The Colorado Department of Education

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State Model Evaluation System for Teachers

To support districts in their implementation of Senate Bill 10-191, CDE is creating a State Model Evaluation System for teachers. While not mandatory, this system provides an option that focuses on teachers' professional growth and aligns with State Board of Education rules.

Teachers will be rated on Quality Standards that measure professional practice and student learning over time. Teachers will be evaluated on six Quality Standards:

  • Half of the evaluation will be based on the five Quality Standards that measure professional practice: content knowledge, establish classroom environment, facilitate learning, reflect on practice and demonstrate leadership. The Quality Standards can be measured using the state-developed rubric that identifies the practices necessary to achieve the standards.
  • The sixth Quality Standard, student growth, will account for the other half of the evaluation. The standard will be based on multiple measures of student growth or student learning over time, not a single assessment. Teachers must have a team attribution student growth score and at least one individual attribution student growth score. If a teacher teaches a subject that takes the statewide summative exam, it must be used as one of the multiple measures. To view resources and support about developing this portion of the evaluation, please visit our implementation resources page.

2012-13 School-Year Rubric for Evaluating Colorado's Teachers
*Feedback from more than 2,000 Colorado educators have helped shape the professional practices rubric. This rubric reflects changes made based on feedback from pilot districts, teachers, principals, instructional leaders as well as education leaders across the state.  These are the rubrics that will be used by pilot districts during the 2012-13 school-year.  We will be collecting feedback during the 2012-13 school-year to inform refinements for validation and implementation during 2013-14.Click here to provide feedback on the Rubric for Evaluating Colorado's Teachers

2012-13 School-Year Electronic Rubric for Evaluating Colorado's Teachers
The electronic rubric (e-rubric) has been designed to make the evaluation process easier when inputting information and analyzing the information. The e-rubric will designate the appropriate rating for each element, standard and overall professional practice rating.

User's Guide for Evaluating Colorado's Teachers; 2012-13 School-Year

Appendix C contains support resources that may be used, but are not required, to document teacher performance in the State Model Evaluation System. Appendix C: Blank Forms for Teachers includes the Teacher Evaluation Process Tracking Form, Rubric for Evaluating Colorado’s Teacher, Teacher Summary Evaluation Worksheet, Teacher Summary Evaluation Sheet, Goal-Setting Form for Colorado Teachers, the Mid-Year Performance Discussion and the Professional Growth Plan for Colorado Teachers is also provided as a separate document for ease of use by teachers and Principals.

Resources for Gathering Observable Evidence
Below are optional resources that educators may use to record evidence they gather when in the classroom for both formal and informal observations. These tools eliminate any of the non-observable items of the Colorado Teacher’s Rubric so that the observer can focus on those items likely to be observable in the classroom environment. Note: These optional resources are being made available per district requests, however, they are not required to be used with the Colorado State Model Evaluation System.

The first resource contains Standards 1-4 of the observable professional practices. The following resources focus on the observable professional practices for each standard. These allow for more focused attention to targeted areas.

Standards 1-4 – Evidence Gathering Tool
Standard 1 – Evidence Gathering Tool
Standard 2 – Evidence Gathering Tool
Standard 3 – Evidence Gathering Tool
Standard 4 – Evidence Gathering Tool

To ensure the integrity of the system, it is recommended that these observation tools then be synthesized and incorporated into the entire rubric.

Student Perception Survey (Colorado Legacy Foundation)
*This resource relates to measuring professional practices for teacher evaluations only
Colorado is developing and piloting a Student Perception Survey for three purposes. 1. Provide teachers with meaningful feedback about how their practice impacts student learning. 2. Use student voice and experience in a meaningful way that directly impacts teaching and learning. 3.Serve as an optional additional measure of educator effectiveness in accordance with S.B. 191. Colorado’s surveys are being developed by the Colorado Legacy Foundation
(Note: You will be  leaving this website) and piloted in 18 districts across the state during the 2012-13 school year.