The House Education Committee held a work session today examining the use of student growth data in educator evaluations. The Committee heard about the use of student growth data from a research perspective from the American Institutes for Research’s Gretchen Weber and Mariann Lemke. Michaela Miller and Jim Koval (Project Manager and Project Director) provided a state-level overview, while Scott Poirier from the WEA introduced the eVAL management tool to the committee members. Finally, a talented group of educators from our pilot districts represented the work that they and the other members of the TPEP Task Force have just concluded. The group of presenters (pictured from left to right) included:

• Greg Fancher, Assistant Superintendent, Kennewick School District;
• Chris Cloke, Teacher, Wenatchee School District;
• Jennie Beltramini, Teacher and Anacortes Education Association President, Anacortes School District; and
• Tara Dowd, Principal, Anacortes School District.

The draft recommendations from the TPEP Task Force around student growth data were also presented to the Committee. The Task Force discussed not if, but how student growth data should be used responsibly and with integrity in the evaluation process. They recommend that:

• teachers be evaluated for whom and for what they are teaching,
• that the use of this data in an evaluation be alighted to the evaluation criteria set forth by the E2SSB 6696 legislation, and
• that the multiple measures outlined in current statute are deeply explored and analyzed when districts implement the new evaluation systems.

Those three recommendations provide a brief summary of the draft recommendations to date. We’ll post the full recommendations about student growth data, as well as the recommendations around the use of perception survey data and issues surrounding evaluator training and support as soon as they are finalized. In the meantime, you can view today’s entire work session on TVW.