SLOs – Is your district on track?


On Board Online • March 26, 2012

By Pilar Sokol
 Deputy General Counsel

This year school districts and BOCES are preparing for the implementation of student learning objectives (SLOs) to be used  in teachers’ annual professional performance reviews (APPRs). School districts and BOCES will  start using these measures in the 2012-13 school year when no student growth data is available from state assessments for the purpose of calculating the state’s 20 percent of a teacher’s evaluation score under the APPR law.

SLOs will be  academic goals set at the start of a course or class that establish what students must know and be able to do by the end of the course. Teachers’ student growth scores will be based on the level to which their individual SLO goals are met.

Following are highlights of  key areas districts and BOCES need to be currently addressing to prepare for implementation of the use of SLOs. A State Education Department (SED) timetable sets May 31, 2012 as the recommended deadline for all decisions related to these key areas. This will allow Network Team trainers to provide training on the formulation and implementation of SLOs in advance of the upcoming school year.

Additional information is available from guidance, memos, webinars and other materials prepared and presented by SED at: http://engageny.org, including those specifically referenced throughout this article.

Assess academic priorities and needs

Districts and BOCES need to assess and identify their academic priorities, needs and long-term goals to ensure that SLOs meet their district- and BOCES-wide expectations for student learning. SED suggests districts and BOCES:

  • Review their strategic plans and consider how to use the SLO process to advance the district- or BOCES-wide priorities.
  • Make sure that the priorities that support teacher and principal accountability are aligned to common core learning standards requirements.
  • Examine whether district- and BOCES-wide goals are sufficiently prescriptive to help avoid variations in the content and rigor of school and classroom goals. Decide, for example, whether they should set specific goals for groups of teachers, and how much flexibility will be provided to principals or principals with teachers in the setting of SLOs.

SED has posted the “New Paltz Educational Master Plan” and the “Batavia City Schools Comprehensive District Education Plan” as examples of plans with goals and priorities that enable student learning and success. Additional examples will be posted as they become available.

Identify teachers subject to SLOs

Districts and BOCES also need to look at each subject in each grade level and identify which of their teachers will need to have an SLO and which will have state provided growth measures for their evaluation. Teachers who will require the use of SLOs include those:

  • Without a state-provided growth measure for their course, such as K-2 and sixth-grade science teachers.
  • With a state-provided growth measure but who have less than 50 percent of their students covered by the measure, such as teachers with a mix of sections/courses.

SED has developed a Required SLOs: Reference Guide and other materials which list by grade and subject the types of K-12 teachers who will need SLOs.

Determine level of specificity for SLOs

In addition, districts and BOCES must determine how specific SLOs will get set. Should the district or BOCES identify priority learning standards or require the use of specific assessments for specific grades or subjects?

Decisions regarding the use of specific assessments to measure growth in SLOs must be made in accordance with SED rules on the types of assessments that can be used for this purpose. Some of those rules require, for example, the use of:

  • A state assessment or Regents exam for evidence of student growth in grades 9-12 SLO courses for which such a test is available. Options for courses without such a test allow the use of SED approved third party assessments, or district/regional/BOCES developed assessments.
  • The third-grade ELA and math state assessments for third grade teachers.

SED’s Assessment Options for SLOs: Reference Guide and other materials list by teacher grade and subject the assessment requirements and options for SLOs.

Create processes for setting, reviewing and assessing SLOs

How effectively districts implement SLOs will depend, in part, on the training and resources made available to principals and teachers to ensure that evaluators can assess SLOs reliably and teachers can understand both the process and how the use of SLOs can help student learning.  Equally important is the establishment of a process for ensuring consistency and rigor in the use of SLOs across classrooms. In this regard, districts and BOCES will need to consider whether to approve every SLO or audit a sample to ensure they meet SLO standards. Procedures also should be established to monitor student progress toward SLO targets.

Future articles will provide additional information on the SLO process and its impact on teacher evaluations and student learning.




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