Jennifer, Thank you for fostering this discussion. When I referred to APPR, I was referencing the Annual Professional Performance Review that's been instituted in NY. Sorry - I thought that was a federal requirement. NY is a participant in Race to the Top so possibly it just applies to participant states. The APPR incorporates points from many different areas, some of which is negotiated by our union, to come up with teacher (and principal) ratings, . 40% of the total rating is required to come from your students' standardized test results, with half of that specifically required to be state tests (e.g.annual ELA test or English Regents, depending on the grade).
Our SLOs address that 40%, and state teacher goals and results in terms of student performance on tests. Last year I was able to set goals based on student improvement on the Gray Silent Reading Test, which can capture incremental performance gains in comprehension. This year I don't know if I will be allowed to use that. We all want to be effective in helping our students - that's why I joined this list serve! But now I have to prove it, and I'm trying to find a measure acceptable to all concerned, that meets state regs. It is a difficult task! Carol McLoughlin *Carol McLoughlin* *Reading Teacher* *Southold Jr-Sr High School* On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 2:47 PM, Palmer, Jennifer <[email protected]>wrote: > Ahhhh!! SLOs! Welcome to my world! I have been living and breathing them > the past few weeks as her in Maryland we are writing them (teachers and > administrators) for the first time. I am elementary so I may not be able > to give you direct measures to use that would apply to your level...but I > think you are dead on when you insist that your assessment show incremental > progress. Here in Maryland, we are telling teachers NOT to use MSA (the > state's standardized test) for SLOs because they are not going to show > incremental growth, AND here, that MSA test score (soon to be replaced > with PARCC) is already playing into evaluations so to use it for an SLO > would be double jeopardy. I do like the SRI (Scholastic Reading > Inventory) and the SMI (Scholastic Math Inventory) for growth scores at > elementary because you can see incremental progress. Even better is the > Fountas and Pinnell running records...which give great formative > information as well as showing growth. If you HAVE to use the measures > they are suggesting, certainly reword your SLO so that they goal is not so > lofty because it will be much harder to show growth on a 4 point scale. > > I don't know what APPR is.. .and I am thinking others on the listserv do > not know either. You might have to clarify for others (and me) exactly what > your SLOs are like because not every district has them and Maryland's > version probably varies from yours ... what the purpose of SLOs are ...in > order to get some responses to your post. > > Before this conversation continues, I would like to encourage everyone to > keep an open mind and ask questions before stating your opinion. SLOs are > controversial in some places, but in others, teachers feel empowered to > choose the measures that will demonstrate student growth and find that SLOs > are better as an accountability measure than using a "bubble" test. > > While this post is somewhat off-topic, and usually we try to keep to the > topic of comprehension, I think this is important to discuss. Assessments > and accountability measures do affect the way we teach so it is pretty > crucial for us to understand all this so that we can make sure that the > effects on our students are positive rather than negative. > > Jennifer L. Palmer, Ed. D, NBCT (Listserv Moderator) > > Magnolia Elementary School > 901 Trimble Road > Joppa, MD 21085 > Phone 410-612-1553 > Fax 410-612-1576 > "Reaching, Teaching, Learning...Changing Lives!!" > > Norrisville Elementary School > 5302 Norrisville Rd > White Hall, MD 21161 > 410-692-7810 > "Where Great Futures Begin!!" > > -----Original Message----- > From: Mosaic [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > Carol McLoughlin > Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2013 2:09 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [MOSAIC] Assessments used for APPR > > I realize this isn't necessarily an instructional issue, but it's > something we reading teachers have to deal with in connection with APPR, so > I was hoping to get the group's advice. > I teach struggling readers in grades 7-12. The new APPR regulations > require that we measure student growth and achievement in order to evaluate > teacher performance, and last year was the first time we had to establish > Student Learning Objectives (SLOs), and identify a pre- and post-assessment > tool and an assessment to use for an achievement score. Last year I used > Gray Silent Reading Test as a pre- and post test, which is a standardized > test which can measure incremental progress in reading comprehension. This > year my district is pushing for me to use the NY State ELA scores, where > available, or a proprietary ELA-type assessment through Right Reason > Technology . My problem with that is that neither test can truly capture > the progress my students make, when they start out with reading levels as > much as 3-6 grade levels below placement. They may make up two or more > years' progress in one year of instruction, but they are likely to still > score a 1 (on a 1-4 scale) on a grade-level ELA test. > So my questions are, for those of you who are also dealing with this: > > - What assessments are you using for growth measures? > - What assessments are you using for an achievement score? > - Any overall advice on SLOs? > > I would appreciate any advice or guidance you could provide. > > > *Carol McLoughlin* > *Reading Specialist Gr 7-12* > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive > > -- *Carol McLoughlin* *ESL and Reading Specialist* _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive
