SLTs

1. Where can exemplar SLTs for technical school subjects, art, band, counselors, and librarians be found? People are looking for more guidance in these areas.

There are currently 33 SLT examples on the DOE’s website at the following link: http://www.louisianaschools.net/compass/student_learning_goals.html. We will be working to add to these exemplars over the coming weeks.

2. Can an SLT be written to increase the 9th grade retention rate? If so, what is the evaluation tool?

An SLT focused on 9th grade retention could be appropriate for a counselor or a principal, though not likely for a teacher.

3. On the Common Assessments sheet, why is there is nothing listed for grades 4-8?

This list was originally intended for teachers in non-tested grades and subjects. Now that in tested subjects will also be writing SLTs, we do need to expand the list. This is great feedback!

4. Does an inclusion teacher still write SLTs, even they do not assign students a grade for the course?

Yes, if a teacher is working day-to-day with a specified group of students, they should write SLTs.

5. One district is trying to organize the SLT scoring plan the same way as VAM. Would we recommend this?

· Insufficient attainment-10%

· Partial attainment-40%

· Full attainment-40%

· Exceptional attainment-10%

The SLT process is actually not designed to give teachers a percentile rating like the VAM scores will. The scoring of SLTs should be based on the extent to which students met, exceeded or fell short of the goals set for them by teacher and evaluator. I would not advise that the VAM scale be applied to the SLT process.

6. If two teachers are co-teaching, how would SLTs work for them (whole class, subgroup, etc.)?

This depends upon the context. If these co-teachers both work with the entire class of students on the same content, they may set the same SLTs and establish them collaboratively. If they split content or work primarily with specific groups of students within the class, then they should set their own SLTs accordingly.

7. Technical schools offer various curricula ranging from nursing, EMT trainings, automotive, welding, etc. Can you provide some guidance or resources to demonstrate how to establish baselines for coursework where the final assessment/evaluations are for certifications in these specialized areas of study? In addition, are there examples of SLTs from other piloted districts that support a technical school?

For technical courses, in which the student has not had previous instruction, baseline data should be gathered by assessing students’ mastery of key prerequisite skills. This may include reading and interpreting instructions; completing a basic performance task after learning some introductory skills in the course; or completing a set of math problems, aligned to the type of work students will be doing in the course. If students have had some previous instruction in the content, then the process of gathering baseline data should focus on assessing the skills and knowledge they’ve retained from their previous coursework. There will be SLTs forthcoming in the areas mentioned above. Our exemplars in these areas were developed by teachers of these courses.

8. Why are STAR tests not on the list of Common Assessment list?

At the time we were creating the Common Assessment list, we were not able to find peer-reviewed research about the STAR assessments, which was one of the criteria we looked for in the assessments we included. We’re working with Renaissance Learning to review additional research that may be available and will consider adding STAR, if we find it meets our criteria. It is important to note that teachers are not bound to the assessments on the Common Assessments list, these are only recommendations. They are free to use other assessments if their evaluator agrees that they are rigorous and appropriate.

9. Why are ACT, PLAN, EXPLORE not on Common Assessment list?

The Explore, Plan, ACT series was not among the initial set of assessments we considered. We will likely be adding these to the list in the near future.

10. What do SLTs look like for teachers on block schedule? Can they do both SLTs in the fall semester and get it over with? Or do they have to do one in fall and one in spring?

Teachers on a block schedule need to develop a minimum of two SLTs per year. It is at the discretion of teachers and evaluators to determine how these SLTs should be set. They may both set goals for the fall or spring semester; they may set one goal for each semester.

11. How do teachers in alternative schools and SSD set SLTs? Their population of students is ever changing.

Teachers in alternative settings will certainly have some unique challenges in setting SLTs. Like other teachers, however, they should work with their evaluators and colleagues to use their professional judgment to set rigorous, appropriate goals for their students, given the circumstances in which they teach them. For example, these teachers might set goals related to the average growth they'd expect to see with students each week or month they're with them. They could also set goals for specific groups of students they know they'll work with for a given period of time. We’re working to get some alternative setting exemplars up on the website soon.

12. Would it be advisable for a district or facility within SSD to create an over-arching SLTs for their teachers with the consideration when writing the SLT being the underlying goal for continued education of adjudicated students?

It could very well be appropriate for a district/facility to provide guidance relating to how SLTs for students in these settings could be written. This would likely be helpful to teachers in these settings. However, professional judgment of teachers and evaluators should always be taken into account in determining appropriate goals for specific students or groups of students.

13. Is there a minimum number of days for a teacher to be with a student when considering writing of an SLT?

There is no minimum number of days a teacher needs to be with a student in order to write an SLT incorporating that student. Districts may provide additional guidance on this. Absent a local requirement, teachers and evaluators should use their professional judgment to determine when teachers should set SLTs for which students.

14. When considering whether or not to update an SLT, what its considered a significant change on the number of students?

A significant change in student population would be one that makes the original SLT unreasonable. Evaluators and teachers are going to need to rely on their professional judgment to determine when this is the case. Some examples might be when the teacher is asked to teach a different course; when she gets an influx of students who significantly above or below the level at which her original group of students was performing; or the number of students a teacher instructs becomes significantly higher or lower than it originally was. (This necessitates a change to the SLT if it were set on a particular number of students out of the total.)

15. How do teachers and evaluators monitor progress toward learning targets?

Teachers should identify and use formative assessment strategies that allow them to monitor students’ progress towards their SLTs over the course of the year. This will help teachers to understand how to adjust instruction to help students met the goals they’ve set. Teachers and evaluators should look at the available formative assessment data regularly, to determine if students are on track to meet the goals, and if not, discuss what interventions may be needed.

16. If a teacher has 5 classes of English, can she set an SLT based on just one of those classes of students? Or would she have to include all 5 classes of students?

The only requirement is that she set two SLTs for the year total. She should try to cover the majority of her students between those two SLTs. So, I would suggest that if a teacher has multiple sections of the same course, she consider setting a target that covers more than one section. However, it will be at the teacher and evaluator's discretion to determine if this is appropriate.

17. Please clarify what 2 SLTs would be written on a 4 x 4 block for a teacher teaching Alg 1, Alg 2, Adv Math - term 1 and Alg II and College Alg - Term 2?

This would be at the discretion of the evaluator and teacher involved. Since the teacher teachers two sections of Algebra II, it would be advisable that she set at least one SLT aligned to that course, as it is likely to include more students than the others.

18. SLTs are ideally to be developed by the teacher and principal. To what degree will most districts use directives from the central office in preparing their SLTs.

This will vary based on local context. We’ve heard from a few districts which plan to provide additional guidance to teachers relative to setting SLTs, but the extent to which this is the case across the state remains to be seen.

19. Will speech therapist, OT, PT, school psychologists set SLTs?

These personnel will only be required to set SLTs if they provide direct instruction or instructional support to a specified group of students. It will be a local level decision as to whether the job responsibilities of these individuals fall under that definition or not.

20. Does the SLT come from the PGP which must relate to the school improvement goals of ELA and Math?

Not necessarily. It is advised that these goals be aligned, but they do not necessarily have to be one and the same.

21. How do we handle SLTs when teachers are in a virtual school setting?

In virtual settings, the teacher of record (the virtual teacher) should set SLTs for students. The facilitator, responsible for monitoring instruction, does not need to set SLTs for the course.

22. If a teacher/Counselor monitors LVS are they required to write an SLT? If it is a VAM subject do they receive the VAM scores?

If the teacher/counselor is only monitoring a classroom of students who are learning from a teacher delivering instruction through a virtual setting, then no, they do not need to set an SLT. They will not receive a VAM score either, as they are not the teacher responsible for delivering instruction to those students in that course.

23. Teacher/Evaluators set SLTs and this is great but we are missing a part of the team - the student. We must inform them and allow them to take ownership in this process, too.

Great feedback! Providing students the opportunity to take ownership of their own learning goals is a great way to invest them, and also to give them an understanding of how to make good choices to advance their own learning. (A practice which aligns nicely with the descriptions of Highly Effective practice in the Compass Teacher Rubric!)

24. Should districts establish policy for artifacts from teachers to evidence SLTs have been truly met?

This is a local level decision.

25. As an instructional leader I must have knowledge in instruction, curricula, classroom management and assessment; however for subjects I have never taught such as Chemistry, Calculus, Civics, etc. How can I make a judgment fair enough for SLT in these subject areas? How will I know if the assessment is rigorous or not?

This is a question that leaders across the state are grappling with. Where possible, we’d recommend that leaders utilize the expertise within their faculty or across schools within the district to understand rigor for content areas with which they are not familiar. For example, the leader may convene all of the chemistry teachers to decide upon an assessment and framework for establishing SLTs in chemistry that they all agree is rigorous. This provides some additional validity to the individual chemistry teacher’s claim to rigor on his/her own.

26. Can the teacher do the two SLTs in fall semester and get it over with?

Yes, they could conceivably do this. This will be at the discretion of the district and the teacher’s evaluator.

27. I have a teacher who starts then leaves in October, a new teacher starts. Will the new teacher make her own learning target or continue with old teacher’s SLT?

The new teacher and his/her evaluator should determine which approach is most appropriate in this situation. (The new teacher is not required to continue with the old teacher’s SLT.)

Observations

1. Can a lesson be recorded in addition to scripted?

This is a local level decision. Teachers and evaluators should ensure that they have permission to capture students on video before implementing this strategy.

2. Can informal observation data be collected over time?

Evaluators should collect as much evidence as possible in each observation and rate each of the five components in the rubric for each observation, using the evidence gathered. If evaluators find they have not gathered enough evidence to rate each of the five components, they can re-do the observation.

3. Can evaluators, over the period of the year, still have informal observations that add to the evidence in the formal evaluation?

They can do additional informal observations, but if they are going to use the evidence from those, they should record ratings for each of the five components on each of the observations at the time they are conducted.

4. What is the guideline for how many days you have to do a post-conference?