Challenges
- Identifying opportunities for staff growth
- Addressing employees’ individual needs when giving feedback
- Achieving accountability on a systematic level
Decision
Results
- A holistic view of teacher performance
- Shareable data to guide reviews so teachers can better support student achievement
- Automation of evaluation processess, giving all educators more time for students
Folsom Cordova Unified School District (USD) is a typical medium-large district whose students have achieved atypical results.
Folsom Cordova has outperformed other California students in the state’s Smarter Balanced tests and is also part of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress.
With the help of talent management technology, the district delivers meaningful evaluation cycles to its staff—so teaching becomes more targeted.
“Very much like we do with students, we try to meet employees where they are,” says Mike Shepherd, Director of HR. Shepherd says Folsom Cordova USD has leveraged better tools to help manage the increased workload that comes from addressing employees’ individual needs.
“PowerSchool Perform is allowing us to have more accountability on a systematic level, so we can ensure that our on-the-ground managers are giving effective and meaningful feedback to our teachers”
“PowerSchool Perform is allowing us to have more accountability on a systematic level, so we can ensure that our on-the-ground managers are giving effective and meaningful feedback to our teachers,” Shepherd says. “Individualizing our workforce means we’re meeting the needs of our employees so they can better meet the needs of students.”
California has a strong teacher’s union and six statewide standards for educators, so Folsom Cordova USD needed a documentation tool that aligned with those requirements while collecting necessary evaluation data. PowerSchool worked closely with the district to configure Perform so the school and teachers can support and defend their evaluations—giving all educators more time to focus on the students.
Shepherd adds that they’re always striving to improve, which means assessing new technology and creating greater opportunities.
“I’m very excited about implementing additional PowerSchool Unified Talent capabilities because it will help resolve some of our internal complications and relieve stress right away,” Shepherd says. The upgrade will empower staff to tackle its next goal: closing the achievement gap among disadvantaged student groups through instructional initiatives and new intervention staff.