The Steering Committee met on January 21 to catch up on the work completed over the course of January. This included reviewing what districts have signed on to pilot the new system, and hearing about the work of the Special Populations and Early Childhood Working Groups. The Steering Committee also discussed additional planning measures for the pilot in advance of the 2021-2022 school year. The Committee will begin reviewing training and other support content over the course of February and March.

The Steering Committee met on December 17 to check in on the preparations for the evaluation pilot. At this meeting, the Steering Committee reviewed the draft of the Critical Attributes Guide aligned to the new observation tool. The committee advised on the work about to be underway with educators from early childhood and special education. Those Working Groups will convene this winter to review the updated observation tool and to create resources and guidance aligned to the observation tool that is specific to unique contexts of early childhood education and certain special education populations. The Steering Committee also advised on upcoming educator information sessions regarding the new system, the first of which will be held on January 13.

The Evaluation System Redesign Steering Committee met on November 19 to continue their work as leaders in the redesign. During this remote meeting, committee members reviewed key messages and prepared resources to share with educators across the state. The committee members also reviewed the goals for the pilot implementation and identified specific research questions to guide data collection during the pilot through focus groups, surveys and interviews.

The Evaluation System Redesign Steering Committee reconvened on October 15 to begin to engage in three priorities for the 2020-2021 transition year. The committee members reaffirmed their commitment to providing feedback to the DOE on plans for the pilot, and to serving as ambassadors to share about the evaluation redesign with their colleagues. The committee reviewed communications plans created by the DOE, and brainstormed ideas for engaging with educators remotely given the pandemic. The committee identified several strategies that the DOE will use to share more information about the system redesign over the course of the year.

The Process Working Group of the Rubric Redesign Steering Committee met for their third and final meeting on February 5 at Troop 3 in Camden-Wyoming. At this meeting the working group reviewed the overall process, discussed final details of the proposed process, and made recommendations on final decisions. Details include how many observations to require, and how long observations should be; how to structure feedback conferences; and how to arrive at summative ratings. The group also reviewed the current plans for pilot training, and discussed recommendations for content for training and resources. This was the final meeting of the Process Working Group; the group’s recommendations will be shared with the DPAS-II Advisory Committee and the Secretary of Education to be finalized before the 2020-2021 pilot.

The Training Working Group of the Rubric Redesign Steering Committee is comprised of a sub-set of steering committee members whose sole focus is on preparing training and resources for the pilot implementation of the redesigned system. The committee had their first meeting on January 22 at LOCATION. During this meeting, the group reviewed several in-progress resources and provided feedback and edits. These resources include:

• A narrative description of the rubric
• FAQs
• A crosswalk between the new rubric and the DPAS-II rubric
• A list of possible examples for each indicator in the new rubric

The committee also examine the DOE’s current training strategy for the pilot, and make recommendations on frequency and types of training, as well as on content that should be included in the training for all pilot participants. The committee will reconvene in March to continue efforts to refine resources and training materials in preparation for the pilot implementation that begins this fall.

The Rubric Redesign Steering Committee gathered for the group’s final meeting on January 8 at Troop 3 in Camden. The meeting agenda included closely examining data from the second round of rubric testing completed by committee members. Committee members also polished and finalized the Core Teacher Skills in the rubric, and brainstormed a name for the newly redesigned system. The committee also reviewed progress on the observation process design to date, and identified key questions and strategies for the state-wide pilot to launch this fall. Finally, the committee celebrated the work completed over the last 18 months, and prepared to release the final rubric in February!

On December 11, the Process Working Group convened for their second of three meetings this year. The group built on the work they started in October to create a Professional Growth Plan format and model to recommend for use for Delaware teachers. The committee also examined the recommended observation and feedback process that will accompany the revised rubric. Working Group members spent the day diving deep into this process, examining sample forms and tools, and identifying revisions and improvements. The group will meet once more in February 2020 to review final data from the rubric testing efforts and to finalize recommendations for process updates to share with the DPAS-II Advisory Committee.

On November 13, the Rubric Redesign Steering Committee met to continue their work to revise the teacher evaluation system. At this meeting, the committee members reviewed data from the first round of testing that they completed. Twenty-six testers completed 93 testing observations, which provided a rich data set that allowed the committee to make revisions to the draft rubric and to identify process elements that they wish for the Process Working Group to consider. During this meeting the committee also engaged in continued professional learning about the content of the rubric so that, as leaders of this work, committee members deepen their familiarity with the rubric content and the research that is behind each of the indicators. The committee members also engaged in a calibration activity to practice using the rubric, and to prepare to test the rubric in additional classrooms across Delaware.

On October 9, a working group of the larger Rubric Revision Steering Committee met to begin work on revisions to the evaluation process. A redesigned rubric will require educators and observers to modify the approach they use to collecting evidence and providing coaching and support for teachers. The charge of this Working Group is to learn from the testing being conducted by the Steering Committee and to make recommendations for process updates. These recommendations will be considered by the DPAS-II Advisory committee for ultimate approval by the Secretary of Education.

Because the rubric is currently begin actively tested in schools, the Working Group engaged in process issues not related to observations themselves at our first meeting. Specifically, the group discussed how to assess issues of professionalism, and how to build structures and resources to support teacher professional growth. The Working Group examined exemplar Professional Growth Plans from other states to identify what elements any sort of plan or process that Delaware implements should include.

The working group also identified what research and best practices they wish to review regarding observation processes used elsewhere, and what information they want to know about the testing completed by the Steering Committee. The working group will review this information at their next meeting in December, which will focus on recommendations related to the observation process.