Despite being the end of the school year my districts administration
is already gearing up for the start of the 2012-2013 academic year. These past
two days have been devoted to introducing and discussing Student Learning
Objectives (SLO) .
This big change is planned to take place at the beginning of the next
school year. Therefore it has created a great deal of discussion among the
district, especially within the SLP department, as such I felt like it was an important
topic to discuss with you guys. The state of NY is still hammering out the
details therefore the role of SLP’s in the use of SLO’s is still up in the air
(along with other support staff i.e. guidance, counseling, OT & PT). The
following post is meant to dispense the knowledge I have gained these days as
well as spark some discussion/debate.
As it was explained by the district, SLO’s are meant to
account for 20% of the newly revised APPR.
Basically, SLO’s are academic goals for a teacher’s students
representing the most important learning for the semester or course. Components
of an SLO include:
- Baseline performance data for each student
- Benchmarks to assess progress
- Growth goal targets.
SLOs are meant to be aligned to New York State’s Common Core,
national or state standards. Teachers’ effectiveness scores for this component
of their evaluation (20%) will be
based upon the degree to which their goals are attained.
This shift toward SLO’s is a part of the new teacher rating outlined
by the new APPR which is based on a 100 point system: 60% of points are based
on classroom observation, 20% based on local assessments (that our district
will provide as to establish a baseline for formulating SLO’s for the present
school year) and 20% based on student growth (measured in the form of teacher
tests, portfolios, student work etc.). When combined these percentages will
result in the teacher receiving a HEDI rating (Highly Effective, Effective,
Developing and Ineffective). It
should be noted that teachers in grades 4-8 ELA and math do not have to do SLO’s as these teachers have a state measure in
place already.
I do like that the evaluation system of the SLO is focused on student growth, not proficiency, and
allows teachers to demonstrate student growth through various measures
of student growth and achievement.
Fingers crossed that we in NY do not have to be held responsible for these student learning objectives, as we already have IEP's that outline our targets and serve to measure growth. I hope this post served to clarify any confusion or misunderstanding regarding SLO's!
It is way past my bedtime, 7 more wake-ups!
Solid post! Keep them coming.
ReplyDeleteMakes sense to me. However, I had just read on the NYSUT site that they are working on something for our disciplines.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to see what "the powers that be" have in store for us ;)
ReplyDeleteDo you have any more information you can share-an example of what tool and what you are measuring?
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by Sabrina :) The SLP's in my district are not responsible for SLO's this year...I'm sure that could all change next year.
ReplyDeleteOur district is choosing to not have the slp's and tshh's NOT covered in the "new" appr
ReplyDeleteI'm a SLP in Wisconsin and am currently sitting in an inservice regarding writing SLO's for this current school year. The examples we have been given are based on a classroom teacher and not for specialists. Are there any good online resources where we could view examples of appropriate Speech/Language SLO's?
ReplyDeletePage 12 of this PDF has some examples: http://www.riseindiana.org/sites/default/files/files/Sample%20Student%20Learning%20Objectives%202%200.pdf
ReplyDeleteOur school district is asking us to come up with some SLOs I'm lost on where to even begin!!!
ReplyDeleteI work in RI and SLPs are required to write SOOs this year and will be formally evaluated. It is causing such an insane amount of stress because no one really knows how to evaluate what we do daily, probably because they do not truly know what we do! As someone stated above, we already have goals in our IEPs that are written with great attention to detail and data. I find this whole process disheartening.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if I should quit as a school employee and get rehired as a contracted SLP. I would then be evaluated by the SLP supervisor who IS an SLP vs a Principal who treats SLPs as teachers- who requires SLPs to attend teacher meetings while teachers write their SLOs but no time is given for us to get together to write ours! Contracted SLPs don't write SLOs.
DeleteWe have our own Therapist eval. Similar to teachers but tweaked. I had to attend teacher meetings while they write their SLOs but no time is given for SLPs to write ours! Contracted SLPs don't have to be observed by Principals, just the supervisor who IS an SLP which I would rather have done instead of my Principal who treats me like a teacher.
DeleteI wonder if I should quit as a school employee and get rehired as a contracted SLP. I would then be evaluated by the SLP supervisor who IS an SLP vs a Principal who treats SLPs as teachers- who requires SLPs to attend teacher meetings while teachers write their SLOs but no time is given for us to get together to write ours! Contracted SLPs don't write SLOs.
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