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Educator Effectiveness: The Foundation for Individual and Organizational Improvement

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Article by Kimberly Hill

I recently attended a training on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) alongside district educator teams from across the state. I learned that CAST, an organization whose mission is to remove barriers to learning, defines UDL as a research-based set of principles to guide the design of learning environments that are accessible for all. During the training, it was clear to me that the work I do with district educators around the WI Educator Effectiveness System provided a framework for me and the educators in attendance to apply to new UDL learning. In fact, educators and districts can plan, implement, study and improve upon the implementation of any improvement strategy by aligning it to and integrating it within Educator Effectiveness.

For example, there are UDL practices and implementation processes that specifically align with the processes within the Educator Effectiveness System:

Let’s start with outcomes!

The WI Educator Effectiveness System pushes educators to focus on maximizing the learning for ALL students, as does UDL. One way to do this is through writing rigorous Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) and monitoring the learning of students regularly to document progress toward the SLO goal. The UDL Action and Expression Guidelines outline strong assessment practices which are helpful for SLOs.

What about professional practice?

Growth in teachers’ professional practice can be guided by the WI professional practice standards and reinforced using the UDL Guidelines. UDL practices are intentional and strive to build capacity in students to become “expert learners.” The WI professional practice standards (Danielson’s Framework for Teaching and Stronge’s Effectiveness Project Standards) provide language that guides teachers in developing and supporting expert learners. Student-centered practice language within the frameworks aligns to the Goals for Expert Learners in the UDL Guidelines. Expert Learners are:

  • Purposeful and Motivated
  • Resourceful and Knowledgeable
  • Strategic and Goal-Directed

The Continuous Improvement Process

Collaboration between colleagues around data is critical to the implementation of any improvement strategy and is an expected part of the Educator Effectiveness System. Whether it’s collaborative conversations with evaluators around data collected during observations or collaborative conversations with teaching peers around student data collected to monitor progress on SLOs, ongoing cycles of Plan/Do/Study/Act are critical to successful implementation of new practices. Mini-cycles of improvement are foundational to the implementation of improvement strategies like UDL strategies and can be integrated within ongoing Educator Effectiveness continuous improvement and collaboration.

The integration of UDL practices within the already established Educator Effectiveness process of continuous improvement appeared to me, and to the school district educators that attended the UDL training with me, as a natural fit. Rather than “one more thing,” the work they were already doing within the Educator Effectiveness System provided an opportunity to learn and implement UDL strategies within their practice. I believe that everything we do in education today can be embedded within the Educator Effectiveness process.

For too many of my years in education I have experienced a jump from one new thing to another looking for the “magic trick” that guarantees all students learn at high levels. The Educator Effectiveness System provides a strong foundation for educator’s learning: a foundation that connects new learning to the quest for the continuous improvement of instructional practices. Best of all implementing Educator Effectiveness in a meaningful and purposeful way results in students achieving at higher levels. The research supports this and I, for one, am excited to have the foundation of Educator Effectiveness System as an improvement strategy to build on!

Article Submission: Written by Kimberly Hill

Kimberly Hill is a 35-year educator in WI public schools, with 29 years as a principal. During her service in the public schools, Kimberly modeled instructional leadership as she facilitated educator professional learning and mentored beginning educators to support effective instructional and leadership practices. Kimberly currently serves as a CESA 10 Consultant, specializing in the areas of Educator Effectiveness and Mentoring and Induction.

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