Minnesota State Teacher Development, Evaluation, and Peer Support Model Evaluation Report
Author: Dretzke, Beverly
Date: 2015-01-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Faculty Development,Teacher Evaluation,State Departments of Education,State Legislation,Models,Educational Practices,Learner Engagement,Academic Achievement,School Districts,Charter Schools,Pilot Projects,Summative Evaluation,Formative Evaluation,Interviews,Data Collection,Surveys,Outcomes of Education,Teacher Attitudes,Standards,Portfolio Assessment,Student Educational Objectives,School Culture,Program Implementation,Compliance (Legal),Organizational Communication

Minnesota Statutes 122A.40, Subdivision 8 and 122A.41, Subdivision 5, require that all districts evaluate teachers beginning in the 2014-2015 school year. In response to the statutes, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) convened a work group in early winter 2011 to consult with the MDE Commissioner to develop a state model for teacher growth and development. In winter 2013, MDE released the Minnesota State Teacher Development, Evaluation, and Peer Support Model (hereafter &quot;Model&quot;) and began planning for a pilot of the Model during the 2013-2014 school year (hereafter &quot;Pilot&quot;). The Model consists of three components for evaluating teacher performance: (1) teacher practice; (2) student engagement; and (3) student learning and achievement. Sixteen school districts and one charter school from across Minnesota agreed to participate in the Pilot. Six of the participants implemented the full Model (all three components) and 11 implemented one or two components. Fourteen of the 17 districts are located outside of the Twin Cities metro area. Total enrollments ranged from 202 to 7,510 students. In August 2013, the Joyce Foundation funded the University of Minnesota's Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) in the College of Education and Human Development to conduct an evaluation of the Pilot implementation. All surveys and interview protocols utilized in the evaluation were developed by CAREI, in consultation with MDE staff. Data collection was carried out from March to June, 2014, when the Pilot year was concluding. The Minnesota Statutes define a &quot;teacher&quot; as any school district staff member who is on a teacher contract. Included in this definition are individuals in traditional classroom teaching positions as well as professionals, such as librarians, nurses, school psychologists, and speech language pathologists, whose work largely takes place in non-classroom settings. Data were collected from individuals in both types of teaching positions. In this report, these positions are referred to as &quot;classroom teacher&quot; and &quot;non-classroom teacher.&quot; This report summarizes responses given by classroom teachers, non-classroom teachers, summative evaluators, and MDE staff. The report includes the following appendices: (1) Map of Minnesota Pilot Sites; (2) Descriptive Information About Districts Participating in the Pilot; (3) Teacher Implementation Survey Instrument; (4) Descriptive Information about the Teacher Implementation Survey Participants; (5) Summative Evaluator Implementation Survey Instrument; (6) Teacher Beliefs Fall (Pre) Survey Instrument; (7) Teacher Beliefs Spring (Post) Survey Instrument; (8) Distribution of Fall and Spring Responses to Items on Teacher Beliefs Survey; (9) Summative Evaluator Interview Protocol; (10) Teacher Interview Protocol; and (11) MDE Staff Interview Protocol. Also included is the Value-Added Addendum.