Nearly one-third of Hawaii’s 256 public schools will use revamped teacher evaluations next school year in a pilot program that will take into account student academic growth, amid concerns from teachers over how the new rating system eventually will be tied to their pay.
Teachers in 18 schools already are using the evaluations, and next month they will get the first reports measuring the effects they’ve had on student learning, based on test scores.
The new evaluations are for now "no stakes," with no consequences for those who rate poorly. But the state has pledged to move to a consequential system by the 2013-14 school year, even in the absence of a union agreement.
Schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi reiterated her commitment last week to the revamped evaluations system and efforts to tie the ratings to employment decisions — both key pillars of the state’s Race to the Top education reform plans.
"We believe this is the right thing to do for kids," Matayoshi said.
Under the new system, half of a teacher’s evaluation will be based on student growth data. How growth will be measured, however, has not been set. Evaluations now use only observations of teachers at work.
Unanswered questions about the evaluation system and performance-based compensation appeared to be among the biggest concerns teachers had when they voted down a six-year proposed contract earlier this month by a 2-1 ratio.
The roll-out of the new evaluations to more schools comes as the state is feeling growing pressure to show progress on Race to the Top education reforms. A continuing labor dispute with teachers and a host of delays have been blamed for putting at risk Hawaii’s $75 million Race grant, awarded in 2010.
Matayoshi said the state "needs to show traction" on key education reforms and so is exploring all of its options when it comes to implementing Race efforts, including changes to state law.
Another course of action could have the state imposing education reforms to save the Race to the Top grant, something the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly argues would be allowed under state law.
In a filing with the Hawaii Labor Relations Board earlier this month, UHPA pointed to a provision in state law that says the requirements of collective bargaining "fall away" if a federal grant is in jeopardy.
The Hawaii State Teachers Association sought relief from the labor board following the state’s decision in July to impose a "last, best and final" contract offer with wage reductions for teachers.
HSTA President Wil Okabe said last week if the state were to move forward with imposing reforms related to compensation and other employment matters, "we would have concerns."
The union is holding a series of meetings with teachers to understand why they voted down the proposed contract and what they would like to see in a new agreement. Under the rejected contract, 5 percent wage reductions would have remained through June 30, 2013, before a new salary schedule that ties future "step" raises to performance evaluations kicked in.
The lack of a union agreement on teacher evaluations has spurred growing doubt in the national education community about Hawaii’s ability to follow through on Race goals. It also contributed to the U.S. Department of Education’s decision in December to put Hawaii’s Race grant on "high-risk" status, warning the state the money could be rescinded if more progress isn’t made.
National Council on Teacher Quality President Kate Walsh has criticized Hawaii’s pace of reforms on teacher evaluations but last week said the state does appear to be working to make reforms. "They’re going up against a culture that has really been resistant to change," she said.
According to the Washington, D.C.-based group, some 23 states now use student learning data in teacher evaluations.
But while a number of states are further along than Hawaii, none has devised a perfect system, said Laura Goe, a principal investigator with the federally funded National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality. "There’s not a single standout state that I could point to that could say they got it all right," said Goe, who has provided some technical assistance to Hawaii’s DOE, at the center’s expense.
The questions states are grappling with include how to evaluate student learning for teachers whose students aren’t tested annually and how to determine acceptable growth for different types of students.
Goe also said a number of states have struggled to "get teachers on board" with the new evaluations.
Hawaii teachers have expressed concerns about how the DOE will measure academic growth and worry state tests will be weighted too heavily in the new system.
Officials stress growth will be determined by several measures, not just one test.
State education officials had hoped the proposed teachers contract would help appease federal education reviewers and show them Hawaii is able to make good on its reform pledges.
The rejection of the contract now has officials moving to demonstrate progress through the evaluations pilot, which seven school complexes have agreed to participate in next school year.
The pilot began quietly this school year in 18 "zones of school innovation" in Leeward Oahu and the Kau/Pahoa area of Hawaii island. This month administrators are wrapping up training on a new observation system, which is designed to be more objective.
State Department of Education officials say the roll-out of revamped evaluations is purposely deliberate, aimed at testing what works and what doesn’t, calming fears and offering plenty of support and training before anyone talks about consequences.
"The greatest priority is to do this right," said Randall Miura, acting Nanakuli-Waianae complex-area superintendent. "It’s about the kids. I think it goes back to our core mission" as educators.
Miura said principals and vice principals in the 18 innovation zone schools will go into classrooms with iPads as early as next month to conduct observations for the new evaluations.
Only teachers in tested grades will get data this school year that measures their impact on student learning. The model "measures student academic growth relative to their peers with similar academic history," the department said.
Next year teachers in some nontested subjects also will get student growth data, based on an annual performance review of student learning objectives.
The new evaluations also include a student survey.
Stevenson Middle is one of 61 additional schools that will move to the new evaluations pilot in the coming school year, and Principal Rodney Luke said the biggest different in the new rating system is that "it’s more student-focused."
He added that his teachers already undergo "constant observations and coaching," so the new evaluations won’t be a drastic change. "It’s providing them with a very specific look of what’s going on in regards to student learning and definitely looking at the data."
