MID-YEAR PROGRESS WEBINAR | McREL International
MID-YEAR
PROGRESS
WEBINAR
McREL International
ABSTRACT
Webinar script for the Texas Principal Evaluation and
Support System (T-PESS). This script was developed
for the Texas Education Agency and placed on the
Region 13 website to assist with implementation of the
Principal Evaluation Pilot Project for the SY 2014 – 15.
Tony Davis
Mid-Year Progress toward Achieving Goals –
November 2014 Webinar
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Mid-Year Progress toward Achieving Goals
Webinar Script
Texas Education Agency Principal Evaluation and Support System
Welcome to this webinar supporting the Texas Education Agency Principal Evaluation and Support System. This module is part of a series to assist school and district leaders with implementation.
Each Panel will
appear on mouse click
This module is about monitoring and supporting the principal’s progress toward achieving their goals. In this module we will
• review the primary purposes outlined by the TEA Steering Committee for evaluating and supporting principal performance,
• discuss basic practices related to effective supervision of school leaders, • introduce a protocol that incudes guiding questions for conducting the
Mid-Year Progress Conference, and
• review how to complete and submit the Mid-Year Progress Form. It is clear that principals can have a profound effect on instructional quality, school productivity, and more importantly, student achievement. Leadership is second only to quality teaching among school-related factors that influence student achievement, and school-wide success1. No troubled school has been able to make substantial gains in
student and school performance in the absence strong leadership2.
Understanding the importance and valuing the contributions of principals and assistant principals, the Texas Education Agency convened a steering committee comprised of school and central office leaders, leadership preparation faculty from institutions of higher education, researchers, and consultants. The committee was charged with the development of an evaluation and support system aligned with the Texas School Leadership Standards3 and grounded in research-based practices.
Strengthening a system of evaluation and support, the committee agreed on these defining purposes:
• Personify Continuous Growth & Improvement • Guide Self-reflection
• Inform Professional Development • Improve Leadership Quality
The Mid-Year Progress Conference is one of three touch points in the appraisal process that provide the opportunity for the appraiser and appraisee to discuss improvement goals. Arguably, the Mid-Year Progress Conference links to all of the primary purposes of evaluation and support as outlined by the TEA Steering Committee; however, this opportunity truly links to the purpose of Personifying Continuous Growth and Improvement.
1 Leithwood, K., Seashore Louis, K., Anderson, S., & Wahlstrom, K. (2004). Review of research: How leadership
influences student learning.
2 Waters, T., & Cameron, G. (2007). The Balanced Leadership Framework: Connecting Vision with Action. Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL).
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To briefly recap – the appraiser and appraisee met earlier in the school year to discuss and formalize performance goals. The form on the screen is an example and illustrates a completed goal as an output of the Pre-Evaluation Conference Meeting that took place earlier in the year. It is evident that this goal was written using the SMART goal-setting criteria. The form requires the appraisee and appraiser to:
1. Identify the leadership standard and indicator that best addresses the goal. 2. Identify researched-based leadership strategies and actions that the principal
will demonstrate associated to the standard and indicator.
3. Determine measureable outcomes. The measureable outcomes should be based on the principal’s strategies and actions for achieving the stated goal.
4. Determine a timeline as to when certain things will be completed.
5. Identify any reasonable resources that may be required to accomplish the stated goal.
While the dialogue and conversation can address any number of topics, it is recommended and encouraged that this meeting contain collaborative dialogue that remains focused on growth and development of the appraisee in direct relation to the performance goal.
Therefore, the subsequent dialogue should concentrate on how the leader has emphasized research-based practices and the data that would indicate progress or lack of progress toward goal attainment.
Now that we have a bearing on the context for the Mid-Year Progress Conference, it’s necessary to understand the responsibilities of the appraisee and appraiser in
preparation for the meeting. Each have a shared responsibility to ensure the meeting fulfills the expected purpose: to Personify Continuous Growth and Development. The appraisee should submit any preliminary data or evidence related to the goal to their appraiser in advance of the meeting.
The appraiser should:
1. Review the Goal(s) paying close attention to the Strategies and Actions and Expected Measureable Outcomes.
2. Review the submitted data or evidence related to goal progress.
3. Utilize the supplied Conference Protocol and Guiding Questions or prepare a set of guiding questions that best address the context of the meeting.
Why is the Mid-Year Progress Conferenceimportant?
This is a dynamic opportunity for the appraiser and appraisee to:
• Focus on leadership practices through the lens of the strategies and actions emphasized in the goal form.
• Discuss performance progress related to the expected measurable outcomes. • Make appropriate adjustments to the performance goal based on factors out of the control of the principal. For example, a reduction in staffing due to a drop in student enrollment could negatively affect the planned strategies and actions outlined in the goal and ultimately have an impact on measurable outcomes.
Supporting the evaluation process and utilizing best practices in evaluation and leadership supervision, accompanying this system is an optional conferencing protocol and generalized guiding questions to better help facilitate the Mid-Year Progress Conference.
A protocol offers a set of guidelines—that is used by educators to structure
professional conversations or learning experiences to ensure that meeting time is used efficiently, purposefully, and productively.
It is not a requirement of T-PESS that this particular protocol be used, as many school systems may have already well-established and effective protocols in place. This protocol simply provides an example and some guidance to making the most of the
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Mid-Year Progress Conference. Whether using this protocol, or one currently in place, it is best practice to have a protocol that:
• drives collegial dialogue,
• focuses learning and professional growth through the use of guiding questions, • governs processes and practices associated with evaluation and support, and • establishes consistency across a school system that will help to exemplify the
primary purposes of T-PESS.
It is at the appraiser’s discretion to use this protocol to guide the Mid-Year Progress Conference. However, the appraiser must be prepared to discuss the progress made by the appraisee during the first half of the evaluation cycle.
Review the recommended protocol for the Mid-Year Progress Conference.
• Meeting Time - When should the Mid-Year Progress Conference take place? • Meeting Location - Where should the Mid-Year Progress Conference be held? • Meeting Preparation - Where should the Mid-Year Progress Conference be
held?
• Meeting Structure - What should be discussed and how should the meeting be conducted?
• Meeting Outcomes - What is expected as a result of the meeting? **Accompanying this video is a resource for your use in conducting the Mid-Year Progress Conference.
Suggestions include: Time
The Mid-Year Progress Conference should be conducted at or near the midpoint or semester of the school year
Location
It is recommended that the Mid-Year Progress Conference take place at the campus of the appraisee
Suggestions include: Prepare
• Review any data or evidence sent by the appraisee related to their goals • Prepare a set of guided questions that will provide the basis for the Mid-Year
Progress Conference Meeting & Structure
• The Mid-Year Progress Conference is intended to be a collaborative exchange to determine the appraisee’s progress toward accomplishing their
performance goals
• Prepare to use a set guiding questions related to the appraisee’s performance goals
The outcomes of the Mid-Year Progress Conference are intended to:
• Drive collaborative and professional dialogue that fosters a constructive – rather than punitive – climate around principal evaluation.
• Focus on learning and improvement to develop stronger professional learning among appraiser and appraisee.
• Decide goal progress, as determined by the measureable outcomes, based on the principals strategies and actions stated in the goal setting form.
• Make adjustments to the goal(s) when appropriate – typically when the goals strategies and actions are affected by conditions that are out of the control of the principal. As an example; the strategies and actions directly related to goal attainment may be affected and need modified due to a reduction in staff resulting from district budget constraints.
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Protocols are most effective when used within an ongoing process of professional learning, such as leadership support and evaluation. Moreover, protocols are a powerful tool for growth and development when facilitated by a skilled coach. To help facilitate the Mid-Year Progress Conference, there is a suggested set of guiding questions that accompany the protocol. While this is not representative of all the questions that may surface during the Mid-Year Progress Conference, it does; however, provide a starting point to begin professional dialogue that:
• is relevant to the improvement of the dynamic work of the principal; • is reflective of accurate, valid and reliable information, gathered through
Expected Measurable Outcomes, as stated on the goal setting form; and • places a priority on performance improvement outcomes that principals can
control and is useful for informing principals’ learning and progress. The resource can be downloaded from the Region 13 website.
Guiding questions are most powerful and effective when used within the process of ongoing professional support and improvement, such as: goal setting, progress monitoring, and goal attainment. The appraiser should be prepared with questions to ask at the Mid-Year Progress Conference. Typically, we would anticipate this meeting lasting no longer than half an hour – provided the principal is in good standing and making progress toward achieving their performance goals.
The form includes:
• Sample questions to guide the Mid-Year Progress Conference related to the individual performance goal
• Optional questions related to the campus improvement plan
• Checklist for the appraiser that follows best practice in supervision and evaluation
The resource can be downloaded from the Region 13 website.
Why is the Mid-Year Progress Form important?
This form is a required component of the T-PESS. It allows the appraiser to document and provide a fair and accurate assessment of progress made to-date by the principal toward achieving performance goals. The Mid-year Progress Form:
• documents performance relating to the goal(s);
• identifies and documents additional support that may be required to accomplish the goal;
• documents any adjustments or modifications to the goals based on specific contextual factors; and
• documents progress toward goal attainment.
This is an illustration of the Mid-Year Progress Form. This simple-to-use form will assist the appraiser with their monitoring and supporting principal goal attainment.
It is essential that this form be used during the Mid-Year Progress Conference and that the contents be shared with the appraisee.
To accurately complete the Mid-Year Progress Form, it will be important to review the goal. Reviewing the goal is part of the protocol for the Mid-Year Progress Conference, discussed earlier.
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In the analysis, the appraiser will focus on: 1. the strategies and actions and 2. the expected measurable outcomes.
Filling out the Mid-Year Progress Form is simple. 1. Start with restating the original goal.
2. Document any data, evidence or artifacts suggesting goal attainment. 3. Revise or modify the plan if required.
4. Document any appraiser comments.
5. Mark whether the appraisee has any additional comments that they would like included. Typically, if an appraisee would like to respond to the contents or outcome of the mid-year progress form, the appraisee will submit comments, in writing, sometime after the Mid-Year Progress Conference. Policy often dictates the timeframe that an appraisee has to submit comments or additional documents after the Mid-Year Progress Conference.
6. Next, mark whether the appraisee is or is not making adequate progress. In this case, the appraisee is making progress.
7. Lastly, both the appraisee and appraiser sign and date the form and the appraiser submits the form.
Following this webinar, the mid-year progress form will be distributed to appraisers for completion.
Signatures are not required by McREL during the 2014-2015 pilot year. The forms are capable of accepting digital signatures or you may print the form and sign a hard card copy, per your district policy.
Once the form has been completed (with or without signatures), use the submit button below the signatures box to submit the document to McREL for instrument study. Please complete the Mid-Year Progress Conference and form by February 6, 2015. The collection database will remain open through the end of February; however, following best practices, please try to have this process completed around the mid-year point.
Implementation and effective use of a fair, accurate, and meaningful evaluation and support system will help improve instructional quality, school productivity and student achievement. (Barber, M., & Mourshed, M. (2007). How the world's best-performing schools systems come out on top. McKinsey & Company).
We hope this short video has provided some guidance as you monitor, support and evaluate your school-level leaders. Making a difference requires doing what matters most!
