AD Connect
April 14th 2019
A Texas study finds that a teacher's effectiveness is 20 times as likely to boost student performance on tests as other factors.
I have read quite a bit lately about the importance of recruiting and retaining quality teachers, and this data point jumped out at me. It's from this infographic that shows the impact of quality teachers, which I thought was worth sharing. Another interesting data point that resonated with me was that "having an effective teacher has 14 times the effect on student success as shrinking the size of the class by 5 students." Just something to think about as you begin thinking about staffing for next year.
Teacher is the Program
Hiring and retaining excellent teachers is the single most important thing we can do to improve our schools. Study after study shows that the quality of the teacher is the most important variable in determining the quality of education a student receives. It's not the program or resource that makes the difference; it's the teacher. The teacher is the program.
One way to overcome the shortage of quality teachers is putting an emphasis on the good teachers you already have on your campus. One way to do this is to meet with teachers for retention or stay interviews before closing out the school year. Stay interviews allow principals to spend constructive one-on-one time with teachers, allowing them an opportunity to provide feedback and to better understand the needs of your most valued teachers.
I highly recommend meeting with your teachers for stay/exit interviews as you close out the year. Doing so will provide you with valuable information as you begin planning for next year, and at the same time, it shows your teachers that you care by carving out time to solicit feedback. Here is a very basic overview of the the stay interview process.
Principal Training and Travel
TTESS
I was reading an article this last week about the significant discrepancy between teacher evaluations and actual teacher effectiveness. In a neighboring district with multiple struggling schools, only 6 teachers were rated below proficient, which is an interesting scenario to consider, for sure. If teacher effectiveness is measured through student performance, how can there be so many classes struggling, yet only six teachers rated as developing or below proficient? I’m certainly not suggesting that you rate more teachers as “developing,” but I do think this is an something to think about.
We all know that test scores don’t tell us everything about a teacher’s effectiveness, but I do ask that you reflect on your ratings and how they align with actual data (walkthroughs, MAP growth data, ISIP growth, etc.) How many of your teachers are rated above proficient? Do you have actual data to demonstrate they are growing students? Where should that information be considered when determining teacher growth areas?
SSI Reminders
Although we won’t have the results from the 5th grade math and reading STAAR until April 29, we must make sure we are preparing targeted support to all students who possibly failed. The Mock STAAR data, as well as the data teachers have been collecting during STAAR review, can help your teachers identify the most critical SE’s for support for each student. Please make sure targeted support for those students begins immediately, and SE focus can be adjusted once we receive results from round one.
In the past, we have grouped students in the format below:
Pass reading and math - targeted and varied science learning opportunities
Pass reading/fail math - targeted math and science instruction
Fail reading/pass math - targeted reading and science instruction
Fail reading/fail math - targeted reading, math, and science instruction
Say Whaaaat??!!
Tuesday: Coaching Visits
Wednesday: CIA and AD meetings
Thursday: Coaching Visits
Friday: Coaching Visits
Math Growth Heat Map - this reports calculates student growth from last year’s STAAR to this year’s Mock tests, using the same formula as the state accountability calculations
Elementary Heat MAP - updated