Birdville T-TESS Refinement Team
Newsletter
Continuous Improvement in Action!
Thanks to your open and honest feedback, we have a new evaluation cycle that focuses more on formative conversations and growth than did the previous TEA recommended version. The local decisions document has been updated on the Birdville T-TESS website and graphics that illustrate the new process are below.
In summary, the first observation cycle will provide a holistic view of each teacher's practice so that the areas of refinement and reinforcement can be identified. The pre and post conference conversations are key to that process. After that, you will move into a less formal formative cycle focused on helping teachers grow around their areas of reinforcement and refinement, as well as the goal they set for themselves.
Remember that with this new plan, you have the flexibility as a leader to make decisions about what is best for each teacher. For the second phase, you may choose to do the full, formal observation process with one teacher, while another teacher may benefit more from a couple of short walkthroughs. What is most important, no matter how the formative process unfolds, is that you are engaging in meaningful conversations with teachers that will lead to reflective practice and growth. Just like every student has different needs, so do teachers, and the new plan empowers you to make the decisions that best serve your teachers as they work to transform their practice.
In summary, the first observation cycle will provide a holistic view of each teacher's practice so that the areas of refinement and reinforcement can be identified. The pre and post conference conversations are key to that process. After that, you will move into a less formal formative cycle focused on helping teachers grow around their areas of reinforcement and refinement, as well as the goal they set for themselves.
Remember that with this new plan, you have the flexibility as a leader to make decisions about what is best for each teacher. For the second phase, you may choose to do the full, formal observation process with one teacher, while another teacher may benefit more from a couple of short walkthroughs. What is most important, no matter how the formative process unfolds, is that you are engaging in meaningful conversations with teachers that will lead to reflective practice and growth. Just like every student has different needs, so do teachers, and the new plan empowers you to make the decisions that best serve your teachers as they work to transform their practice.
December 1 Meeting
- Analyze data from goal-setting, observations and post-conferences to make decisions about professional learning needs of teachers
- Discuss use of T-TESS rubrics with positions such as interventionists and librarians
- Click here to submit items for the agenda
Notes from TEA
Pre-conferences
One central idea that can get lost in the focus on process and policy is that both T-TESS and T-PESS are designed to reveal thinking and encourage deliberation. Formal conversations or conferences an appraiser has with an appraisee should be structured to reveal the appraisee’s thinking. Why is the teacher or principal doing what he or she does? Upon what are their decisions and actions based?
For pre-conferences, the ultimate goal is to better understand how a teacher plans, not just what a particular lesson plan entails. Understanding planning for the particular observed lesson is a desired outcome, but pre-conferences don’t need to be just about one single lesson. It’s an opportunity to discuss the general thought processes a teacher employs when planning – how does a teacher make scaffolding decisions, grouping decisions, decisions about activities? How well does a teacher know his or her students? How does that teacher translate that knowledge into planning?
An added benefit of pre-conferences that focus on thinking as well as a particular lesson is that when reality intervenes and an observation has to be rescheduled, all an appraiser needs to do is to get and perhaps briefly discuss a new lesson plan for the rescheduled observation. The conversation from the pre-conference that reveals general thinking patterns provides ample evidence and material for determining reinforcement and refinement areas, as well as for rating the planning domain.
For pre-conferences, the ultimate goal is to better understand how a teacher plans, not just what a particular lesson plan entails. Understanding planning for the particular observed lesson is a desired outcome, but pre-conferences don’t need to be just about one single lesson. It’s an opportunity to discuss the general thought processes a teacher employs when planning – how does a teacher make scaffolding decisions, grouping decisions, decisions about activities? How well does a teacher know his or her students? How does that teacher translate that knowledge into planning?
An added benefit of pre-conferences that focus on thinking as well as a particular lesson is that when reality intervenes and an observation has to be rescheduled, all an appraiser needs to do is to get and perhaps briefly discuss a new lesson plan for the rescheduled observation. The conversation from the pre-conference that reveals general thinking patterns provides ample evidence and material for determining reinforcement and refinement areas, as well as for rating the planning domain.
Rubric Crossover
The T-TESS rubric has a lot of “echo” in it, and evidence can map to multiple spots on the rubric. That’s not an accident – the teacher steering committee that built the rubric wanted it to be more holistic than previous rubrics and to reinforce that many practices bleed into each other. They thought this better matched reality – the success of a single activity is dependent on several integrated practices within planning, instruction, and classroom environment. A breakdown in any one area can lead to breakdowns in several others. This is what makes teaching so complex – success depends on proficiently executing multiple practices, and ineffectiveness with just one practice can derail a lesson.
For appraisers, this makes mapping evidence to the rubric more challenging, but it also provides great fuel for conversations. Pre-conferences and post-conferences are opportunities to figure out what the root causes of both successes and struggles were so that reinforcement and refinement decisions are more accurate and valuable for teachers.
For appraisers, this makes mapping evidence to the rubric more challenging, but it also provides great fuel for conversations. Pre-conferences and post-conferences are opportunities to figure out what the root causes of both successes and struggles were so that reinforcement and refinement decisions are more accurate and valuable for teachers.
Time
T-TESS takes time to implement and to work through the annual processes. In talking to educators who have worked in districts that have used appraisal processes like T-TESS before, two important distinctions emerge that we’d like to share as it relates to time and appraisal.
• New processes take time to learn. Many aspects of T-TESS and T-PESS are potentially unfamiliar:
o A new rubric
o Scripting evidence based largely on student reactions to teaching decisions (T-TESS)
o Mapping evidence to an unfamiliar rubric
o Planning for conferences
o Conducting conferences
The encouraging thing with these aspects is that we should get faster and more efficient with them as we continue to implement T-TESS and T-PESS. The rubric will become more familiar, which means you’ll script more strategically and map evidence to the rubric faster. The process will lead to conferences with educators that will build on prior conversations and conferences. As the appraisal process truly becomes cyclical – a continuous growth process – conferences will pick up where others left off and will focus on progress made, where educators are now, and what should be refined moving forward. Those will be more efficient conferences.
Developing yourself as an educator and helping to develop others takes an investment of time and effort. T-TESS and T-PESS are systems of development first and foremost, and facilitating development takes time. There really isn’t a way for these appraisal processes to be meaningful tools for teachers and principals without the investment of time.
Of course, that investment needs to yield results, and we will continue to listen to districts to ensure that the thoughtful implementation of T-TESS and T-PESS does lead to improved instruction and campus leadership. The quality of the process is a primary concern, and we certainly want ensure that compliance and quantity don’t erode quality.
• New processes take time to learn. Many aspects of T-TESS and T-PESS are potentially unfamiliar:
o A new rubric
o Scripting evidence based largely on student reactions to teaching decisions (T-TESS)
o Mapping evidence to an unfamiliar rubric
o Planning for conferences
o Conducting conferences
The encouraging thing with these aspects is that we should get faster and more efficient with them as we continue to implement T-TESS and T-PESS. The rubric will become more familiar, which means you’ll script more strategically and map evidence to the rubric faster. The process will lead to conferences with educators that will build on prior conversations and conferences. As the appraisal process truly becomes cyclical – a continuous growth process – conferences will pick up where others left off and will focus on progress made, where educators are now, and what should be refined moving forward. Those will be more efficient conferences.
Developing yourself as an educator and helping to develop others takes an investment of time and effort. T-TESS and T-PESS are systems of development first and foremost, and facilitating development takes time. There really isn’t a way for these appraisal processes to be meaningful tools for teachers and principals without the investment of time.
Of course, that investment needs to yield results, and we will continue to listen to districts to ensure that the thoughtful implementation of T-TESS and T-PESS does lead to improved instruction and campus leadership. The quality of the process is a primary concern, and we certainly want ensure that compliance and quantity don’t erode quality.
Just for Fun
Make Them Gold
A band I have come to love released the song below last month. The first time I heard it, I thought to myself, "This is all about T-TESS!"
Here are some lyrics that speak to the transformation we are making:
"Can you steady all the hands that you hold
If you never look away from the drum?
If you push yourself then I will pull you on
And we will deliver once we know where to fall.
We are made of our longest days.
We are falling but not alone.
We will take the best parts of ourselves
And make them gold."
If you appreciate the 80s synthpop sound or love making analogies about our work in education, I hope you enjoy this song :)
-Crysten
Here are some lyrics that speak to the transformation we are making:
"Can you steady all the hands that you hold
If you never look away from the drum?
If you push yourself then I will pull you on
And we will deliver once we know where to fall.
We are made of our longest days.
We are falling but not alone.
We will take the best parts of ourselves
And make them gold."
If you appreciate the 80s synthpop sound or love making analogies about our work in education, I hope you enjoy this song :)
-Crysten
Make Them Gold