Pittsburgh Public Schools News

The District sets new goals for achieving Excellence for All.

On August 1, Dr. Lane shared with the Board of Directors a working document that outlined a plan to decrease racial disparities in student achievement within Pittsburgh Public Schools. The plan, driven by a goal set for Dr. Lane by the Board, was developed by the Equity Office with input from expert sociologist Dr. Pedro Noguera.

The Equity: Getting to All plan acknowledges our progress to date is insufficient and sets specific goals for eliminating racial disparities. These goals are divided among three categories: Achievement, College and Career Readiness, and Student Engagement & Special Programs. Dr. Noguera said, “Pittsburgh is doing all of the right things. So it’s not about doing more things, rather about doing what you are already doing better.”

To read the plan, click here.

Click here to watch a video that outlines the development of and purpose for the plan.

Instructional Teacher Leaders will accelerate teacher growth.

In August, 65 teachers began their work as an Instructional Teacher Leader2 (ITL2), a new Career Ladder role. Career Ladders are promotional roles for effective teachers with a proven record of advancing student learning. These roles are just one way that PPS has begun to recognize and empower teacher leaders and respond to differences in teacher effectiveness.

The ITL2 role is designed to accelerate teacher and student growth through frequent observation and quality feedback to teachers. ITL2s will help a caseload of peers in their school grow their practice by conducting frequent formative evaluations using the RISE formal and informal observation processes, and designing and delivering customized feedback and professional development based on these formative evaluations.

Following the initial year of service in the Career Ladder position, ITL2s will contribute to the summative evaluation of peers in other schools through observations of teachers in their content area.

These two major functions of the position allow ITL2s to play an important role in both teacher evaluation and professional growth. However, the structure of the ITL2 schedule also entails ITL2s continuing to spend part of their day as classroom teachers, which allows for direct impact on students and the ability to serve as an active model and resource for other teachers.

The structure and functions of the ITL2 role increase the exposure of highly effective teachers to the teachers and students who need them the most.

ITL2s join Clinical Resident Instructors (CRIs), Learning Environment Specialists (LESs), and the Promise Readiness Corps (PRC) as effective teacher leaders working toward decreasing racial disparities and acclerating student achievement.

Click here to learn more about how ITL2s will be supporting your school! Also, feel free to revisit the original role description for the ITL2 posted online at My Teaching Career.

House Bill 1901 confirms we are following the right path.

A comprehensive education reform bill (House Bill 1901) passed the Pennsylvania state legislature on June 29 and was signed by Governor Corbett (Act 82 of 2012). Act 82 changed the evaluation system for public school districts across the Commonwealth in the following ways:

• The legislation requires that evaluations include multiple measures. As one of few districts with multiple measures in administration, this confirms that we are following the right path and continue to be ahead of the curve.
• For teachers and principals the legislation gives equal weight to professional practice and student outcomes (50/50) and includes a reasonable timeline for implementation (2013-14 for teachers and 2014-15 for principals and other professional staff). These factors are compatible with the PPS evaluation system that we’ve developed.
• It affirms our commitment to treating individual data with care by ensuring that individual ratings shall not be subject to disclosure under the Right-to-Know Law.
• It ensures that there is some flexibility granted to individual districts to develop a unique rating tool, so long as it works within the established framework and is of equal rigor to the guidelines that the legislation establishes.

In sum, the changes to the evaluation system coincide with the work we have been embarking on for the last two years. Instead of racing to catch up, Pittsburgh Public Schools is leading the change.

Act 82 includes, but is much broader than, changes to our evaluation systems. Click here to read the full text of House Bill 1901 (Act 82 of 2012).

Over 2,300 campers participated in academic and enrichment activities.

This year, the Summer Dreamers Academy provided students with the opportunity to stay engaged with learning throughout the summer. Camps were hosted at three different schools, Pittsburgh King, Pittsburgh Milliones/University Prep, and Pittsburgh Carmalt, each of which were led by a leadership team comprised of teachers who took on new responsibilities and successfully managed a summer program unlike any other in the region.

All campers participated in fun and engaging academic classes to practice and enhance their reading and math skills. Science and social studies were incorporated into literacy classes while math programs focused on providing interactive and experiential tools to help students learn. In this way, teachers were encouraged to shape the curriculum to fit the needs of their students. Additionally, PPS partnered with 20 organizations to deliver programs that engaged students in new experiences, helping them learn new skills and develop interests in potential career paths. Highlights of this summer include:

• The MGR Foundation hosted Positive Spin at Pittsburgh King, a program that taught 36 kids the basics of bike riding, safety, and equipment care. The program culminated in a 38-mile bike ride to Connellsville, where kids camped overnight before riding their bikes 50 miles back the next day.
• Pittsburgh Milliones/University Prep celebrated their summer with an Olympics theme that included hosting their own closing ceremonies featuring presentations on each activity offered and recognizing campers with a variety of academic achievement awards such as Hardest Worker and Most Enthusiastic!
• Students at Pittsburgh Carmalt worked with artists and the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts to build a classroom-sized art installation. Called Imagination Land, found materials such as water bottles and CDs were used to construct robots, trees, and other creativity-fueled components of the installation.

A special thank you to all the teachers, staff, and organizations that made this a great summer for so many kids!

Click here to see a special Back to School video to hear what campers and teachers had to say about Summer Dreamers Academy!

The Pittsburgh Board of Education approves an agreement with rate freezes Wednesday.

Forrest Hills -Regent Square Patch

8/23/12

Thanks to the commitment of so many of our teachers, paraprofessionals, school administrators and other professionals, the final response rate for the 3rd Annual Teaching and Learning Conditions survey reached 94%! This is the highest district-wide survey response rate to date.

In June, District leadership will initially receive the 2011-12 survey results. In the fall 2012, school-based teams will receive the survey results and begin utilizing them to create and implement action plans at a school-level to positively impact Teaching and Learning Environments across the District.

Over the past few years, we have seen first-hand how capturing input from teachers and school-based professional leads to growth and change at the school and District-level. By participating in the annual Teaching and Learning Conditions Survey, teachers and staff have collectively created tools and enhanced systems to be more effective and improve student outcomes.

This year’s survey closed May 25. For more information regarding the survey, please visit the Teaching and Learning Conditions Survey website at: http://www.pittsburghteachingconditions.org/.

You will soon have the opportunity to access your 2011-12 Tripod student survey results. As these results are confidential for you, Cambridge Education will be contacting teachers whose classes were surveyed directly about accessing their results. This is a 3 step process:

1. Cambridge will directly contact all teachers who had classes surveyed this school year via their District email address.
2. You must respond to the message from Cambridge Education verifying your identifying information in order to receive your password and username to login to the web-based reporting too.
3. Once Cambridge has received your response and processed the verifying information that you provide, you will receive a second message from Cambridge containing details on how to access your results.

The results from the Tripod student survey are reported through a web-based reporting tool that is hosted by Cambridge Education. To learn more about the reporting tool, please visit www.tripodproject.org/reports. If you have any questions about the Tripod student survey or the dissemination of results please contact the PPS Help Desk https://ppshelpdesk.com.

If you have questions, please visit the PPS HelpDesk – https://ppshelpdesk.com

High-functioning Student Assistant Program (SAP) teams know that when students’ behavioral needs are addressed promptly, they will be on the pathway towards academic success and The Pittsburgh Promise. Establishing a strong SAP team rhythm also means ensuring that teachers are able to teach without classroom disruption when behavioral problems are resolved.

According to Principal Robert Scherrer of Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy, “Our SAP team is always looking to first identify what are the barriers to a student’s learning. That’s why the multiple perspectives at each meeting are invaluable. Everyone has an equal and valued voice.”

Sci-Tech’s SAP team values meeting regularly, and there is cohesiveness among members who understand that when any facet of a child’s health and wellness is interfering with learning, it must be addressed immediately. Such issues may include a chronic health condition such as diabetes management, asthma, aggressive behavior, exposure to trauma, not performing at ability, school absence, anxiety, depression, child abuse and on.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach at Sci-Tech. Relying on the expertise of their members, Sci-Tech’s SAP team differentiates its approach to meet the unique needs of each student. Thorough screening allows for a systematic ‘ruling out or ruling in’ of various factors that influence intervention and support plans. After careful examination and discussion regarding a referral, a useful roadmap is devised to reach the student and parent. Efforts are also made to integrate with other school-wide systems, such as the Discipline Committee attended by the SAP Coordinator.

With good data gathering, no stones are left unturned so that everyone’s input is valued and useful. Elaine Ashcom, Sci-Tech’s SAP Team Coordinator remarked, “All of SciTech’s SAP team members participate and share their expertise in many different ways. This hard work helps to hasten our provider services to reach our students and their families in a more timely manner.”

The role of the SAP teams district-wide, which includes administrators, teachers, counselors, nurse practitioners, PSE professionals, and mental health and prevention providers, is to coordinate prevention education programming aimed at school-wide positive behaviors [i.e. D.R.E.A.M.] and address barriers to learning that are non-academic but affect a student’s ability to perform well academically. There are several core competencies that lead to great SAP Teams:

Using targeted interventions that are meaningful, supportive and impactful

• Referring to the Student Support Services Guide for Teachers that outlines the referral process for utilizing each school’s SAP team
• Taking a balanced approach when screening students, including consideration of their abilities and challenges
• Providing linkages to community mental health and other resources when necessary
• Sharing data, parent contact information, teacher follow-up and student interviews
• Providing updates on services, including new and past referrals, skill-building groups, mental health partnership services and classroom presentations
• Holding regularly scheduled meetings that are organized and rely on clear agendas (at least twice per month)
• Encouraging team members to contribute and listen during meetings
• Incorporating clear and measurable goals, team member input and behavioral checklists when action planning to ensure data-driven practices
• Updating referral sources of action steps taken by the SAP Team to heighten team visibility, responsiveness and credibility

Ultimately, SAP teams address students’ social, emotional, behavioral and life circumstance needs so that teaching and learning environments district-wide are safe, positive and free of disruption. All Pennsylvania schools, per Chapter 12 regulations, are required to have functioning SAP Teams.

On June 5 and 6, RISE Leadership teams attended half-day professional development sessions focused on the District’s system of multiple measures, including RISE, value-added measures, and the Tripod Student Survey.

Over the last several years, RISE Leadership teams have played an integral role in the deliberate and thoughtful approach the District has taken to rollout multiple measures.

During these recent sessions, RISE teams had the opportunity to review their school-level Tripod Student Survey results. Rob Ramsdell from Cambridge Education facilitated this session as staff engaged with their results and the reporting tool for the first time. Currently, Cambridge Education is in the process of contacting teachers to provide access to individual Tripod Student Survey results. You are encouraged to click here for more information.

Based on the District’s 2011-2012 survey administrations in December and April, Cambridge Education has collected approximately 50,000 student observations.

“We need you to triangulate what you’re seeing here with all the other information you have about your classrooms,” Rob Ramsdell explained. “The hope here is to provide something that is a catalyst to talk with students about what we could be doing differently to engage them better.”

In response to questions asked during RISE school visits this spring, leadership teams also discussed next steps for the Tripod survey, value-added measures and the timing and status for using multiple measures in end-of-year ratings.

Sam Franklin, Executive Director of the Office of Teacher Effectiveness, reminded the group that the timeline for incorporating multiple measures into an end-of-year rating was adjusted from 2012-13. This means that, in 2013-14, end-of-year ratings will consist of a combined measure of effective teaching, referred to as the “Teacher Effectiveness Measure”. This adjustment was made in part to align with the direction and anticipated timing of state policy.

Starting this summer, the District will begin modeling different approaches to reach the combined measure of effectiveness. This analysis will inform discussions and decisions throughout the 2012-13 school year with teachers, District and PFT leaders, experts, policy makers and other stakeholders as we work to develop a fair process and system of multiple measures.

We know that when teachers and school staff work together, we can make real progress towards our goal of ensuring 80% of students graduate and complete college or a workforce certification.

During the 2010-11 school year, over 70 individuals – including teachers, principals, and representatives from the District and PFT – collaborated to design new Rewards and Recognition opportunities that built on the plans in the 2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Several sub-committees were simultaneously created to address each opportunity, including a small team who began working together to study individual performance pay programs and refine the VIEW (Voluntary Incentive Earnings at Work) pilot, originally set to launch in 2011-12 with 75 volunteers.

As outlined in the 2010 collective bargaining agreement, “the VIEW pay program must be a thoughtful and long-term project planned and launched by our own teachers with District support over a carefully scheduled and monitored timeline.”

Over the course of their work together, the VIEW team ultimately decided to delay the program launch from 2012-13 to 2013-14.

The group used this delay as an opportunity to continue convening regularly to: deepen their understanding of the multiple measures of teacher effectiveness now available in Pittsburgh, consider how measures may be used for individual performance pay in PPS, and to determine additional details for program implementation. They are also exploring how the introduction of a new Pennsylvania teacher evaluation system impacts the implementation of Pittsburgh’s individual performance compensation opportunities.

On May 29 the VIEW team met again, this time to: discuss progress and challenges from this year, discuss the status of VIEW, and set a clear direction for the committee moving forward. The following are a few meeting highlights:

1. The VIEW team recommended that the program should be revisited for launch in the 2014-15 school year, presuming that at this time there will be an end-of-year rating in place that incorporates multiple measures and measures will be more established and understood. Therefore, the District would not recruit for VIEW next year in 2012-13.
2. The VIEW team will contribute to the work of bringing together multiple measures to reach an overall measure of effectiveness. They will also continue to assist with applications to individual Rewards and Recognition opportunities such as VIEW and the new teacher salary schedule.
3. The VIEW team will revisit the specific “Role of the VIEW Committee in 2012-13” at their next meeting to confirm their agreement.

Rewards and Recognition opportunities reflect many of the District’s values, including increasing achievement for all students and decreasing racial disparities, continuous improvement in professional practice, collaboration and teamwork, and more satisfying career pathways for effective educators. For more information on these programs, click here.