Area teacher evaluation scores increase

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The Ohio Department of Education released its 2015-16 Resident Educator Summative Assessment scores this week for new teachers in their third year of the program. The program offered at the South Central Ohio Educational Service Center, in New Boston, Ohio, earned an 88 percent passage score. That score has increased from about 72 percent last year, and also surpasses the state average of 74 percent.

New teachers starting their first job are given a Resident Educator Teaching License by the state of Ohio, and must complete four years of Resident Educator Training to receive their Professional Teaching License. Year One teachers meet four times a year for training; Year Two meets three times a year, Year Three meets once, and Year Four meets individually with teachers. During those four years, Resident Educator Teachers work closely with a mentor to guide and evaluate them.

During their third year, teachers must participate in a summative assessment program.

“It’s a performance assessment. They have four tasks they have to complete throughout the year,” said Tammy Hambrick, Resident Educator program director at the SCOESC. “Two of those involve developing lessons and videotaping their instruction, and then providing evidence and answering questions about their instruction. Another involves assessment; they have to plan a unit of instruction and then show examples of assessments they’ve used throughout that unit and provide student results. They also have to analyze and reflect on the quality of the assessment. The fourth task involves evidence of how they communicate with parents, colleagues, or the community. Lastly, they have to give an example of some type of professional development they have participated in and how that has improved their teaching.”

The 2015-16 assessment concluded in April and the Ohio Department of Education released its scores on June 15. Fifty-eight teachers completed all tasks in the program, from Scioto, Jackson, and Adams County schools, and 51 passed all tasks.

“You have three opportunities to pass this. In the first year, any tasks you don’t pass you can retake just those tasks. We had 15 who were retaking tasks, and out of those 15 they all passed,” Hambrick said. “After the third chance if they don’t pass any of the tasks they actually will lose their teaching license.”

If that happens, Hambrick explained that the teacher can take additional classes at a participating university for one year, and then come back to the program starting where they left off in Year Three.

“Throughout the state of Ohio, we have so many universities with their own version of an education program. When a new teacher comes in to the field, there are a variety of a methods or background they have from the universities. This really levels the playing field and gives them all a similar set of criteria to say ‘If you’re going to be a quality teacher in the state of Ohio, this is what you need to be able to do.’ It ensures that anyone who came through the system that maybe didn’t quite get certain aspects of teaching, we can catch that early and provide them with some assistance,” Hambrick said.

For more information about the South Central Ohio ESC or the Resident Educator program, visit online at www.scoesc.org, or follow the ESC on Facebook and Twitter.

New teacher evaluation scores exceed state average

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