As documented by two decades of research, the best strategy for improving teaching and learning is building the capacity of the school to function as a learning community in which professional development is job embedded. After their first two years in MCPS, teachers enter the multi-year, professional growth cycle. It is the structure that integrates all essential elements of evaluation. The purpose of the professional growth cycle is to provide structures that foster collegial interaction that leads to continuous improvement of teaching practice.
Formal evaluations provide quality, in-depth and focused feedback on teaching.
Formal evaluations are required at least once in every professional growth cycle, are required at any time when there is a concern about a teacher's performance, and delineate levels of teaching performance by trained evaluators. Professional development plans for continuous improvement are designed by each teacher and reviewed annually. The connection provides for the integration of the results from formal evaluations with the teacher's objectives in subsequent years, and requires long-range professional development plans to be adjusted annually. Every teacher participates actively every year. This participation allows extensive choices for teachers, requires peer observations at least once in each professional growth cycle, and provides accountability for clarity, rigor, and substance for teacher choices and plans during years without a formal evaluation.