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EDUCATION REPORTING WORKSHOP More Than Scores: Assessing the Future of Teacher Evaluations University of Chicago | Chicago, IL | October 10-11, 2013 EDUCATION WRITERS ASSOCIATION School of Journalism Improving the quality of life in the Great Lakes region and across the country. At the Joyce Foundation, we focus on public We hope that Chicago and other districts use policy to address today’s most pressing issues. this information to help teachers strengthen For nearly a decade, our Education Program their practice. Districts must support school has worked to close the achievement gap leaders in providing clear feedback and by ensuring every student has an effective targeted professional development to grow the teacher. profession and strengthen student learning. In Chicago, we’re pleased to see promising Learn more at joyce.org/reach-results/ results from the first year of a new teacher evaluation system. A recent UChicago Consortium on Chicago School Research report, which Joyce funded, found that one year into implementation, the overwhelming majority of teachers and principals believe that the new evaluation’s in-depth classroom observation process is fair, promotes teacher growth, and is likely to lead to instructional improvement. As more than 40 states roll out new teacher evaluation systems, this study was the first to look back on year one in a large school district and ask: How’d it go and how can we get better from here? joycefdn.org Education | Employment | Environment | Culture | Democracy | Gun Violence Prevention Welcome Dear Colleague, Welcome to Chicago! We are delighted you could join us here at the University of Chicago to learn more about a topic of exceptional prominence in today’s debate over how to improve America’s schools. “More Than Scores: Assessing the Future of Teacher Evaluations” is a joint effort of the Education Writers Association and Michigan State University’s School of Journalism, in consultation with Education Trust- Midwest. We see this event as a sequel both to EWA’s seminar “Evaluating Teachers: Beyond the Rhetoric,” held here in November 2011 with support from The Joyce Foundation, and the “Grading the Teachers” Specialized Reporting Institute that MSU held this past May in Detroit with support from The Robert R. McCormick Foundation. Ordinarily, we might say that those past events had adequately covered the subject. But with teacher evaluations, the landscape is evolving so fast that there’s no question that this sequel is needed. Whether you’re new to this topic—or an old hand—you’ll come away with fresh insights, new connections and plenty of story ideas. We look forward to following your coverage in the months to come. Best regards, Caroline Hendrie Joe Grimm Executive Director, EWA Visiting Editor in Residence, MSU This event was made possible in part by a grant to EWA from The Joyce Foundation and a grant to MSU School of Journalism by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation through its partner The Poynter Institute. EWA and MSU retain editorial control over all programming. 1 #EWAtval Agenda #EWAtval Thursday, Oct. 10 12:30 p.m. Welcome Caroline Hendrie, Education Writers Association Joe Grimm, Michigan State University School of Journalism 12:45 p.m. Framing Remarks How is the changing landscape of teacher evaluations influencing broader conversations about school improvement and student achievement? Tim Knowles, University of Chicago Urban Education Institute 1 p.m. National Overview: Evaluations and Equity How are states responding to the push for greater accountability and transparency in how teacher job performance is measured? How are union leaders helping members adjust to the new expectations? Can evaluations be used as a lever to more equitably distribute teacher talent, and ensure the neediest students get the most effective instruction? Stephanie Banchero, Wall St. Journal (moderator) Sandi Jacobs, National Council on Teacher Quality Sarah Lenhoff, Education Trust – Midwest Dennis Van Roekel, National Education Association 2 p.m. Session Takeaways and Story Ideas (Cindy Johnston, NPR) 2:10 p.m. Understanding and Using Value-Added Data What questions should reporters ask when using evaluation-related data in stories? What is essential for reporters to learn about the use of student 2 #EWAtval growth, and what must officials provide when they report the numbers? How can reporters convey the nuance without getting bogged down in technical details? Sabrina Laine, American Institutes for Research, interviewed by Stephen Sawchuk, Education Week 3 p.m. Session Takeaways and Story Ideas (Beth Shuster, Los Angeles Times) 3:15 p.m. Break 3:30 p.m. Classroom Observations: What Do Evaluators Look For? Using a flipped classroom approach, Brian Rowan and Lesli Scott of the University of Michigan lead an interactive session on videos of teachers delivering actual lessons. They walk participants through the videos to highlight hallmarks of effective instruction and areas of concern. 4:30 p.m. Session Takeaways and Story Ideas (Scott Elliott, Indianapolis Star) 4:45 p.m. How I Did The Story I: Reporters Share Their Expertise Since 2010, The Hechinger Report has been taking an in-depth look at efforts to improve teacher effectiveness. In Indiana, Hechinger’s Sarah Butrymowicz teamed up with Scott Elliott, then education reform reporter for the Indianapolis Star, for an in-depth look at efforts to improve educator accountability and student outcomes. Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times (Moderator) Sarah Butrymowicz, The Hechinger Report Scott Elliott, Chalkbeat Indianapolis 5:30 p.m. Adjourn 6:30 p.m. Group Dinner (optional) 3 #EWAtval Friday, Oct. 11 7:30-8:15 a.m. Breakfast 8:15 a.m. “Confessions of a Bad Teacher” John Owens, who worked in the media world, decided he wanted to contribute to society by becoming a teacher. He lasted only a few months and wrote an article called “Confessions of a Bad Teacher.” The column hit a nerve and the article became a book. Owens describes his experiences as a teacher with evaluations, classroom observations, and a principal who he says gamed the system. Author John Owens interviewed by Greg Toppo of USA Today 9 a.m. The Chicago Perspective – A New Model for Teacher Evaluations in the Windy City How are teacher evaluations impacting teaching and learning in the nation’s third-largest school district? How might Chicago’s experience be a teachable moment for educators and policymakers in other communities? Linda Lenz, Catalyst Chicago (moderator) Carol Caref, Chicago Teachers Union Paulette Poncelet, Chicago Public Schools Sue Sporte, University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research 9:50 a.m. Session Takeaways and Story Ideas (Angela Tuck, Atlanta Journal-Constitution) 10 a.m. The Early Education Connection: Measuring the Youngest Learners Robert Pianta describes his research into what makes a good early childhood teacher and how the University of Virginia developed an instrument to measure early childhood teachers. Laura Bornfreund discusses different approaches that districts use to measure student growth 4 #EWAtval for the purpose of evaluating teachers of pre-K through grade 3, as well as the potential hurdles to widespread, reliable implementation. Cornelia Grumman (moderator) Laura Bornfreund, New America Foundation Robert Pianta, University of Virginia 11 a.m. Session Takeaways and Story Ideas (Liz Willen, The Hechinger Report) 11:15 a.m. BREAK 11:30 a.m. How I Did the Story II: Reporters Share Their Expertise Molly Bloom of StateImpact and Patrick O’Donnell of the Cleveland Plain Dealer describe their project analyzing how Ohio used value-added measure to assess its teachers. The project included a database of individual teachers and their ratings. Bloom and O’Donnell walk journalists through how they put together their project and why they published the individual scores. Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times (moderator) Molly Bloom, StateImpact Ohio Patrick O’Donnell, Cleveland Plain Dealer 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m. Lunch 1:30 p.m. Teacher Voices: How Evaluations Are Shaping Classroom Practice Two classroom teachers from Hillsborough (Fla.) County Public Schools share their experiences of being evaluated, and how those reviews have informed their classroom practice. Mackenzie Ryan, Florida Today (moderator) Sheri Cerni, Hillsborough County Public Schools Greta Woolley, Hillsborough County Public Schools 5 #EWAtval 2:15 p.m. Session Takeaways and Story Ideas (Melissa Bailey, New Haven Independent) 2:30 p.m. Teachers and Reporters Roundtables Educators from the VIVA Teachers program join reporters for small-group discussions. 3:30 p.m. Brainstorming: Where Do We Go From Here? Joe Grimm of the MSU School of Journalism, Emily Richmond of EWA, and Liz Willen of The Hechinger Report lead breakout sessions to brainstorm story ideas based on the prior seminar sessions. 4:30 p.m. ADJOURN 6 #EWAtval Speaker Bios Stephanie Banchero has been a national education reporter for The Wall Street Journal since April 2010, covering national and state K-12 education issues. Previously, she served for 13 years as a national education reporter at the Chicago Tribune and worked as a reporter at The Charlotte Observer, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Salt Lake Tribune. She has received numerous awards, including a 2006 first-place feature award from EWA for her magazine profile of a father struggling with the care and education of his children and a 2004 first-place award from EWA and the Missouri School of Journalism for her three-part series on a student transferring schools as part of the No Child Left Behind law. Banchero received a bachelor’s from the University of Utah in communications, a master’s degree in journalism from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and served as a Knight Fellow at Stanford University 2008-09. Contact her at [email protected]. Melissa Bailey is the managing editor and education reporter for the New Haven Independent, an online-only, hyperlocal news website all about New Haven, Conn.