• 
• 
• 
• 

KEEP - What KNEA Members Should Know

Beginning this school year, the Kansas Educator Evaluation Protocol, or KEEP, is being piloted in several Kansas school districts.

KEEP has three components - for district leaders, for building leaders and for teachers.  Each was developed during the 2010-2011 school year by committees representing teachers, principals, central office administrators, superintendents, local board of education members, representatives of higher education, KNEA staff and KSDE staff.

Developed with assistance from ETS, Educational Testing Service, KEEP is based on the philosophy that evaluation should be continuous, focus on professional growth/learning, and be systemic throughout the district. See KNEA's view on teacher evaluation

Currently five local KNEA associations and their school districts are piloting the teacher evaluation protocol.  They are NEA Topeka; NEA KCK; Teachers Association of USD 417, Council Grove; Chee-Craw NEA; and North Cloud EA, Concordia.

All five of these local associations and their administrations agreed to the pilot, a requirement since evaluation procedures are mandatory subjects of bargaining. Most of the pilots involve only a few volunteer teachers in each local.

In addition, the following districts are piloting the district and/or building leader protocols: USD 230, Spring Hill; USD 247, Southeast/Cherokee; USD 250, Pittsburg; USD 259, Wichita; USD 333, Concordia; USD 357, Belle Plaine; USD 416, Louisburg; USD 417, Council Grove; USD 475, Geary County; USD 500, KCK; and USD 501, Topeka.

The Constructs and Components
The teacher evaluation protocol is based on 4 constructs which contain 10 components:
Learner and Learning

• Learner development
• Learner differences
• Learning environment

Content Knowledge

• Content knowledge
• Innovative applications of content knowledge

Instructional Practice

• Planning for instruction
• Assessment
• Instructional strategies

Professional Responsibility

• Reflection and continuous growth
• Collaboration and leadership

Each component is accompanied by a four-level rubric.

The Process
For the pilot, the process developed by the committee must be followed exactly as written.  It includes:

• Self-reflection on the components by the evaluatee and development of draft goals
• A detailed conference with the evaluator to determine goals, develop a timeline for the evaluation and to discuss data sources
• A set of classroom observations, 3 to 5 informal and 3 formal, with post-observation feedback
• A summative conference to review all data, complete the rubric and review goals

Data Sources
Recognizing that not all of the components can be evaluated by classroom observation, the protocol identifies multiple data sources and allows the evaluatee and evaluator to include additional sources.  They are called "possible evidence" because none are mandated and all should be mutually agreed to by the evaluatee and evaluator.  They include:

• Teacher lesson plans
• Student work samples
• Examples of communication with families
• Teacher-made assessments, with feedback to students
• Student reflection and feedback
• Logs of teacher's professional learning activities
• Teacher reflection on plans, strategies, etc.

The Protocol
You can see the full protocol on the KSDE Web site. The entire document is over 200 pages long and includes the teacher, the building leader and the district leader constructs, components and rubrics; forms; glossary; bibliography; and roster of development committee members.

Next Steps
Teams are training the pilot participants in August and September.  The team for the teacher evaluation protocol is Pamela Coleman, director of teacher education and licensure at KSDE, and Peg Dunlap, KNEA's director of instructional advocacy.

After the initial training, the team will make quarterly visits to the pilot sites to collect feedback and provide additional training, as needed.  At the conclusion of the pilot, participants will provide feedback to KSDE about the processes and about the utility of the constructs, components and rubrics.  The protocols will be revised, if warranted.

In addition, KNEA staff who were part of the development teams will work with other KNEA staff and leaders to educate them about KEEP and assist in decisions about how to, or whether to, notice teacher evaluation, KEEP or some other model, for the 2012 bargain.

KNEA will also continue to follow national discussions about appropriate data sources for teacher and principal evaluations, including measures of student learning.