Effective school divisions administer a fair, equitable, and accountable appraisal system to improve an employee’s performance and deliver quality professional development to enhance its employees’ professional growth. These two areas are examined in this section.
FINDING
Roanoke City Public Schools has recently developed two evaluation plans for the evaluations of school administrators and teachers. Such plans enable the division to maintain a high quality and qualified workforce. While well-developed evaluation instruments are maintained for all classification of employees, the recent evaluation plans for teachers and school administrators are worthy of mention.
RCPS teachers are required to maintain a “Documentation Portfolio” to demonstrate their professional performance through evidence of teaching techniques, student assessments, and professional development. Developed during 2004-05, the portfolio consists of the following parts:
Instruction and student achievement – test data analysis, evidence of instruction and student assessments.
Communications and human relations – parent/guardian contact logs, and surveys of students, parents, and colleagues.
Professionalism – attendance log, professional development log, and school/division/community log.
Classroom observation reports.
Documentation for an educational objective – documentation for the accomplishment of the objective that has been developed to support the school’s biennial plan.
The portfolio is reviewed at least two times per year as part of the evaluation process. The “Administrator Evaluation Plan” just recently developed (August 2006) was designed:
To improve instruction.
To promote and assist professional growth and skills.
To fulfill the legal requirements of state and local authorities.
To identify and remediate any unsatisfactory practices or behaviors.
Administrators are evaluated on five domains and related performance standards. The five domains include:
Planning and assessment. Instructional leadership.
Safety and organizational management for learning. Communication and community relations.
Professionalism.
Several reports/forms are required for the administrator to complete. One report is due in August, which states the administrator’s goals incorporated into the five domains. The next is an “interim review” report that is used to maintain records throughout the evaluation cycle of the administrator in preparation for the summative evaluation. The last report is the summative evaluation completed by the evaluator of the administrator. COMMENDATION 3-C:
Roanoke City Public Schools is commended for the development of an effective process and evaluation program for school administrators and teachers.
FINDING
With the establishment of an office of professional development, a Professional
Development Plan is in place to guide the efforts of planning and delivering high quality
professional development to teachers; however, training for classified employees is not coordinated or delivered out of this office and as such little has been offered to classified employees other than what some departments or schools offer.
One key element in motivating and retaining employees is the opportunity to continue to expand job and career development skills. While training opportunities for particular categories of employees are offered such as food services and maintenance, little to nothing has been offered to clerical staff. Staff development activities such as child abuse and diversity training that could be delivered to classified employees as a whole are not delivered except here and there in departments or schools. However, there is still no coordination of these efforts or plans developed to provide systematic offerings for classified staff on an annual basis.
RECOMMENDATION 3-9:
Organize and coordinate training activities to increase staff development for classified employees and place the coordination of these activities under the directorship of the office of professional development.
Classified staff members should be encouraged to take courses specific to their current jobs including those to improve or secure overall skills and knowledge. The purpose of the professional (staff) development program should serve all departments and employees in the division. For better coordination of these activities and offerings, the office of professional development should undertake this task along with the current administering of professional development to teachers and administrators.
An array of courses or workshop offerings to classified staff might include: Time Management
Telephone Skills
Customer Service Skills Interviewing Techniques Team Building Skills Workplace Violence Child Abuse Prevention Conflict Resolution
Working with Difficult People Leadership Training
FISCAL IMPACT
Fiscal impact cannot be determined at this time, as the cost of what courses or workshops might be offered is not known. If courses cannot be taught by RCPS staff, then a cost to the division would result.
FINDING
During MGT’s previous RCPS review, there was not an office of professional development. The associate superintendent for instruction oversaw professional development with opportunities provided through instructional coordinators.
A recommendation was made by MGT in its November 2005 report that an office of staff development be established. Professional development underwent several changes in directors since that time, but an office of professional development is now operational with a director overseeing and coordinating activities. The office resides under the directorship of the Area II Director of Schools.
A Professional Development Plan has been developed and focuses on five areas: Eight step instructional process – disaggregating test data,
developing instructional timelines, delivering instructional focus, administering frequent assessment, using tutorials to re-teach, providing enrichment opportunities for mastery students, reinforcing learning through maintenance, and monitoring progress.
Classroom management.
Framework for understanding poverty.
Mentor program for beginning and new teachers. Diversity training.
The plan includes strategic goals and expected outcomes for each of the five areas. Documents provided to the consultants included professional development offerings for the school year, a calendar of events, information on new teacher orientation and academy, school based professional development, and other documents.
Participation in the New Teacher Academy, designed to inform and support new teachers, is required of all new teachers to RCPS. New teachers must sign up for one of three group sessions held over the school year with six sessions held under each group. The sessions are held from 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. on Wednesday evenings. Topics at the sessions include evaluation portfolios, curriculum breakout sessions, class safety, behavior management, diversity orientation, special education and instructional technology.
A loosely designed mentorship program is also provided to new teachers with a mentor provided for the teacher at each school. The office of professional development is looking at three teacher mentorship programs hoping to implement something similar at RCPS in the near future.
COMMENDATION 3-D:
Roanoke City Public Schools is commended for establishing an office of professional development and developing a comprehensive plan in response to needs identified on the basis of student performance, instructional needs, and district data.
RECOMMENDATION 3-10:
Move the office of professional development under human resources and as part of that office include staff development for classified staff.
RCPS should move the current office and director of professional development to human resources to coordinate all staff development activities in the division. The director should oversee staff development to classified employees, administrative staff, and teachers.
Human resources is the logical place for moving this office, as the function of the department is to provide services to employees. Moving the program out of instruction and into human resources makes the office a full-fledged staff development office. Included among the responsibilities of this office should be the preparation of a yearly calendar of professional development activities, conducting a needs assessment of certified and classified staff, tracking of professional development hours of certified staff, and oversight of the new teacher orientation and the mentorship program.
FISCAL IMPACT
This recommendation does not fiscally impact RCPS as the office with its current staff can remain where it is currently located. However, the office would now be under the directorship of the HR department.