Florida Association for District School Superintendents

Empowering Effective Teachers

The Florida Association of District School Superintendents (FADSS) seeks to build on the existing partnership between the Hillsborough County School District and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation by working together to increase the implementation of Empowering Effective Teachers (EET) reforms throughout the state. In order to accomplish this, FADSS has identified three project outcomes that will serve as the foundation of this initiative.

These outcomes include the following:

  1. Increase the number of Florida school districts who are willing to move forward with EET reform initiatives.
  2. Develop capacity in selected school districts to implement EET reforms.
  3. Increase the number of key stakeholders statewide who publicly support EET reforms.

These outcomes represent a logical progression of full implementation beginning with building awareness, interest and commitment in EET reforms; continuing with the work of breaking down barriers and effectively focusing resources; supporting districts in their efforts to build capacity for reform; and enhancing statewide support as implementation spreads throughout the state.

Case Studies  

The five case studies below provide a clear, concise and candid summary of the multifaceted school reform work being done in Hillsborough County Public Schools under the Empowering Effective Teachers Initiative.

Empowering Effective Teachers Convening Materials – May 4-5, 2011  

Why Teacher Effectiveness?  

In order to achieve transformational results for students, we must focus on the heart of the educational experience: the learning partnership between teacher and student. The evidence is clear that teachers matter more than any other factor inside schools.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is investing in bold research and reform efforts to better understand what makes a teacher effective and to rethink the way we recruit, retain and evaluate teachers in our schools in order to improve student outcomes. 

Participating Districts  

The following Florida school districts are participating in the Empowering Effective Teachers initiative:

  • Duval
  • Escambia
  • Highlands
  • Pinellas
  • Polk
  • Okaloosa
  • St. Johns
  • St. Luice
  • Volusia

Empowering Effective Teacher Projects  

Resources  

Use of Evaluations:

  • Lessons Learned from the Center for Educator Compensation Reform's First 10 Case Studies, The Center for Educator Compensation Reform. Executive summary of lessons learned from 10 case studies following the planning behind and implementation of alternative compensation programs in schools and districts throughout the country.
    http://cecr.ed.gov/planning/perspectives/caseSummaries.cfm
  • TAP: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement, The Center for Educator Compensation Reform. This case summary details the development and implementation of TAP as a systemic reform to enhance teacher quality through differentiated compensation, professional development, career opportunities, and accountability.
    http://cecr.ed.gov/planning/perspectives/caseSummaries.cfm

Measuring Student Growth:

  • Teacher Evaluation 2.0, The New Teacher Project, October 2010. Report published by The New Teacher Project as a follow-up to 2009's The Widget Effect. Teacher Evaluation 2.0 is a guide that proposes six design standards that fair and rigorous evaluations should meet.
    http://www.tntp.org/files/Teacher-Evaluation-Oct10F.pdf
  • Problems with the Use of Student Test Scores to Evaluate Teachers, The Economic Policy Institute, August 29, 2010. Briefing paper that reviews technical evidence about the use of test scores to evaluate teachers, and concludes that any sound evaluation will involve a balancing of many factors that provide a more accurate view of what teachers can do.
    http://epi.3cdn.net/b9667271ee6c154195_t9m6iij8k.pdf
  • Enhancing Teacher Evaluation: Effective Practices for Evaluating Teachers of All Students, TQ Center Webcast, April 14, 2010. Presentations provide an overview of the major issues related to evaluating teachers of at-risk populations, including a discussion of the existing research, and a review of evaluation strategies and recommendations.
    http://www.tqsource.org/webcasts/evaluatingTeachers/webcast/
  • The Widget Effect, The New Teacher Project, 2009. Report that studies teacher evaluation and dismissal, concluding that current policies and systems overlook significant differences between teachers and that there is a tendency to treat all teachers as roughly interchangeable.
    http://widgeteffect.org/
  • Value-Added Models and the Next Generation of Assessments, Robert H. Meyer and Emin Dokumaci, Value-Added Research Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison, December 2009. This paper was presented by Robert H. Meyer at the Exploratory Seminar: Measurement Challenges Within the Race to the Top Agenda. The paper discusses some of the fundamental features of value-added models, with particular focus on the interaction between the design and interpretation of value-added models and the design and properties of student assessments.
    http://www.k12center.org/rsc/pdf/ MeyerDokumaciPresenterSession4.pdf
  • Practical Considerations for Using Value Added Models for Monitoring Teacher Effectiveness Value Added Modeling Meeting, Pete Goldschmidt, Sacramento, CA, October, 2008. Presentation focusing on the movement from status to growth measures, and the considerations and practical implications for this shift.
    http://www.ctc.ca.gov/seminars/VAM/Goldschmidt.pdf
  • The Other 69 Percent: Designing a Performance-Based Pay System for Teachers of Non-Tested Subjects and Grades, English Language Learners, and Students with Disabilities, Cynthia D. Prince, Vanderbilt University 2008 TIF Grantee Meeting, June 5-6, 2008. Presentation delivered at the 2008 TIF Grantee meeting discussing challenges involved in designing appropriate measures of performance to identify and reward effective teachers in untested grades and subjects, special education, and ELL.
    http://cecr.ed.gov/TIFgrantees/meetingPresentations/annualMeetingJune08.cfm
  • Measuring School Performance and the Efficacy of Instructional Practices: Value-Added Essentials, Dr. Robert Meyer, Value-Added Research Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Online tutorial by the Value-Added Research Center on building a value-added model.
    http://varc.wceruw.org/tutorials/Introduction_to_VA/START.html
  • The Oak Tree Analogy, Value Added Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Online tutorial by the Value-Added Research Center providing an introduction to value-added modeling.
    http://varc.wceruw.org/tutorials/Oak/index.htm

Principal Effectiveness:

  • Evaluating Principals: Balancing accountability with professional growth, New Leaders for New Schools, 2010. Report released by New Leaders for New Schools that offers policymakers and practitioners a bold vision for evaluation systems to drive increased principal effectiveness. The full report, executive summary, and one-page overview are found below.
    http://www.nlns.org/evaluating-principals.jsp
  • Measuring Principal Performance: How Rigorous are Commonly Used Principal Performance Assessment Instruments? Learning Point Associates, February 2010. This report provides results of a scan conducted by Learning Point Associates of principal performance assessments that are publicly available and rigorously tested that are useful for formative assessment purposes.
    http://www.learningpt.org/pdfs/QSLBrief2.pdf
  • Principal Evaluation, Tony Milanowski, Wisconsin Center for Education Research at University of Wisconsin – Madison & Patrick Schuermann, Vanderbilt University, June 8 & 9, 2009. Presentation delivered at the Teacher Incentive Fund grantee meeting in 2009 around goals and approaches to developing and implementing principal evaluation systems.
    http://cecr.ed.gov/news/annualMeetingJune09.cfm

Data Systems:

  • Considerations for Using Assessment Data to Inform Determinations of Teacher Effectiveness, Chris Domaleski and Richard Hill, Center for Assessment, April 29, 2010. White paper developed to assist assessment consortium members in identifying and addressing the conditions, challenges, and opportunities to help them respond to USED requirement that a common assessment must produce data to inform determinations of principal and teacher effectiveness.
    http://www.nciea.org/papers-UsingAssessmentData4-29-10.pdf
  • The Importance of Accurately Linking Instruction to Students to Determine Teacher Effectiveness, Battelle for Kids, October 2009. Paper focusing on the challenges in capturing teacher-student linkages, success stories of districts that have implemented this component, and the current state of educational data systems.
    http://portal.battelleforkids.org/BFK/images/Link_whitepagesApril2010web.pdf