2012 - 2013

Houston Independent School District

School Leader Appraisal System

1

Table of Contents

Background ................................................................................................................................................... 2

HISD’S STRATEGIC DIRECTION .................................................................................................................. 2

EFFECTIVE PRINCIPALS INITIATIVE ............................................................................................................ 2

LEADERSHIP MATTERS .............................................................................................................................. 3

BUILDING AN EFFECTIVE SCHOOL LEADER APRAISAL SYSTEM ..................................................................... 4

The HISD Balanced Leadership Framework .............................................................................................. 5

IMPLEMENTING THE SCHOOL LEADER APPRAISAL SYSTEM ......................................................................... 6

The School Leader Appraisal Process ........................................................................................................ 6

The School Leader Appraisal Calendar ...................................................................................................... 7

A Closer Look at the Components of the Appraisal Process ..................................................................... 8

Orientation Training ...................................................................................................................... 8

Self-Reflection ............................................................................................................................... 8

Goal-Setting .................................................................................................................................. 9

Conferences ................................................................................................................................ 11

Ongoing Feedback ....................................................................................................................... 12

Evaluating Performance .............................................................................................................. 13

Summative Appraisal Ratings ..................................................................................................... 15

Professional Development .......................................................................................................... 15

Appeals Process ...................................................................................................................................... 15

Appendix ..................................................................................................................................................... 16

Glossary of Terms.................................................................................................................................... 16

Leadership Responsibilities and Practices .............................................................................................. 17

Examples of Artifacts/Evidence .............................................................................................................. 20

Appraisal Forms ...................................................................................................................................... 22

2

Background In 2010, HISD began work to develop a plan for transforming the district to align with the board’s Declaration of Beliefs and Visions and to meet the needs of HISD’s students, parents, and the broader community. As a result of this effort, the district identified five core initiatives to define HISD’s strategic direction over a five-year period.

HISD’S STRATEGIC DIRECTION

HISD’s strategic direction provides the blueprint to help guide the transformation of HISD through 2015, with the ultimate goal of improving student achievement and making HISD the “Best School District in America”.

EFFECTIVE PRINCIPALS INITIATIVE As part of the strategic direction, HISD plans to focus on placing an effective principal in every school. The goal is to ensure that principals are empowered instructional leaders and decision-makers with clear expectations and who, with the right supports and standards in place, can improve the quality of instruction within schools and strengthen parent and community engagement.

3

LEADERSHIP MATTERS Many educators know that school leadership makes a difference. Research studies on school effectiveness have shown that leadership, specifically instructional leadership, was one of several defining characteristics of successful schools. But effective leadership means more than just knowing what to do – it’s knowing when, why, and how to do it. Effective leaders have a balanced combination of knowledge and skills that drive the work that they do on campuses every day. (McREL Balanced Leadership 2003)

Working collaboratively with district and campus-based leaders, HISD has designed a school leader appraisal system with multiple measures of performance that are aligned with the district’s goals and priorities, and that enables district and campus-based leaders to identify and reach common understanding of a school leader’s effectiveness.

Improvement in HISD’s ability to measure how well its school leaders are performing will lead to better targeted and more effective professional development for school leaders so that they can continue to grow & develop in their practice. It will also help create a pipeline of top talent across the district by changing the way that the district recruits, develops, and retains school leaders.

This manual is designed to offer an understanding of the appraisal and growth system for HISD school leaders and effective practices for implementing the system successfully so that school leader behavior

and practices and student achievement are improved.

Strategic Alignment

4

BUILDING AN EFFECTIVE SCHOOL LEADER APRAISAL SYSTEM HISD district and school leadership teams partnered with Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) to design a school leader appraisal system with the following guiding principles and purpose.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES: PURPOSE:

• Serve as a measurement of performance for individual school leaders.

• Serve as a guide for school leaders as they reflect upon and improve their effectiveness so that student achievement is improved.

• Guide professional development for school leaders.

• Serve as a tool in developing coaching and mentoring programs for school leaders.

Research-Based

Aligned

Transparent

Focused

Growth Oriented

Flexible

5

The HISD Balanced Leadership Framework With the guiding principles and purpose in mind, HISD adopted the McRel Balanced

Leadership Framework as the basis for its appraisal system for principals, assistant principals, and deans. Based on a meta-analysis of thousands of studies, McRel has identified 21 leadership responsibilities with 66 associated leadership practices within three components that are positively associated with student performance. No other frameworks for school leadership have been developed from a more comprehensive analysis of research on school leadership and student achievement.

6

IMPLEMENTING THE SCHOOL LEADER APPRAISAL SYSTEM

The School Leader Appraisal Process The school leader appraisal process engages school leaders in a continuous cycle of school improvement and professional growth and development. Following orientation training, school leaders will reflect upon their own practices, examine student performance data, and receive ongoing feedback based on a collection of objective evidence and documentation. School leaders will use this information to plan for and engage in professional growth opportunities that will improve their abilities as instructional leaders and push their campuses to greater levels of achievement.

Successful implementation of the school leader appraisal system will be based upon the distribution of summative ratings using a defined rubric that is based on the Balanced Leadership Framework, progress relative to improvement plans that have been developed collaboratively by appraisers and school leaders, and the school leader’s own professional growth and development. At the end of the first year of implementation, all stakeholders will be invited to provide recommendations for improving the process and tools for this system. Changes to the system will be made as appropriate to guide implementation beyond Year 1.

7

The School Leader Appraisal Calendar

8

A Closer Look at the Components of the Appraisal Process The school leader appraisal process is a continuous process that is used to assess behaviors and practices of school leaders throughout the year and provide school leaders with opportunities for feedback, coaching, and development. Currently, principals, assistant principals (APs), and deans of instruction will be appraised using this process. Throughout this process, principals will assume two roles: as an appraiser of assistant principals and deans and as an appraisee of the school improvement officers (SIOs). APs and deans will be appraised by principals and assume the role of appraisee.

Orientation Training

Prior to beginning the appraisal process, each school leader receives appraisal orientation training or updates from his or her immediate supervisor or other designee, as determined by central office.

Self-Reflection

School leaders conduct a self-reflection of the prior year’s performance prior to the end of the year conference or the beginning of the year conference, using the Self-Reflection form in the online tool. The form is completed based on the school leader’s perception of how his/her leadership responsibilities were fulfilled. The self-reflection is used to generate discussion at the conference regarding goals for the upcoming year and opportunities for professional development.

Guidelines

Reflect on your performance up to this point in the school year.

Review the 21 leadership responsibilities and assess your performance using the form in the online tool).

At the end of each framework section in the form, consider:

• Artifacts or evidence to support your ratings.

• Fulfillment of the leadership responsibilities relating to attainment of the school’s student achievement and improvement plan goals.

9

Goal-Setting

Based on the self-reflection process, prior performance data, feedback, and appraisal ratings, school leaders, in collaboration with their appraiser will develop a plan that identifies 3-5 goals with specific focus areas from the practices and behaviors of the Balanced Leadership Framework.

The Goal Setting Plan is completed by the school leader and will include strategies and activities planned to accomplish each goal, timelines and resources needed to complete each goal, and the expected outcomes, i.e. changes in school leader behavior and practices and/or campus performance.

Goal-setting will be completed using the on-line tool at the end of year or beginning of the year conference, at the discretion of the appraiser.

Guidelines

Should be SMART goals:

• Specific: deal with a specific subject or situation

• Measureable: definitive way to know how success will be determined (quantitative or qualitative)

• Attainable: within your control to accomplish; can challenge or stretch you

• Relevant: fits with immediate and long-range plans; holds importance

• Timely: creates a sense of urgency; sufficient time to monitor and track progress

Align to the goals of the district and School Improvement Plan

No more than 5 goals for a given school year:

Include opportunities for professional development

Collaboratively developed between the school leader and appraiser

10

Elements of the Goal Setting Plan

11

Conferences

The appraisal process revolves around three yearly conferences between school leaders and their appraisers: the Beginning of Year, Progress, and End of Year conferences.

Each conference provides a scheduled opportunity for appraisers and school leaders to discuss the school leader’s past and present performance, acknowledge and celebrate success, identify areas of strength and improvement, and collaboratively shape goal plans and professional development as needed.

The self-reflection, goal-setting plan, Balanced Leadership Framework rubric, and artifacts or evidence collected will inform the critical conversations that take place during the conferences. Special protocols have been developed to guide the conferences (refer to the Employee Appraisal Systems website in the HR Portal).

Guidelines

Beginning of Year Conference

• School leaders reflect on prior year’s performance and up to this point in the school year.

• School leaders and appraisers meet to discuss the school leader’s self-reflection, performance goals and evidence for the upcoming year.

Progress Conference

School leaders and appraisers meet to discuss progress towards achieving performance goals.

Mid-year adjustments to identified actions (in the goals form) and more prescriptive professional development can be determined at this time.

End of Year Conference

School leaders and appraisers meet to discuss the appraiser’s summary evaluation of the school leader for the past year.

Performance goals and development opportunities for next year can be established at this time based on the school leader’s self-reflection and appraisal.

12

Ongoing Feedback

As appraisers observe school leaders’ interactions with parents, students, and staff, they can provide informal and formal feedback to school leaders throughout the school year relative to the behaviors and practices of the Balanced Leadership Framework. Feedback and ratings are based ONLY on evidence that is specific, objective, or data-driven. Recommended artifacts or evidence of practices have been outlined by the district and school leaders for your consideration (see list of examples in the Appendix). At the beginning of the year conference, appraisers and school leaders should agree upon the types of evidence that will be used to assess the school leader’s performance throughout the year.

Guidelines

Appraisers periodically interact with school leaders, teachers, students, parents, and staff (i.e. principals leading a parent meeting or running a PLC).

At any time, appraisers can provide feedback to school leaders, citing specific behaviors and practices that demonstrate the leadership responsibilities.

Feedback is based on data or evidence that has been observed or documented, not personal judgments or vague assumptions. Appraisers should collect documentation as a natural part of their current practices.

For appraisal purposes, feedback and ratings can be captured by appraisers, using the online tool, any time appraisers observe the leadership responsibilities being fulfilled.

13

Evaluating Performance

The rubrics-based appraisal focuses on three Balanced Leadership Framework components: Managing Change, Focus of Leadership, and Purposeful Community. Evaluation of a school leader’s performance is done by the appraiser by completing the Balanced Leadership Framework Rubric in the online tool. Appraisers will participate in training to use the rubric and to rate school leaders’ performance in common ways.

The Balanced Leadership Framework Rubric is available in the online tool.

14

• The standard for effective school leadership is defined by the Effective indicators under each responsibility. • Starting from left to right, evidence of all indicators must be identified (by checking the box) in order for the school leader

to be considered proficient at that performance level. So, in order for a school leader to be considered Accomplished, all indicators must be checked for each level leading up to Accomplished.

• Throughout the year, appraisers will identify the behaviors that have been demonstrated by the school leader for each of the associated leadership responsibilities. Artifacts or evidence that has been documented can be uploaded in the section that follows each framework component.

• It is recommended for appraisers and teachers to read the indicators under each criterion, starting with Developing.

Framework Component

Responsibility

Performance Levels

Behaviors or Indicators

15

Summative Appraisal Ratings

In Year 1, the summative appraisal rating will only include the Leadership Effectiveness Final Rating. The Measures of Student Learning Final Rating will be phased in for Year 2. At this time, the weighting protocols are still in progress and not yet finalized.

Professional Development

Professional development is embedded throughout the school leader appraisal process and initiated by the school leader in the goal setting process. The decision to move to a Prescriptive Plan for Assistance is based on documented artifacts or evidence collected throughout the appraisal process by the appraiser. The PPA targets specific growth needs as indicated by the collected evidence and allows the appraiser to build a support system to assist the school leader in strengthening the areas of needed improvement.

An appraiser shall create a Prescriptive Plan for Assistance (PPA) for any school leader whose job performance becomes a concern or whose feedback and ratings at any time during the appraisal process indicate a need for improvement. (Source: Board Policy - DN (LOCAL)) The PPA can be accessed through the Employee Appraisal Systems page on the online Portal.

Appeals Process Employees may present complaints regarding the appraisal content or process violations in accordance with policy, DGBA (LOCAL).

DGBA (LOCAL) provides the step-by-step process of the grievance process. The Dispute Resolution form is located on the Human Resources Web site.

16

Appendix

Glossary of Terms Appraiser The person who provides ongoing feedback and the summative appraisal ratings to the school leader regarding performance. The School Improvement Officer is the appraiser of principals. The principal is the appraiser of assistant principals and deans. Artifacts/Evidence Documents and/or products that illustrate or act as examples of the school leader’s work. These may include, but are not limited to: School Improvement Plans, student performance data, graduation data, attendance data (teachers and students), teacher retention data, teacher appraisal data, walkthrough/observation data, handbooks, surveys, etc. Balanced Leadership Framework Rubric Descriptions of the levels of performance based on the Balanced Leadership Framework. The framework is divided into the three components Managing Change, Focus of Leadership, and Purposeful Community, and their associated responsibilities and practices. Leaders The people who influence individuals and organizations. At the individual level, leaders support learning that leads to individual and organizational goals. At the organizational level, leaders develop a shared vision and broad goals. Leaders accept responsibility for achieving results and create the necessary environments that contribute to individual and organizational success. Leadership

The shared responsibility for achieving collective/organizational goals regardless of positional or organizational authority, acknowledging that increasing levels of positional authority yield greater impact in an organization. Leadership is accomplishing together what individuals cannot accomplish alone. Leadership Responsibilities Areas of principal behaviors and practices identified in the research that are positively associated with student achievement. Leadership Practices The specific knowledge, skills, and/or tasks identified in the research necessary for fulfilling responsibilities.

17

Leadership Responsibilities and Practices

18

19

20

Examples of Artifacts/Evidence

Managing Change

ELL Monitoring Notebook Professional Development Plan Regular Feedback to Teachers and Staff Regarding Performance Planning and Leading Professional Development Classroom Walkthrough/Observation Data Evidence of Improved Instruction from Changes Implemented Monitoring Plan Operating Principles and Working Agreements Teacher Survey School Improvement Plans Documentation of Organizational Planning Site Based Committee Agendas and Minutes PLC agendas and minutes Goal Setting Plan

Focus on Leadership

Principal Training University/School Associations Formal Evaluations Lesson plans Campus routines/procedures Performance Data Parent conferences Professional Development Posted Reminders Emails Memos Attendance Incentives/Plans/Procedures Student Schedules Discipline Data Newsletters ARD/IAT/504 logs/data Records/Reports=Special Programs/Grants PPAs Monitoring Associate Teachers Grade Data Technology Plan

21

G/T records/plans/ New Program Adoptions Grade-Level Meeting Agendas Progress Toward Achieving Goals Student Handbook Safety Plan Budget Notebook Student Support Plan Recognition Events Staff Handbook Site Calendar Master Schedule Staff and Teacher Surveys Community Surveys Student Work

Purposeful Community

School Vision and Mission Statements Progress Toward Achievement of Smart Goals Staff Conference Agendas and Minutes Staff Bulletins and Newsletters Team Meeting Agendas Teacher Survey Data Community Survey Data Identification and Use of Human and Fiscal Resources PTA/Principal’s Newsletter Master Schedule PTA Calendar School Calendar ELL Support Schedule Faculty Meeting Agendas, Sign In Sheets, Minutes

22

Appraisal Forms

Houston Independent School District School Leader Appraisal System

Please note: School Leader(s) should replace the name Principal(s) .This is meant to provide an example of how the form will look when using the online tool.

23

Houston Independent School District School Leader Appraisal System

24

Houston Independent School District School Leader Appraisal System

25

Houston Independent School District School Leader Appraisal System

Please note: School Leader(s) should replace the name Principal(s). This is meant to provide an example of how the form will look when using the online tool.

26

Please note: School Leader(s) should replace the name Principal(s). This is meant to provide an example of how the form will look when using the online tool.