Feb 2004 :::

LT Community Advisory Council Minutes

February 18, 2004

"Performance Appraisal / Management and
Professional Development" - Part II


I.   Call to Order and Announcements

A.   The Minutes of January 21, 2004 were unanimously accepted by membership.

B.   Report of Superintendent - Dr. Dennis Kelly

A new Director of Curriculum has been selected. They reviewed 30 applications, selected 6 candidates, and recommended 3 to the Board. Dr. Margaret Tribus has held curriculum positions in three other school systems. She could start on July 1 st, and will be asked to devote one day a month until then becoming familiar with the school.

LT and District 107 can celebrate a victory in Indian Head Park. A proposed TIF district has been ruled out in their efforts to grow their business district.

February 7 th was recruitment day at COD. LT had 51 interviewers there…3 times more than any other school. This reduced the wait-time for the 2000 candidates in attendance. Next year there are 9 openings in the English department. And they found 7 strong candidates for those positions.

February 12 th meeting with local government Representatives reviewed important issues of school finance, "no child left behind", contract negotiations on health benefits and pensions.


C.   Report from School Board Member - Jim Kohlstedt

  Facility improvements have dominated discussions. Bids will go out in March.

D.   Peaceable Schools Update - Elizabeth Buhe (LT senior and student CAC representative)

Elizabeth shared the Summary of Resutls from the PSI-hosted Student Teacher Forum held on November 18, 2003. This was a forum in which students could voice their concerns. The topics included Advisory, athletics, communications, EdLine, ESL, finals, homework, hallways, lunch, study halls, teachers, and other issues important to the students.



PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL / MANAGEMENT - Part II



A.   Development and Retention of Faculty and Staff (7:15 - 8:15pm)

1.   Professional Development for Faculty and Staff at LTHS - Attila Weniger
(See the 11-page handout "Professional Growth and Development Program for Certified Staff ")

Dr. Kelly asks us to apply these parameters in our review of the materials to be presented:

a. We can't expect the Board to re-negotiate this process. The current appraisal system took 10 years to put in place. The next planned negotiation is in 15 months. That will address issues like salaries, pensions and health benefits.

b. State law and school codes prevent parents from participating in the formal process of the appraisal system. This is because there are certification requirements for those involved. Our challenge is to find creative ways to bring community input into the established process.

c. Lastly, he asks that we be sensitive in how we discuss the appraisal process. The intent of this system is to provide the highest quality professional teaching by encouraging continuous professional growth.


New Teacher/Non-Tenured Training and Mentoring - Attila Weniger

The materials in the handout evolved from Charlotte Danielsons "Enhancing Professional Practices" and the how-to workbook " Teacher Evaluation: A Practical Guide".

When a new teacher (the protégé) is hired, they are assigned a mentor. Mentors are volunteers…a nd 20-30 step forward each year. The new-teacher attends a 2-week orientation program, just before school starts (last year ran August 11 to August 23 or 24 th). This is a highly organized program to familiarize the new teacher with the school, the district, their resources, and to make them feel like they are part of a team with a mission. Activities include an orientation to the district and include a bus tour with Tom Bill. There is a WSCC new-teachers breakfast. Meetings cover topics like classroom prep time, advisory meetings, technology training, PSI training, and EdLine training. Meetings introduce 1 st year protégés with 2 nd year protégés, to members of the protégés department and to other staff members.

The mentoring and induction program's mission is: "All students should be afforded the opportunity to be challenged and nurtured by caring professionals. Teachers and administrators have the power to enhance every student's learning through expertise and experience. The LT Induction and mentoring program seeks to develop the personal and professional skills of certified staff new to the district. Our investment in new professional staff is evidence of our commitment to continuing LT's tradition of excellence".

The protégé is given a "First day of school" checklist that is a tickler list for preparedness. There is a monthly mentor-protégé checklist to continue development and familiarity with LT programs and policies.


Technology/Computer Training

(See page 10 of the handout). Rebecca Riven and Kimberly Gerken are the staff developers of the Technology Staff Development Action Plan. They are there to help new staff incorporate computers and other technologies into the classroom. Additional classes are offered to staff on late-arrival and Institute days.


B.   Retention Strategies / Programs - Dennis Kelly

The "average" new teacher has a 30% chance of leaving the profession within the first 3 years. The system is stacked against them. In most systems, tenured teachers select the classes they want to teach, leaving the "rest" to new teachers. At LT, new teachers are given schedules on a par with tenured teachers. New teachers receive an elaborate orientation, and they are offered the mentoring program. People stay in their jobs because they have friends at work and because they feel the environment is friendly. This is the reason that retention at LT is 95%!

Performance Appraisal / Management Process at LTHS - Paul Houston

Once a teacher gets tenure it is difficult to remove them. This is the reason for the 4-year appraisal program leading to tenure. There are no mandatory observations as part of their contract, but department chairs do observations at least once a year. Tenured teachers also prepare a Professional Growth Plan (PGP) which are reviewed with department chairs. The Phase III program provides assistance to tenured teachers with issues. The initial portion is less intensive. If that fails to resolve the issue, the second phase is more intensive. If required, a formal remediation process could follow. It is very unusual for a tenured teacher to be terminated. Most often, people choose to leave the system when there are unresolved issues.

This spring a Student Engagement Survey will measure how engaged LT students are in the process of school. The University of Indiana will score this survey. Recent surveys of those who failed a class revealed that 68% of students admitted that the reason they failed was because they had not done their homework. It is felt that student surveys show respect for the student's opinions, and helps create an open atmosphere of communication.


B. Small Group Discussion (8:15 - 8:50pm)

Two Questions to Consider:

1. "Gap Analysis" LTCAC View and Current Appraisal Process - Given legal and contractual constraints, where do we differ and what are our recommendations?

2. What are some additional steps and processes that LT could be undertaking to retain and develop staff?

Table 1: Have methods been developed to determine if the training leads to better teaching? Are we missing anything? Could parent input happen via focus-group meetings? Is the process employee driven or consumer driven?

Table 2: The 4-year evaluation looks exhaustive and extraordinary. They like the mentor-protégé program. Wonders if the appraisal system generates too much paper in response to 1 or 2 problems?

Table 3: Student input is very important; Student evaluations should only go back to the teacher (not to admin) to reduce pressure on the teacher; One teacher mentioned that the 37,000 budget is earmarked for out-of-district workshops only, and that the school had always supported department requests for funding for additional programs when required.

Table 4: Feels there are no problems with the evaluation process.

Table 5: Would like to see student surveys contain both structured and open-ended questions

Table 6: Would like to see formalized exit-surveys of graduating Seniors.


C. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 9:23PM.