Program and Personnel Evaluation

Professional personnel evaluation procedures are negotiated annually by the Howard County Education Association. These evaluation procedures appear in the Master Agreement Between the Board of Education of Howard County and the Howard County Education Association.

Teacher Evaluation Model

Our primary mission as a school system is to prepare every child for success after graduation. To fulfill this mission, effective teachers must be at the helm of every classroom, fostering each child's academic growth throughout the school year. As of the 2013-14 school year, HCPSS is using an evaluation model based off the Danielson model.

The Howard County evaluation model is customized to satisfy the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) requirements. It was developed by a team of 120 educators, school administrators, central office leaders, and union representatives, and was piloted by teachers and administrators at ten schools during the 2012-13 school year. This evaluation model is designed to be a career development tool that provides meaningful feedback to help teachers grow as professionals. Its goals are to ensure that all teachers are effective and to help high-performing teachers excel even further. The evaluation is evidence-based and uses a common set of observation standards to provide fairness and equity for teachers.

The evaluation model assesses teacher effectiveness through a comprehensive range of indicators that balance the teacher's skill in professional practice with measures of student academic progress. Depending on the subject area, grade level and other factors, academic progress may be indicated by achievement and/or improvement on state-mandated assessments (MSA, HSA, etc.), attendance rates and other objective factors.

A comprehensive multi-year professional learning program was launched during 2013 to acclimate teachers and principals to the new evaluation and the expectations for professional practice and student growth. Full details of all procedures and components included in the teacher evaluation process are provided in the Teacher Evaluation Course in Canvas .

Evaluation Components

The teacher evaluation score is divided between measures of professional practice and student progress in academic achievement.

Professional Practice accounts for 80% of the total evaluation score. Professional practice is measured in four "domains," defined by the Charlotte Danielson Framework for Teacher Evaluation

Each domain accounts for 20% of the total evaluation score. All library media specialists will be evaluated with a slightly modified rubric for Domains 1 and 4. Domains 2 and 3 are the same as all teachers.

• Domain 1 - Planning and Preparation:

  • Refers to the teacher's knowledge of content, pedagogy and resources; skill in setting instructional goals and designing coherent instruction and student assessments; and level of understanding about his or her students.

• Domain 2 - Classroom Environment:

  • Measures the teacher's success in creating an environment of respect and rapport, establishing a culture for learning, managing classroom procedures and student behavior, and organizing physical space.

• Domain 3 - Instruction:

  • Indicates the teacher's effectiveness in communicating with students; using questioning and discussion techniques, engaging students in learning, using assessment in instruction, and demonstrating flexibility and responsiveness.

• Domain 4 - Professional Responsibilities:

  • Includes maintaining accurate records, communicating with families, participating in a professional community, growing and developing professionally, demonstrating professionalism, and reflecting on teaching.

• Student Growth (Domain 5) accounts for the other 20% of the teacher evaluation of elementary library media specialists only. Student growth is measured through a Student Learning Objective (SLO) that is jointly selected by teachers and their principals. Teachers develop one specific SLO selected among four areas:

  • Literacy - Reading, writing, speaking and listening, differentiation.

  • Mathematical Practice - Overarching habits, reasoning and explaining, modeling and using tool, seeing structure and generalizing, differentiating.

  • Creative Problem Solving - Understanding challenges, generating ideas, preparing for action, applying technology, and differentiating, in support of the Maryland STEM Standards of Practice.

  • Content - Assessments, performance-based tasks; differentiation.

Student Learning Objectives (SLOs)

SLOs promote instructional rigor and quality by:

• Representing ambitious targets.

• Supporting teachers and principals in using student performance data to drive instruction and school improvement.

• Collecting information about how educators impact student growth and achievement.

• Providing immediate feedback to educators on professional progress and practice.

Students benefit, because SLOs:

• Encourage teachers to focus on content mastery, challenging content and closing the achievement gap.

• Stimulate innovative and engaging instructional strategies.

Teachers benefit, because SLOs:

• Empower teachers to examine data to make meaningful instructional decisions.

• Encourage collaboration among teachers.

• Encourage use of proven best instructional practices.

• Provide objective data for use in teacher evaluations.