Capitol Collegiate Academy

Instructional Philosophy

The instructional philosophy of Capitol Collegiate is based upon the belief that the primary role of all staff is to create instructional learning opportunities based on goals, a sense of urgency, and a commitment to increasing student achievement. Administrators, teachers, and learning support staff shall participate in ongoing staff development in current instructional techniques to ensure that every student has the opportunity to reach his/her individual potential. All staff is expected to implement positive changes in their practices as a result of professional development.

Teacher Evaluation Philosophy
Teachers and the quality of their instruction are the critical link to improving schools and boosting student achievement. Successfully advancing student achievement requires creating and sustaining organizational structures in schools that focus on assessing and improving teaching and learning and creating cycles of continuous improvement. Teacher evaluation is one of these important structures.
Capitol Collegiate recognizes that teachers should be constantly working to improve their practice and need a structured and consistent network, school culture, and support system in order to do that. This type of environment will lead to consistent teacher improvement and subsequent increases in student achievement levels. Capitol Collegiate, in accordance with the latest research on teacher support and development, lists here a teacher evaluation process that focuses on multiple data points, differentiation in support, teacher networks and collaboration, as well as utilizing a comprehensive rubric with which to evaluate a teacher’s performance. This process must include student progress and achievement measures, planning and execution effectiveness, clear adherence to content standards and curricular objectives, and fostering a productive and goal-oriented learning environment.
The process and procedures listed here support an individualized system of teacher development and evaluation where each teacher is given the support he or she needs based on individual knowledge, skills, and mindsets regarding their work.
Guidelines for Design and Implementation

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  Specify that performance improvement is a strategic imperative
  
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  Develop teaching standards and scoring rubrics (i.e., competency model)
  
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  Prepare for added teacher and administrator workload
  
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  Video-taping classroom practice and/or use of multiple evaluators
  
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  Train and re-train evaluators
  
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  Support teachers through feedback and professional development
  
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  Align human resource management systems
  

Characteristics of Effective Teacher Development and Evaluation
In order to create an effective and transformative process of teacher support, development, and evaluation, we must first distinguish which characteristics will drive our practice. The following is an example list of ten such characteristics:

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  The process is goal-oriented and focuses on long-term development
  
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  The process is informed by a commonly shared and understood set of professional standards, including a comprehensive rubric with which to normalize our expectations
  
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  The process connects standards and evaluations with individualized professional development plans and is informed by multiple sources of data
  
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  We engage in this work as a Professional Learning Community, working to share and implement best practices in our work
  
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  The process accommodates for all levels of teaching, ranging from beginning to proficient
  
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  The process includes components that are both formative and summative in order to continuously gauge the effectiveness of school and teacher practices
  
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  All staff members participate in this process, both being evaluated and evaluating each other. In all cases, staff members should see their role as supportive of the overall goal of student achievement
  
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  The process allows all participants to draw from a variety of resources and encourages sharing those resources with others
  
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  Development plans are continuous from year to year, showing the progress of a teacher over his or her time at the school
  
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  All participants are given the time to complete evaluations and meetings during the official school day
  
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  The findings provide strong support for a focus on school culture in the development of teacher evaluation practices which actively support teaching and learning.
  
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  All participants will be the origin of their own learning in most cases and have control over their development.
  

Recognizing Differences Among Teachers

The purpose of evaluations at Capitol Collegiate is to provide support and professional development opportunities for all teachers, regardless of where they are in their instructional needs. Below is a snapshot of what that development could look like in four categories..*

Criteria for Category	Potential Level of Support Needed
Category I: Beginning
Teachers in their first or second year Teachers in a pipeline-like program or still working on their credentials through an alternative program	One short observation weekly Three formal observations each year Structured Professional Development Plan Regular follow-up and development meetings
Category II: New to Capitol Collegiate or Almost Proficient
The teacher is new to Capitol Collegiate and has taught more than three years in another school district	One short observation weekly Two formal observations each year Structured Professional Development Plan Follow-up and development meetings
Category III: Proficient
The teacher has been employed by Capitol Collegiate for three years -------------- OR ------------------ Teacher with three or more years of experience in another district and has successfully completed one year at Capitol Collegiate -------------- AND ------------------ The teacher earned Proficient or higher on the Capitol Collegiate Professional Teaching Standards Rubric with no more than one category below Proficient	One short observation weekly Two formal observations each year Structured Professional Development Plan Follow-up and development meetings
Category IV: Intensive Improvement
The teacher receives a rating of below standard on the Professional Teaching Standards.	Two or more observations weekly Three formal observations each year Structured Professional Development Plan Frequent follow-up and development meetings

Structures of Development and Evaluation
The support, development, and evaluation process should occur in a variety of aligned ways and include multiple data points. One of the ways to accomplish this is to ensure that there is a mixture of people involved in the process, each participating for a specific and different reason. Below is an outline of the different ways in which a teacher could have support during the school year.

Formal Development and Evaluation	Collegial Development
Summative Observation and Evaluation Includes forms, careful inspection, and reporting of findings Requires meeting with teacher on findings and observations; engages teacher in meaningful conversation	Peer Models Teacher-led process Peer Coaching and Collaboration Self-directed
Professional Planning and Development Plan created by leadership and teacher regarding areas of strength and areas for development Establish year-long plan to engage teacher in areas of growth Frequent meetings to hold both sides accountable for making effective changes Continuum should include progress over complete time at Capitol Collegiate	Mentoring Novice teachers paired with proficient veteran teachers Interactive and collaborative Pair directed Mentor teacher engages novice teachers as colleague while working to develop them on a plan established between the two Mentor teacher responsible for reporting to principal on teacher progress quarterly
Coaching Required for new and Intensive Improvement teachers Coach guides teacher through data, reflections, and goal-setting	Staff Development School-wide development based on common areas for improvement Space used for norming and establishing expectations

Cycle of Teacher Support and Development
The entire process centers on the student achievement goals of the teacher. This is the process through which a teacher will work to improve their practice. It utilizes multiple points of data as the primary way to evaluate performance.




Continuum of Professional Development
Throughout the year, teachers will work through a continuum to inform their practice. The following is a general idea of the amount and level of support that teachers will receive and the frequency with which they will receive it.

We will also utilize the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy to develop teachers and measure growth. The teacher rubric is created so that each increasing level matches the cognitive development of learners. Once teachers are able to work at the upper levels of Bloom’s in their own practice, they will be considered Proficient.

Professional Teaching Standards

The Professional Teaching Standards provide a clear picture for teachers, content leads, coaches, and evaluators of the skills, knowledge and professionalism that are expected of teachers who are employed by Capitol Collegiate. These standards are based on the best available research and the professional standards for teachers that have been issued as guidelines by high-performing charter schools and the California Department of Education.¹³¹ These standards will help to inform our teacher evaluation and support system and represent a tool by which the practices against which a teacher can assess her/his own job performance.
Group 1: Setting Big Goals

This group measures the teacher’s ability to set justifiably ambitious academic goals. It represents a teacher’s ability to build on student prior knowledge, life experience and interests to achieve learning goals for the class. These goals should drive all classroom efforts and be aligned to the standards in a measurable, meaningful, and feasible way.

Group 2: Investing, Engaging, and Supporting All Students in Learning

This group measures a teacher’s ability to build student self-efficacy, invest them in their learning, and lead them to work hard towards classroom goals. This includes using a variety of instructional strategies, facilitating challenging learning experiences, engaging students in problem solving and critical thinking, encouraging students to apply concepts, and assisting students in becoming self-directed learners.