As negotiations continue between the District 97 administration, school board and faculty union, all three sides last week reached an agreement on one important aspect of a likely new contract: to pilot a new teacher evaluation program based on student academic performance.
The two sides released a joint statement Aug. 12, saying they’ve agreed to pilot the program which will include, among other criteria, “student academic growth.” The board is expected to approve a Memorandum of Understanding on the pilot this week. The program, according to the joint statement, will align with the state’s current teacher evaluation law first approved three years ago.
The two sides also said they will continue work on reaching a new teacher’s contract; their next bargaining session was scheduled for Aug. 18. The pilot is expected to be implemented by 2016.
“The Board of Education, district administration and Oak Park Teachers’ Association (OPTA) have made positive progress toward the creation of the new teacher contract,” the statement read. “This progress is highlighted by the tentative agreements we have reached on a number of key issues. It is also reflected in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) we agreed to that will further aid our alignment to the Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA) by establishing an early pilot program that is focused on including student academic growth among the criteria for teacher performance evaluations.”
After the memorandum is approved, the district will establish a joint committee of OPTA members, board members and administrators to develop the pilot program. The committee’s work will include looking at “data and indicators of student growth as a significant factor in rating teacher performance,” said Chris Jasculca, D97’s director of policy, planning and communications.
“[The committee] will also develop a model that may be incorporated into the district’s evaluation plan after it has been piloted and assessed,” Jasculca said.
The development of the pilot will take place over the course of the upcoming school year, with implementation expected during the 2015-2016 school year.
“The ultimate purpose of the pilot program is to provide teachers and evaluators with an opportunity to assess the model, offer feedback on its effectiveness and revise it if necessary,” Jasculca said.
PERA went into effect in 2011, signed by Gov. Pat Quinn. The law placed tougher standards on how teachers are evaluated, which includes factoring in student performance and increased classroom mentoring by principals. Currently, D97 teachers are evaluated via the Danielson model, an evaluation assessment used by many school districts nationwide and in Illinois. District 200 also uses the Danielson model.
Under PERA, the addition of student performance in evaluations was expected to be implemented by 2016. Jasculca said the D97 board and administration, as well as the OPTA, decided to start that transition now. The district, however, is not the only one making this change now, Jasculca said.
“While this will certainly put us on the leading edge when it comes to incorporating student performance into teacher evaluations, there are other [districts], both locally and nationally, that have already undertaken this process,” he said.