How Successful Principals Make the Most of Their Conversations: Ei360 and The Danielson Framework

To adapt the Danielson Framework it would be necessary to have a shared language leading to instructional improvements. This Framework is a tool for supporting teaching, conferences between teachers and principals that would lay the foundation for developing strategies for improving student participation. The pre-and post-conference between teacher and principal were central to the Chicago pilot evaluation program.

The Framework expected principals to conduct conferences with teachers both before and after teacher observations. The theory was conferences would be supported by the use of a strict evaluation process. The Danielson framework is one of the rubrics that we use at Educational Innovation 360 for teacher growth in the classroom. Texas, California, and Illinois are working on teacher growth through this framework therefore if requested our team works thought this platform as a baseline for conversations, ongoing professional development, and growth.

Typically, conversations would focus on instruction, the evaluation of professional dialogue, and work to promote honesty and reflection between teacher and principal. What matters most in the evaluation is that teachers and principals are talking with each other about instruction.

The mood of the conversation should move from “how well did I do?” to “how do I get better?” The goal of the conversations is to promote improvements in the teaching practice. Charlotte Danielson”s Framework For Teaching according to both teachers and principals changed the “content and tone” of the conferences.

As one teacher put it, “I enjoyed the feedback From the principal and I definitely got some ideas about how some things that I was lacking got me thinking about how I'm approaching the class and how my lessons fit into the structure of the entire year and the purpose of it.”

Principals favored the conferences and here is how the stats went.

➢     89% believed the quality of conversations had improved.

➢     86% believed the Framework provided the common definition of high-quality teaching at their schools.

Reaching Common Ground

The goal of the Danielson Framework training is to allow the teacher active participation in the pre-and post-conference conversations. How principals controlled the conversations with teachers was important to the end result of the conferences. We, at Ei360 work hard to support both the teacher and principal in this process once this framework is adopted.

When the principal dominates the conversation the teacher is less likely to fully explain the lesson and the goal of the lesson. When the conversation is more even in context the teacher is able to explain the reason for the lesson and what her/his goals were for student understanding of the lesson. The Danielson Framework training is focused on how it is used and how to rate teachers fairly. The outcome is for principals to have conversions with teachers that bring out the best teacher practice possible. The results are impeccable; in these cases, teachers are working hard to provide a quality education for their students, therefore it’s a win-win for everyone.

Sources

Authors: Lauren Sartain, Sara Ray Stoelinga, and Eric R. Brown; with: Stuart Luppescu, Kavita Kapadia Matsko, Frances K. Miller, Claire E. Durwood, Jennie Y. Jiang, and Danielle Glazer. November 2011. Rethinking Teacher Evaluation in Chicago. Lessons learned from classroom observation Principal-Teacher conferences and District implementation. Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago Urban Education Institute.

Charlotte Danielson. 2013. The framework for teaching Evaluation Instrument.