TEACHER PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL Technical Requirements Manual 2 0 1 0 This publication is available on the Ministry of Education’s website at www.edu.gov.on.ca. Une publication équivalente est disponible en français sous le titre suivant : Évaluation du rendement du personnel enseignant : Guide des exigences et des modalités, 2010. Contents Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1.1 “New” and “Experienced” Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1.2 Employees Not Covered by the TPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2 Learning Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2.1 Promoting a Growth-Oriented Performance Appraisal Context . . . . . . . 7 2.2 The Role of Learning Communities in Supporting Continuous Growth and Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3 The Performance Appraisal Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3.1 Key Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3.2 Application of TPA Components to New and Experienced Teachers . . . 10 4 Roles and Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 4.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 4.2 Principals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 4.3 Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 4.4 Boards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 5 Competencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 5.1 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 5.2 Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 5.3 Requirements: Competency Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 6 Scheduling Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 6.1 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 6.2 Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 6.2.1 Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 6.2.2 Additional Performance Appraisals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 6.2.3 Experienced Teachers Continuously Employed by a Board . . . . 22 6.2.4 Experienced Teachers New to a Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 6.2.5 When a Teacher Is Seconded to Another Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 6.2.6 Effect of Certain Absences on the Teaching Period . . . . . . . . . . 23 6.2.7 Timing of Appraisal When a Teacher Returns From an Extended Leave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 6.2.8 Extension of 24-Month New Teaching Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 6.2.9 Delegation of a Principal’s TPA Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 6.2.10 Impact of the Absence of a Principal or Supervisory Officer . . . 24 7 Participation in the New Teacher Induction Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 7.1 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 7.2 Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 8 The Annual Learning Plan for Experienced Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 8.1 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 8.2 Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 8.2.1 Process During a Teacher’s Evaluation Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 8.2.2 Process During a Teacher’s Non-Evaluation Years . . . . . . . . . . . 27 9 Gathering Parental and Student Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Contents 1 10 Performance Appraisal Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 10.1 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 10.2 Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 10.2.1 Overview of Performance Appraisal Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 10.2.2 The Pre-observation Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 10.2.3 The Classroom Observation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 10.2.4 The Post-observation Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 10.2.5 The Summative Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 10.2.6 Additional Requirements That Boards May Establish . . . . . . . . 32 11 Performance Rating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 11.1 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 11.2 Rating Systems for New and Experienced Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 11.3 Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 12 Procedures Following a Performance Rating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 12.1 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 12.2 Procedural Requirements Following New Teachers’ Performance Ratings . .37 12.2.1 Procedural Requirements Following Specific Appraisal Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 12.2.2 Time Between the First and Second Appraisals . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 12.3 Procedural Requirements Following Experienced Teachers’ Performance Ratings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 12.3.1 Following a Satisfactory Rating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 12.3.2 Following an Unsatisfactory Rating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 13 Review Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 13.1 Requirements for Placing a Teacher on Review Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 13.2 Principals’ Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 13.3 Timing of the Next Appraisal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 14 Terminating a Teacher’s Employment 14.1 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 14.2 Recommendation to Terminate Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 14.3 Termination While on Review Status Without an Additional Appraisal . . .45 14.4 Procedures Regarding a Recommendation to Terminate a Teacher’s Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 14.5 Arbitration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 15 Documentation Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 15.1 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 15.2 Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 15.2.1 Record Keeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 15.2.2 Exchange of Information Among Schools and Boards . . . . . . . 47 Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Appendix A: Summative Report Form for New Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Appendix B: Summative Report Form for Experienced Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Appendix C: Enrichment Plan for New Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Appendix D: Improvement Plan for New Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Appendix E: Improvement Plan for Experienced Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Appendix F: Log of Teaching Practice for New Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Appendix G: Log of Teaching Practice for Experienced Teachers . . . . . . . . . . 80 Appendix H: Annual Learning Plan (ALP) for Experienced Teachers . . . . . . 100 2 Teacher Performance Appraisal – Technical Requirements Manual Preface The purpose of this manual is to inform school boards, supervisory officers, principals, vice-principals, and teachers about the requirements of the provincial Teacher Performance Appraisal (TPA) system for new and experienced teachers. This manual replaces the Performance Appraisal of Experienced Teachers: Technical Requirements Manual and Approved Forms and Guidelines (2009) and the Manual for Performance Appraisal of New Teachers (2009). This manual has been designed as a resource to guide users in applying the TPA requirements. The legislative and regulatory requirements are set out in the Education Act, Part X.2, “Teacher Performance Appraisal”, and in Ontario Regulation (O. Reg.) 98/02, O. Reg. 99/02, and O. Reg. 266/06. In the event of any legal issues arising from the interpretation of these requirements set out in this manual, boards should consult their legal counsel. This manual also provides samples of mandatory and optional TPA-related forms in the appendices, as follows: Mandatory Provincial Forms (cid:129) Summative Report Form for New Teachers (cid:129) Summative Report Form for Experienced Teachers Sample Templates for Required Processes (cid:129) Enrichment Plan for New Teachers (cid:129) Improvement Plan for New Teachers (cid:129) Improvement Plan for Experienced Teachers (cid:129) Annual Learning Plan (ALP) for Experienced Teachers Sample Templates for Optional Processes (cid:129) Log of Teaching Practice for New Teachers (cid:129) Log of Teaching Practice for Experienced Teachers The most up-to-date versions of these forms are available online in accessible formats at www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/teacher/appraise.html. ❋ Preface 3 The TPA system for new and experienced teachers was developed on the basis of recommendations provided by key education partners. The Ministry of Education wishes to thank the following organizations, which participated in the development process: (cid:129) Association des directions et directions adjointes des écoles franco-ontariennes (cid:129) Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (cid:129) Catholic Principals’ Council of Ontario (cid:129) Council of Ontario Directors of Education (cid:129) Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (cid:129) Ontario Association of Deans of Education (cid:129) Ontario Association of Parents in Catholic Education (cid:129) Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association (cid:129) Ontario College of Teachers (cid:129) Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (cid:129) Ontario Federation of Home and School Associations (cid:129) Ontario Principals’ Council (cid:129) Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (cid:129) Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (cid:129) Ontario Student Trustees’ Association (cid:129) Ontario Teachers’ Federation (cid:129) People for Education 4 Teacher Performance Appraisal – Technical Requirements Manual 1 Introduction Ontario’s teacher performance appraisal (TPA) system for new and experienced teachers is designed to: (cid:129) promote teacher development; (cid:129) provide meaningful appraisals of teachers’ performance that encourage professional learning and growth; (cid:129) identify opportunities for additional support where required; and (cid:129) provide a measure of accountability to the public. The TPA is an integral part of a continuum of professional learning that supports effective teaching, learning, and assessment practices by building on and comple- menting previous learning in pre-service teacher education programs and the New Teacher Induction Program (NTIP), as well as learning acquired throughout each individual’s teaching career. The TPA system helps strengthen schools as learning communities where teachers have the chance to engage in professional exchanges and collaborative inquiries that foster continuous growth and development. Professional dialogue and collabo- ration are essential to the creation and maintenance of a healthy school culture. An appraisal system in which both teachers and principals are actively engaged provides a framework for assessing teachers’ practices in a way that meets their professional learning needs. The TPA system engages principals and teachers in professional dialogue that deepens their understanding of what it means to be a teacher, as reflected in the Ontario College of Teachers’ Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession. 1.1 “New” and “Experienced” Teachers Ontario’s TPA system has two components: one for “new” teachers and the other for “experienced” teachers. New teachers are defined in the legislation as all teachers certified by the Ontario College of Teachers (including teachers trained out-of-province) who have been hired into permanent positions – full-time or part-time – by a school board, school authority, or provincial school (“board”) to begin teaching for the first time in Ontario. Teachers are considered “new” until they successfully complete the NTIP or until 24 months have elapsed since the date on which they first began to teach for a board. Introduction 5 All teachers who have completed the NTIP, or who held permanent positions in Ontario’s publicly funded schools prior to the NTIP’s implementation in September 2006, as well as temporary teachers (those teaching on a Letter of Permission), are appraised as “experienced” teachers. 1.2 Employees Not Covered by the TPA The TPA system does not apply to certified teachers employed outside the publicly funded education system or to instructors in teacher education institutions. Within boards, it does not apply to occasional teachers, continuing education teachers, vice-principals, principals, supervisory officers, or directors of education. Boards may develop a process for appraising the performance of any employees who are not covered by provincially mandated performance appraisal requirements. 6 Teacher Performance Appraisal – Technical Requirements Manual 2 Learning Communities 2.1 Promoting a Growth-Oriented Performance Appraisal Context In the larger context of school improvement, Ontario’s teacher performance appraisal system provides principals and teachers with processes and procedures that can help bring about improvements in teaching and student learning. The appraisal process can also promote the collaboration and relationship building essential to create and sustain an effective learning community. It is especially important to see the appraisal system as a supportive and effective way of helping teachers grow and develop as confident, proficient Ontario teachers. 2.2 The Role of Learning Communities in Supporting Continuous Growth and Development Establishing learning communities characterized by shared values and a shared sense of purpose has been identified as the most promising approach to bringing about sustained and substantive school improvement.1In these learning communities, all staff “engage in disciplined inquiry and continuous improvement in order to ‘raise the bar’ and ‘close the gap’ of student learning and achievement”.2 Learning communities thrive in a culture of sharing, trust, and support. They contribute to the high performance of both teachers and students by creating an environment where all students learn. They foster a culture of collaboration and focus on results. Through their actions, principals and teachers strive to enhance their effectiveness as professionals with the goal of improving student achievement by asking questions such as: (cid:129) “What do we want each student to learn?” (cid:129) “How will we know if each student has learned it?” (cid:129) “How will we respond when a student experiences difficulty in learning?” (cid:129) “How will we deepen the learning for students who have already mastered essential knowledge and skills?”3 1. Mike Schmoker, “No Turning Back: The Ironclad Case for Professional Learning Communities”, in On Common Ground, ed. Richard Dufour, Robert Eaker, and Rebecca DuFour (Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service, 2005), pp. 135–53. 2. Michael Fullan, “Professional Learning Communities Writ Large”, in On Common Ground, p. 209. 3. Richard DuFour, Robert Eaker, and Rebecca DuFour, “Recurring Themes of Professional Learning Communities and the Assumptions They Challenge”, in On Common Ground, p. 15. Learning Communities 7 Through this inquiry process, principals and teachers move closer to the shared vision they have established for the school. A growth-focused appraisal process that emphasizes the importance of professional dialogue and collaboration can help foster an effective and supportive learning community in the school. Ontario’s TPA system is designed to support and promote teacher growth and development. When this system is linked to school improvement goals and ongoing professional learning, it becomes fully integrated into the fabric of school life. 8 Teacher Performance Appraisal – Technical Requirements Manual