February 13, 2013

What Do Leaders Need

to Know to Effectively
Evaluate Teaching?
Presenter:
Dr. Stephen Fink, Executive Director
University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership

Copyright 2013 University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership
5D, 5D+, 5 Dimensions of Teaching and Learning and other logos/identifiers are trademarks of the University of
Washington Center for Educational Leadership.
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
Audience Participation
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
About the Presenter
Dr. Stephen Fink is the executive director of the
University of Washington Center for Educational
Leadership, and affiliate associate professor of
educational leadership and policy studies in the
University of Washington College of Education.
Dr. Fink has worked for many years with school
district leaders focusing on the school district as
the "unit of change" - particularly on developing
systems-level leadership capacity for eliminating
the achievement gap. Dr. Fink is the co-author of
Leading for Instructional Improvement: How
Successful Leaders Develop Teaching and
Learning Expertise.
What Do Leaders Need
to Know to Effectively
Evaluate Teaching?
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
Mission
The Center for Educational Leadership (CEL) is a nonprofit service
arm of the University of Washington College of Education dedicated
to eliminating the achievement gap that continues to divide our
nations children along the lines of race, class, language and
disability.
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
CELs Mission Is About Equity
Equal outcomes for all students
Fairness
Access
Respect for differences
Achievement student-by-student
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
CELs Theory of Action
Foundational Ideas
If students are not learning they are not being afforded powerful
learning opportunities.
Teaching is a highly complex and sophisticated endeavor.
Practice of sophisticated endeavors only improves when it is open
for public scrutiny.
Improving practice in a culture of public scrutiny requires
reciprocal accountability.
Reciprocal accountability implies a particular kind of leadership to
improve teaching and learning.
Leaders cannot lead what they dont know.
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
Developing the Leadership Expertise to
Improve Instruction: A Two-part Equation
1. Developing a common language and shared vision for high
quality instruction the better we see, the better we are able to
lead.
2. Developing greater expertise in leading for instructional
improvement the better we lead, the better we are able to
improve teaching practice and thus learning for all students.
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
1) Developing understanding and expertise in
instructional anatomy
2) Developing understanding and expertise in
instructional leadership

The Human Capital Development Challenge
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
Human versus Instructional Anatomy
Physician Principal
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Skeletal
Digestive
Muscular
Lymphatic
Endocrine
Nervous
Cardio-vascular
Male and Female Reproductive
Urinary
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
Think and Talk
Is it possible for a physician to practice medicine (effectively)
without extensive knowledge of human anatomy?
Is it possible for a principal to practice instructional leadership
(effectively) without extensive knowledge of instructional
anatomy?
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
Expertise Affects Noticing
What do we know about the
instructional expertise level of school
district leaders across the country?
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
Genesis of 5D Assessment:
Studying CEL-District Partnerships
Qualitative case study results show significant changes in
leadership and teacher behavior in the first two years of the
partnership.
So, we attempted to quantify leaders learning.
Specifically we wondered:
Are leaders developing greater expertise in observing
instruction and planning feedback to teachers?
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
5 Dimensions of Teaching and Learning
Framework and Lesson Analysis Rubric
Grounded in what we know about how people learn.
Grounded in what we know about best teaching practices.
Corroborated by a panel of expert observers of instruction through
a multi-stage process.
Scholarly Research From a
Tier I Research Institution
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
Purpose
Student Engagement
Curriculum & Pedagogy
Assessment for Student Learning
Classroom Environment & Culture
The 5 Dimensions of Teaching and
Learning
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
Human versus Instructional Anatomy
Physician
Skeletal
Digestive
Muscular
Lymphatic
Endocrine
Nervous
Cardio-vascular
Male and Female Reproductive
Urinary
Principal
Purpose: Standards; Learning Target
and Teaching Points
Student Engagement: Intellectual
work; Engagement Strategies; Talk
Curriculum & Pedagogy:
Curriculum; Teaching Approaches and/or
Strategies; Scaffolds for Learning
Assessment for Student
Learning: Assessment; Adjustments
Classroom Environment &
Culture: Use of Physical Environment;
Classroom Routines and Rituals;
Classroom Culture
5D Assessment
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
An Online Assessment That:
Simulates the experience of a classroom observation.
Provides feedback on instructional leaders skill in identifying
characteristics of high-quality teaching and learning.
Provides some data to consider in support of developing
instructional expertise.
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
Assessment Process
Watch a 15-20 minute lesson video and answer three questions:
What do you notice about teaching and learning in this
classroom?
What conversation would you want to have with this teacher?
How, if at all, does this inform your thinking about planning for
professional development?
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
Each written response assigned a code (anonymous).
Analyzed by two trained raters (highly experienced instructional
leaders) using research-based rubric.
Inter-rater reliability at 85% or higher.
Scoring
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
Empirical and experiential research effort led to the development
of rubric framework.
Rubric captures 5 general dimensions and 13 subdimensions of
what expert observers of teaching and learning pay attention to.
Rubric differentiates novice from expert practice along each of
the 13 subdimensions.
CEL Lesson Analysis Rubric
Levels of Expertise
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
1 = A Novice Instructional Leader:
Does not notice or think about key concepts when observing
classroom practice.
Conveys obvious misconceptions about or misuses key concepts.
Makes gross judgments without any supporting evidence
whatsoever.
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
2 = An Emerging Instructional Leader:
Recounts what transpired in the lesson.
Identifies, mentions, or names something related to key
concepts without any elaboration.
Uses relevant and appropriate terminology without clear
evidence of understanding.
May ask questions without elaboration as to why (mimicking
questions, perhaps, memorized from previous professional
development).
May offer directives for improvement without justification or
elaboration.
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
3 = A Developing Instructional Leader:
Discusses and/or considers key concepts with enough specificity
to demonstrate basic understanding.
Elaborates responses with specific examples/evidence from the
observed lesson.
Expresses wonder or questions about observations (e.g., what is
behind teaching decisions).
Offers alternatives to teaching decisions or suggests ways to
improve with some specificity and/or elaboration.
Demonstrates basic understanding that teaching decisions impact
student learning and how this occurs.
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
4 = An Expert Instructional Leader:
Demonstrates all the markers of category 3, plus:
Identifies and critically analyzes more layers of complexity in the
observed lesson.
Conveys clear ideas/vision for powerful and equitable teaching and
learning.
Communicates and supports ideas with richer detail to illustrate
evidence/examples from the observed lesson.
Demonstrates pedagogical content knowledge relevant to the specific
content area of lesson.
Models an inquiry stance.
Analytically unpacks teaching decisions and offers possible theories.
Links questions and analysis directly to evidence of student learning.
5D Assessment
Cumulative Data
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
5D Assessment
Cumulative Dimension Averages
2,949 participants; 54 school districts/organizations
Updated Oct. 2012
Expert
Developing
Emerging
Novice
1.48
2.10
2.02
1.73 1.74
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
Purpose Student Engagement Curriculum and
Pedagogy
Assessment for
Student Learning
Classroom
Environment and
Culture
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
5D Assessment
Cumulative Subdimension Averages
2,949 participants; 54 school districts/organizations
Updated Oct. 2012
1.15
1.80
2.18
2.29
1.85
1.98
2.30
1.80
1.94
1.54
1.83
1.71
1.67
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
Standards
Learning Target and Teaching Points
Intellectual Work
Engagement Strategies
Talk
Curriculum
Teaching Approaches/Strategies
Scaffolds for Learning
Assessment
Adjustments
Use of Physical Environment
Classroom Routines and Rituals
Classroom Culture
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
5D Assessment
Principals by Level
Number of exams: 817
1.90
1.78
1.75
1.82
1.70
1.82 1.84
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
Elementary
(417)
Middle
School
(136)
High School
(150)
K-8
(74)
K-12
(21)
6-12
(19)
Overall
Average
(817)
Updated Oct. 2012
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
5D Assessment
Central Office/Principals
Number of exams: 1,245
1.92
1.84
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
Central Office + Directors
(428)
Principals
(817)
Updated Oct. 2012
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
5D Assessment
Districts by Size of Student Population
Number of exams: 2,562
1.83
1.92
1.85
1.78
1.84
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
< 5,000
Students
(523)
5,000 -
19,999
Students
(560)
20,000 -
39,999
Students
(774)
40,000 +
Students
(705)
Overall
Average
(2,562)
Updated Oct. 2012
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
5D Assessment
Teachers/Administrators by Years of Experience
Number of exams: 1,245
1.79
1.88
1.88
1.87
1.89
1.87
1.88
1.87
1.84 1.84
1.88
1.84 1.82
1.86 1.89
1.84
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
0-5 years
(100
Teachers)
(662
Admins)
6-10
years
(235
Teachers)
(611
Admins)
11-15
years
(164
Teachers)
(201
Admins)
16-20
years
(114
Teachers)
(127
Admins)
21-25
years
(69
Teachers)
(57
Admins)
26-30
years
(48
Teachers)
(22
Admins)
30+ years
(123
Teachers)
(13
Admins)
Overall
average
(853
Teachers)
(1,693
Admins)
Teachers Administrators
Updated Oct. 2012
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
5D Assessment: Distribution of Scores for
Overall Average and Each Subdimension
Number of exams: 2,949
0
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1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
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Updated Oct. 2012
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
Questions?
What do leaders need to know to effectively evaluate teaching?
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