Thursday, June 2, 2022
Dear District Administrators,
Changes are coming in July to the resources and supports for the Educator Effectiveness System (EE). What follows are important updates on these changes as the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) focuses on reducing burden, streamlining systems, and focusing on the ways in which educator effectiveness may be used to reinforce and support improvement strategies chosen locally.
1. New Calibration Tool. As of June 30, 2022, DPI is ending our contract for Teachscape, and Wisconsin users will lose access. This change will only affect Teachscape. There will be no impact on access to the Frontline platform.
This change is occurring as the department has received a number of complaints about the videos and functionality of Teachscape being severely outdated, time consuming, and cumbersome. Teachscape is also no longer aligned to the purpose of the EE System of coaching using observed evidence statements aligned to the Danielson rubric and it is being discontinued as a product offering by the vendor in July of 2023.
There will be a new calibration tool provided in August that school districts and independent charter schools may use while the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) is completing the state procurement process. This interim process for the 2022-23 school year will be shorter (going from 40 hours under Teachscape to closer to four), focused, and available asynchronously.
If you need recertification, it is a local decision whether to complete the recertification assessment prior to losing access or wait for the replacement for Teachscape to become available. A reminder that successful certification and recertification completion is valid for 4 years, regardless of employment or employer.
If new staff need to complete certification for the first time, it is a local decision whether to have those staff members complete the training and certification assessment prior to June 30, use the interim tool available in August, or wait until Teachscape’s replacement is available.
In order to keep local Teachscape completion records:
1. Individuals will need to download Teachscape records of certification, calibration, and recertification completion.
2. Administrators with access to Teachscape reports should download their district or independent charter school reports prior to June 30. See the Wisconsin Teachscape requirements and account management resource for report information.
These downloads are only for Teachscape certification, calibration, and recertification completion records. You do not need to download any other information or artifacts in Frontline. If Teachscape completion records are not downloaded, DPI will have completion records available to request in August.
2. Updates to the Frontline Platform.
My Growth Journey
Frontline updated its platform recently. In learning about this update, DPI requested Frontline delay implementation of its update until July 1. Accordingly, effective July 1, the look of the landing dashboard will change. Please note that none of the functionality or navigation will change. A preview is available.
Optional Form Templates From DPI
It is a continued option to move to the new growth-focused form templates that were made available in the 2020-21 school year. The new forms:
- Offer advanced customization and flexibility of use.
- Combine previous forms to reduce the number of forms.
3. Updated Guides. The user guides and Wisconsin Educator Effectiveness policy guide are being revised to be more succinct and focus on the essential elements of the educator effectiveness system. Expect the user guides update in August and the policy guide in September.
4. New Resources. NEWLY PUBLISHED EE Requirements and EE in Practice. These are one-page resources for your reference.
Please contact educator.effectiveness@dpi.wi.gov if you have questions about this information.
Sincerely,
John W. Johnson, PhD
Deputy State Superintendent