top and fire those at the bottom

* The core purpose of teacher assessment and evaluation should be to strengthen the knowledge, skills, dispositions and classroom practices of professional educators.

These guiding principles were very closely aligned with my original charge to the teacher effectiveness steering committee. I asked that group to develop a growth system that would promote the growth of teachers so they could enhance student growth and learning. Bottom line – I asked them to create conditions for a learning system for all (administrators, teachers and students) rather than a teaching system that focused on checklists and little feedback for growth.

The next steps are to recruit 50 of the 174 school districts to pilot the multiple measures that the teacher effectiveness system might include. These measures include such things as observations, self-assessment, professional development/growth plan, student voice, parent voice, peer feedback and, certainly, student growth. The 2011-12 school year 2011-12 will be a pilot year to gain confidence in the content and face validity of the multiple measures. In 2012-13, we will do a statewide pilot/validation of the system and, hopefully, be ready to implement the system in 2013-14.

We hope to include teacher and principal effectiveness as a measure in the state accountability model. At this time, we are not certain if legislation will be required. It has been our hope from the beginning that we would work collaboratively to build a model of teacher effectiveness that all districts, principals and teachers would want to support and implement. Only time will tell if we are successful in this effort.

Effective teachers and leaders are the most important parts of helping all children succeed. Our children’s future is at stake.

China’s Choices

Recently, I had the honor of being part of an education delegation to China, sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers, Asia Society and Pearson Foundation. I had an opportunity to learn from and share with educators from Beijing to Shanghai. In this blog I want to highlight two clear choices that China has made with regard to education and relate these choices to a recent article that appeared in Education Week.

China made a choice about teacher time. In China, teachers have about 12-15 hours of instruction time with students each week, compared to U.S. teachers with 24-30 hours. The Chinese teachers utilize between 15-18 hours each week for preparation, improving instruction, collaborative learning with other teachers and support services like grading papers, as compared to U.S. teachers with 0-6 hours. The choice made by China is class size. The average class size in China could be between 40-50 students per class as compared to the average U.S. class size of 16-25.

Another choice the Chinese have made is teacher specialization. In elementary/middle grades, teachers have specialization in Chinese, English, math, science and other subjects. In the U.S., our teachers -- especially in elementary school -- are asked to be ALL things to students and teach ALL subjects. Quite often, our elementary and even middle school teachers lack the math and science content knowledge that these specialized teachers in China have.

Recently, I read an article by Frederick Hess, Greg Gunn and Olivia Meeks – Maybe the Square Peg Will Do – that appeared in Education Week’s opinion section. This article talks about teacher effectiveness and says that currently we have two schools of thought:
* Teachers are doing the best they can do given social ills like poverty and the breakdown of family, and we should support teachers with more resources and not “blame” them for poor performance.
* We need to remove ineffective teachers, and the best way to measure effectiveness is with student test scores. After removing them, we need to replace them with “superstar” teachers who have proven to be effective in raising test scores in spite of social challenges.

The article makes the point that maybe we should quit trying to fit the round peg (teacher) into the square hole (expecting superstar teachers) and just change the “hole.” The article proposes that we should start changing teaching to fit a model like the medical model. Across the U.S., there are 7 million medical professionals, and fewer than 10 percent have an M.D. Most medical professionals have an area of specialization. The authors propose that we rethink geographical limitations of teaching and utilize more digital learning, with local teachers acting as support to specialized teachers. Also, we need to rethink the tasks that we ask teachers to complete. Rather than didactic instruction, teachers should be facilitators, similar to what is happening with the School of One project in New York City. Finally, we should look at levels of specialization in our schools. A master teacher could coordinate and manage a number of technical assistants working with larger groups of students. (For more information, see the May 11 issue of Education Week.)

I am not certain where the discussion will lead us concerning class size and teacher specialization; however, these are important discussions to have, considering our comparative performance with China and our continuing budget challenges in Kentucky and U.S. schools.

Moving Forward With New Tools

Kentucky did not receive Race to the Top funding. While it was a disappointment last fall, we did not let it slow our work down.

Kentucky had strong reform legislation in 2009’s Senate Bill 1, and we have moved to implement our Race to the Top plan, which doubled as our Senate Bill 1 deployment plan. We have adopted Common Core Academic Standards and have used leadership networks to involve teachers, principals and district leadership in developing capacity to implement the Common Core Standards. We have approved a contract for testing in grades 3-8 and will soon approve a contract for high school end-of-course that will be among the first in the nation to assess the Common Core Standards.

We are the first state in the nation to adopt a “next-generation” accountability model that will hopefully replace the federal No Child Left Behind proficiency emphasis with an emphasis on college/career ready. It is my strong belief that Kentucky will lead the nation in the percentage gain of those who graduate college/career ready between our 2010 and 2015 graduates. My thanks to all the hardworking teachers, principals, staff, partners and KDE employees who are making this happen in spite of major budget challenges.

Today, I am proud of the KDE team and all of our leadership network participants for the work they have done in preparing for the launch of our Continuous Instructional Improvement Technology System (CIITS). Today, our teacher and leader networks will begin reviewing the Common Core Standards and deconstructed English/language arts and mathematics standards within our online SchoolNet tool. (For more information about this tool, see the press release.) Over the summer months, we will be adding all of the deconstructed standards and links to resources that are aligned to the Common Core Standards. EVERY teacher in Kentucky will have access to this tool prior to the start of the 2011-12 school year.

I thought readers would be interested in how we described the CIITS tool (powered by SchoolNet) in our Race to the Top application.

The Continuous Instructional Improvement Technology System (CIITS)
It is the Commonwealth’s vision that every Kentucky teacher will have a full set of tools available at his/her fingertips to improve every student’s learning. As a teacher prepares for a lesson, through the CIITS, he/she can access each student’s data to identify which concepts need further exploration and attention in the classroom, access exemplary lesson/unit plans and even view podcasts from master teachers or higher education faculty on key concepts across the standards. This online environment will allow educators to engage in dialogue about educational practice through social networking tools. Teachers’ use and application of the CIITS in their daily classroom practice will become an important aspect of their ongoing professional learning.

Once the first set of high-quality, aligned instructional tools have been finalized by the end of August 2010, they will be made available through the CIITS. This instructional improvement system will include the following components:
* Curriculum Resources will provide resources for curriculum mapping and vertical and horizontal alignment of instruction; also allow for cross-walking of the previous Kentucky standards to the new core standards and allows for development of learning progressions and learning targets.
* Assessment Resources will provide rich information on student learning by allowing users to build, deliver, score, and report on assessments for formative and summative purposes across all relevant levels of assessment use: classroom assessment, interim benchmark assessment, and annual accountability testing; will support assessment for learning by putting the results of these frequent assessments into teachers and students hands – increasing the descriptive feedback (and decreasing the evaluative feedback) and helping students and their teachers truly understand what they are learning; also will include standards-based grade book, student portfolios, and multiple measures reporting.
* Instruction Resources will provide instructional strategies, interventions and student learning resources, incorporating existing resources that Kentucky teachers already have and use (e.g., EncycloMedia, Kentucky Learning Depot, Kentucky Virtual Library).
* Professional Learning Resources will provide rich tools for teacher and principal informal observation and formal evaluation, teacher portfolios, and the evaluation of professional learning opportunities themselves; also will provide resources such as online learning courses for job-embedded professional development including custom publishing tools to support collaborative development and sharing of local content among professional learning teams and networks.
* School Improvement Resources will allow schools and districts to create, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of their improvement efforts. The system will allow for continuous improvement planning within schools and across districts. It will also allow school and district audits to be conducted in a more efficient manner and for schools and districts to track results against a variety of data sets.