• Together with teachers, the District developed a growth and evaluation system that gives teachers the insights they need to impact student success. 

     
    Paul Ronevich"Being a part of a committee where we examine the systems by which teachers are evaluated has been extremely valuable to me. I appreciate how the committee members have shared different perspectives on how to make the evaluation system fair for teachers and, most importantly, to capture the true purpose that these evaluations should have - improving teacher practice and, in doing so, improving student achievement. It's refreshing to work with a group of teachers, administrators, union representatives, and central office team members who are working together to create a system that allows teachers to use feedback not solely for evaluation but as a way to continuously become more impactful in our ultimate goal of getting the best out of our students."
     
    - Paul Ronevich, Environmental Education Teacher at Pittsburgh SciTech Academy and member of the 2014-15 teacher growth and evaluation advisory council
     
    Just like other complex professions, there's no single tool that does justice to the work teachers do. Until recently, the District only used one tool to look at teacher effectiveness and knew very little about the impact teachers were having in the classroom. That's why PPS worked with teachers to develop a system that uses multiple lenses in order to look at teacher effectiveness.
     
    Now that the system is in place, the District continues to collaborate with teachers to make adjustments based on new research and feedback. The result is a fair and rigorous system that provides an unprecedented amount of information teachers can use to improve results for students. 
    • Classroom Observation: Teachers get feedback and support when principals and peers visit their classroom and see them in action. Learn more about this process here.
    • Student Learning and Growth: Teachers are better able to understand the contribution that they make to student growth. They can also look at student learning and growth at the school-level in order to understand how collaboration between staff in a school can impact student growth. 
    • Student Feedback: Students are providing valuable feedback about their experience in the classroom and engagement in learning. Teachers receive that feedback and are able to use it to improve their practice. 
    At the end of the year, PPS teachers receive information they can use to improve for the next school year. This information also informs their end-of-year rating. Learn more about this year's results here.
     
    View a snapshot of how teachers were informed of their practice prior to 2013 here. See the amount of feedback and information on the forms they receive now here. 

     

    Media Coverage: