Glossary: Teacher SLOs This glossary is designed to help SLO Ambassadors, teachers, and evaluators speak the same language around the steps and elements of a meaningful SLO. The terms come from our SLO field test and first year of SLOs for stakes, a document review from other LEAs, and CTAC resources shared via MSDE,. SLO Term SLO Element SLO Submission Form Submitted SLO SLO Approval Rubric SLO Exemption SLO stands for Objective. An SLO is a specific learning goal and a specific measure of student learning used to track progress toward that goal. There are 7 SLO Elements that teachers and school leaders should take into consideration in the writing, approving, and monitoring of an SLO. While each element serves a vital purpose, the elements work together interdependently to form a cohesive goal and actionable plan for student learning. This electronic form includes the 7 SLO Elements and other relevant data points related to the teacher s submitted SLO. This is a teacher s completed SLO Submission Form. This rubric is designed to help teachers to create high-quality, rigorous SLOs during the development process and to assist administrators during the SLO approval process. The 7 SLO Elements are described within the SLO Approval Rubric, and the teacher may earn a score from 4 (highest) to 1 (lowest) for each SLO Element. The score that a teacher receives on the SLO Approval Rubric will not be incorporated into the SLO component of his or her Effectiveness Evaluation and will not affect or limit the Final Score that a teacher may earn on their SLO for evaluation purposes. To foster a fair and authentic SLO process, a teacher s SLO should focus on the students he or she can influence in the time that he or she has been in that classroom. Due to the empirical nature of SLOs, sample size and length of study directly impact outcomes. Therefore, teachers may be exempt from the SLO component of the annual evaluation for the current school year for one of the following reasons: Teacher has fewer than 10 students Teacher content area limits ability to write an academic SLO as described in the SLO Guidebook Teacher is on approved leave for a significant portion of the SLO window Teacher was hired into a classroom teacher role on or after October 15 th of that school year Teachers who submit an Exemption Request that is approved remain exempt for the SLO component of their Effectiveness Evaluation. The remaining components of their evaluation are reweighted. Significant Portion (of leave) For SLO Exemption purposes, a significant portion of leave time is defined as one third of the work days within the SLO window. Page 1
SLO Window Student Population SLO Learning Content SLO Student Learning The SLO Window is defined as the time from which teachers are able to start writing their SLOs to the time they administer the post-assessment used to measure students progress towards the SLO. Though the start of the SLO Window is aligned with when the technical system opens for the district, the length of the SLO Window may vary based on the relevant course duration. The end of the 3 rd Quarter aligns with the deadline for teachers to submit their SLO student data for final scoring, however, the SLO window for teachers will vary based on when they administer the post-assessment used to measure students progress towards the SLO (ie: end of 1 st semester for semester-based courses). The SLO process is intended to have a positive impact on instructional outcomes for the greatest number of students possible. The Student Population describes the students addressed by the SLO. The number of students indicated in the Student Population for the SLO Submission is based on enrollment in the course - across sections - that the teacher selects at the time of submitting the SLO. No students will be added to the SLO Student Population once the SLO Submission has been approved. If students no longer attend the course, they will be removed from the total count of students addressed by the SLO at the time that it is scored. Teachers should define the learning content that is most important for students to learn during their time with them, and use this to ground their submitted SLO. In making this determination, teachers should prioritize content aligned to the Maryland College and Career Readiness Standards (MCCRS), wherever possible. They may also look to other international, national, state, local or industry standards in identifying the content that students should learn. To create a more focused SLO, teachers will be asked to identify specific indicators within the MCCRS, or other international, national, state, local, or industry standard. Note: The term Essential Skills and Knowledge indicators describe the indicators contained within the MCCRS. A teacher s SLO must state a specific target for student achievement. This SLO Student Learning is a description of success in the specific indicators of the SLO Learning Content and based on the assessment identified in the submitted SLO. This target may be a Growth or a Mastery, and should be sufficiently challenging based on the student baseline data and appropriate SLO guidance. Note: This describes success in terms of the level of achievement, and does not include the Final Attainment of SLO (the percentage or number of students who will reach the target.) Rather, this information is described within the SLO Final Scoring Rubric with specific ranges of the percentage of the student population who reach the SLO. Page 2
Mastery Growth Whole Group SLO Differentiated SLO In a mastery target, students grow to a common level of mastery. For example: Student Baseline SLO Z 3 of 10 7 of 10 Y 2 of 10 7 of 10 X 4 of 10 7 of 10 In a growth target, students are expected to grow by a common amount. For example: Student Baseline SLO (growth of 2) Z 5 of 10 7 of 10 Y 7 of 10 9 of 10 X 5.5 of 10 7.5 of 10 A SLO is considered Whole Group if the teacher has set one SLO for the entire student population addressed by the SLO. A meaningful Whole Group SLO will take into account the students baseline data and allow the teacher to establish a target that is sufficiently challenging for the population of students. In SY 14-15 and the SLO Field Test, a Whole Group SLO was called a Group. A SLO is considered Differentiated if the teacher has set different SLO s for different groups of students within the student population addressed by the SLO. A meaningful Differentiated SLO Student Learning will take into account the students baseline data and allow the teacher to establish a target that is sufficiently challenging for each group of students. In SY 14-15 and the SLO Field Test, a Differentiated SLO was called a Tiered. For SY 15-16, teachers may only create differentiated SLO s for two different groups within the student population addressed by the SLO Group A and Group B. For example, students in Group A will have growth of 2 and students in Group B have growth of 4: Student Group Baseline SLO Z A 6 of 10 8 of 10 Y A 8 of 10 10 of 10 X B 3 of 10 7 of 10 Teachers who create Differentiated SLO s and focus their efforts more specifically to the starting point and needs of their students have the potential to earn more points in their Final SLO Score. Page 3
Assessment Used to Measure SLO Baseline Data Instructional Strategies Progress Monitoring Strategies SLO Final Scoring Rubric Teachers must consider how they will measure and assess student achievement in their SLO Learning Content by the end of the SLO Window. Once the learning content and baseline have been established, we must identify the tool that will measure student achievement at the end of the SLO window. Teachers are provided guidance by content area specialists as to which assessment tools are available and recommended for use. If a teacher-created assessment will be used, accurate scoring tools, rubrics, and/or answer keys must be attached in TSS and included with the SLO Submission Form In order to set meaningful SLO s that are sufficiently challenging, teachers need to review baseline data about where their students are starting. Baseline data may be gathered in a number of ways, and needs to be relevant to the specific content indicators and based on the assessment identified in the submitted SLO. Baseline data must be attached in TSS and included with the SLO Submission Form. Teachers identify students baselines by considering a variety of data sources including skill inventories, submitted student work, diagnostic assessments, and performance in class. Teachers should determine with their evaluators and colleagues the most appropriate method of gathering baseline data. Other considerations for teachers when collecting baseline data include: Was the course/subject a continuation from another year/semester? If so, previous data would be relevant. Did you consider any additional student data or background information to set the SLO (e.g., ESOL status, Special Education incidence)? If so, this should be noted and included. How did you break down the data and look for performance patterns or groupings? The teachers should give their evaluator an idea of what they think are the most effective and targeted instructional strategies to reach the SLO. These strategies must be appropriate to learning content and relevant characteristics of the student population (i.e., abilities, needs, experiences and interests). The teacher should describe interim assessments and other progress checks he/she will use during the SLO Window to see whether students are on track to meet the SLO. This rubric defines the Final Attainment of SLO based on the percentage of students who meet or exceed the SLO. The Final Score that a teacher s SLO receives based on this rubric is incorporated into the SLO component of his or her Effectiveness Evaluation for evaluation purposes. The point range for the SLO Final Score is from 54 to 100 points, and there is a greater potential for scoring variation for those teachers who have created a Differentiated SLO. This score is not impacted by the score that a teacher s SLO received on the SLO Approval Rubric. Page 4
Final Attainment of SLO Student Learning This describes attainment based on the percentage of students in the student group who meet or exceed the SLO. The Final Attainment has the following 4 attainment levels: Highly Effective (93-100% of students in the student group meet or exceed the SLO ) Effective (77-92% of students in the student group meet or exceed the SLO ) Developing (60-76% of students in the student group meet or exceed the SLO ) Ineffective (59% and below of students in the student group meet or exceed the SLO ) Keep in mind that the percentage of students in the student group that meet the SLO is based on the number of students addressed by the SLO. For example: If there are 25 students addressed by the SLO and 20 of them meet or exceed the SLO, this is 80% and is considered Effective Final Attainment. Note: Teachers who write Differentiated SLO s will assess the Final Attainment of the SLO for each student group separately. For example, a teacher has 60 students in her SLO Student Population and: Group A consists of 20 students and 19 of them met or exceeded their Differentiated SLO. This is 95% and is considered Highly Effective Final Attainment for Group A. Group B consists of 40 students and 31 of them met or exceeded their Differentiated SLO. This is 78% and is considered Effective Final Attainment for Group B. The Final Score that a teacher s SLO receives based on this rubric is incorporated into the SLO component of his or her Effectiveness Evaluation for evaluation purposes. The point range for the SLO Final Score is from 54 to 100 points, and there is a greater potential for scoring variation for those teachers who have created a Differentiated SLO. SLO Final Score SLO Final Scoring Example: In the example above, the teacher with 60 students and a Differentiated SLO has Highly Effective Final Attainment for Group A and Effective Final Attainment for Group B. This is considered Highly Effective overall and she will earn a SLO Final Score of 93 points. If this teacher had written a Whole Group SLO and the same number of students met or exceeded the SLO, she would have 50 out of her 60 students This is 83% and considered Effective Final Attainment. She would earn a SLO Final Score of 77 points. Page 5