...the Wisconsin Way
Research consistently identifies effective teaching and instructional leadership as the most important school-based factors impacting student learning. Every child in every community deserves excellent classroom teachers and building leaders. Every educator deserves a specific, individualized roadmap to help move his or her students and professional practice from point A to point B. The Wisconsin Educator Effectiveness System (WIEE) serves as that roadmap.
Wisconsin’s approach to its Educator Effectiveness System is based on following principles: 1) Learning requires risk and risk-taking requires a foundation of trust; 2) Assessment and support of teaching practice requires a research-based framework for teaching; 3) Learning takes time and is more likely when focused on educator and student learning goals, with educators “owning” the process and, 4) Learning is enhanced with ongoing, timely, and specific feedback from peers and evaluators.
Wisconsin understands that identifying high-performing and struggling educators is the easiest part of an evaluation system—identifying the unique strengths and weaknesses of every educator and helping them to improve is much harder. Wisconsin has designed a System to do just that. The System validates every context, role, and environment and results in meaningful, individualized, actionable feedback. Without this feedback, a system can score educators (e.g., accountability model), but it cannot inform, support, or grow educators. Wisconsin has worked hard to create an EE System aligned to research and best practice by building a system of ongoing collaborative feedback intended to foster educator growth and, ultimately, improved student outcomes.
Educators are active participants in their own evaluations in Wisconsin and peer collaboration and support is strongly encouraged. Evaluators have an important facilitation role, but they are intended to collaborate, not dictate, the evaluation process. The capacity-building characteristics of the system set Wisconsin apart. WIEE is not ultimately about the ratings, per se. It is not intended to result in an overall score to compare educators within schools and between districts. Instead, personal goals, ongoing evidence based on discrete components of practice, and evaluator/peer feedback help drive professional learning of individuals across time. The System improves teacher and principal evaluation systems to provide educators with more meaningful feedback and support so they maximize student learning results.
DPI (with Wisconsin educators) designed the Wisconsin (WI) Educator Effectiveness (EE) System to improve professional in a manner which Charlotte Danielson has defined as “educative.”
“I have great admiration for the work of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and its Educator Effectiveness program (WIEE). WIEE concentrates on helping all teachers improve their practice in the extremely complex work of teaching. In my view, WIEE is the most powerful use of the Framework for Teaching, and will yield lasting benefits to both teachers and students in the state,” says Danielson.
Danielson has not only verbally praised Wisconsin’s work, but has also expressed interest in designing and implementing a study to validate Wisconsin’s educative EE System. Specifically, Danielson wants to empirically prove that Wisconsin’s educative approach results in greater educator growth and, as a result, greater improvements to student outcomes, as compared to the systems implemented in other states across the nation. Danielson also helped co-author an article for EdWeek defining “The Wisconsin Way,” as well as participating in an interview to support an article in slate.com about how Wisconsin is “paving the way…[and] raising the bar” for other states.
The EE System was designed by and for Wisconsin educators to evaluate teachers and principals through a fair, valid, reliable, and manageable process using multiple measures across two main areas: educator practice and student outcomes.
Benefits to Teachers and Students
The new evaluation system provides teachers and principals with ongoing feedback and meaningful information about how their practice impacts leadership and student learning.
- Teachers coach and mentor each other based on identified strengths and growth opportunities, giving educators more control over their professional growth.
- The EE System acknowledges the critical role educators play, and provides the opportunity to reflect on and refine practice to continually meet student needs.
- Evaluators complete rigorous observation training before evaluating teachers and collecting evidence aligned to Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching or the Wisconsin Principal Framework. This minimizes evaluator subjectivity and bias. Evaluators provide ongoing feedback to educators after multiple observations and facilitate collaborative conversations intended to support the educator’s own professional growth.
Major Steps in the Wisconsin Educator Effectiveness System for Teachers and:
Supporting Years 1 & 2:
- Educator meets 3 times per year with peers to receive feedback and support regarding the Student Learning Objective (SLO) and the Professional Practice Goal (PPG).
- Educator self-scores the SLO. The PPG is not scored.
- Mini or Formal Observations may occur. Feedback is provided by the evaluator.
Summary Year 3:
- Educator meets 3 times per year with his/her evaluator to receive feedback and support regarding the Student Learning Objective (SLO) and the Professional Practice Goal (PPG).
- Educator self-scores the SLO. The PPG is not scored.
- Mini or longer observations may occur. Feedback is provided by the evaluator within seven days.
- Before and after each Formal Observation, the evaluator and educator meet for a collaborative conversation focused on the educator's practice. After each Mini-Observation, feedback is provided.
- At the end of the Summary Year, the evaluator assigns Component scores based on evidence.
- At the end of the Summary Year, the evaluator assigns a holistic SLO score based on the preponderance of evidence supplied by all available SLOs.
- Evaluator facilitates an End-of-Cycle Summary Conference to discuss attainment of PPG and SLO goals, individual Component scores, and the overall SLO score that has been assigned. Based on final scores and comments on goals, evaluators and educators should identify growth areas for the following year.
For more information contact:
Jed Kees, School Improvement Services Director
(608) 786-4814 or Toll Free (800) 514-3075
FAX (608) 786-4801
E-mail: jkees@cesa4.org
Laura Veglahn, School Improvement Services Director
(608) 786-4814 or Toll Free (800) 514-3075
FAX (608) 786-4801
E-mail: lveglahn@cesa4.org
Sally Weber
Program Assistant
(608) 786-4831; Toll Free (800) 514-3075
FAX (608) 786-4801
E-mail: sweber@cesa4.org
