In this blog series, we’re diving into exactly how PowerSchool’s unified edtech supports each piece of the Student Success Formula we debuted at ISTE. The first blog explained why we’ve developed the data-driven formula and covered part 1 of the formula: student engagement.
The Student Success Formula is simple. Insights on student engagement and performance help inform teacher development and growth. When this student and teacher data is viewed together, you can make better strategic decisions and increase student success from every angle.
Here in part 2, we’ll explore the teacher development piece.
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Part 2: Teacher Development
K-12 districts spend thousands each year on teacher development, knowing that an investment in their teachers’ growth is an investment in their students’ potential. Some U.S. districts have spent around $18,000 per teacher per year on professional learning initiatives.[1] That’s more than $1 billion each year for the largest U.S. districts.
But more expensive doesn’t mean more effective. A recent study found that despite the $18,000 investment, some districts saw little change in student learning.[2]
It’s time for K-12 teacher development to get smarter—with student data.
It’s time for K-12 teacher development to get smarter—with student data.Using student performance data to inform your teacher development plans delivers a more targeted, strategic approach to educator and student growth. And since teachers affect student performance 2-3 times more than any other school factor,[3] we’ve made teacher development the second part of our Student Success Formula.
Here are three ways PowerSchool’s unified edtech empowers K‑12 leaders to leverage student engagement data to improve teacher growth and development:
1. Creating more meaningful evaluations.
Over the next 1-3 years, 54% of K-12 education leaders plan to improve their district’s teacher evaluations.[4] Reviews and evaluations are a great chance to give feedback to your teachers and assess their progress. But studies show the most effective evaluations incorporate multiple factors about each teacher, including state test results, assessment scores, classroom observations, parent engagement ratings, and student growth data—like the academic, attendance, and behavioral data available in PowerSchool Performance Matters Assessment and Analytics.
With PowerSchool Perform, you can import student growth goals and teacher evaluations into one, easily accessible location and transform your evaluations into a visual dashboard—for a comprehensive, holistic view of each teacher’s performance. It keeps teachers and district leaders on the same page, clarifies the teacher’s professional goals, saves administrators reporting time, and connects student growth to teacher growth.
AL
We’ve enjoyed implementing Perform because it has taken our evaluation process to a new level. It has been instrumental in allowing us to focus more on improving professional learning and teacher growth, which in turn affects student achievement. It simply gives us good data that helps us make the
Dr. Resia Brooks HR Coordinator
best, informed decisions for our students
Shelby County Schools, Alabama
And since Perform is available to teachers and district leaders alike, your classroom goals will stay top of mind for teachers—encouraging more frequent informal feedback in between evaluations and reviews.
2. Developing PD plans tailored to each teacher’s needs.
2. Developing PD plans tailored to each teacher’s needs.Since Perform integrates directly into our professional development (PD) software, PowerSchool Professional Learning, you can easily assign teachers curriculum based on your key evaluation findings, with student and teacher growth in mind. Whether through a course, a credential, or another type of content, Professional Learning lets you design a PD plan that best fits each teacher and each classroom. Plus, with our visual PD dashboards, district administrators spend 80% less time monitoring PD tasks—so you can focus on growth instead of management.[5]
TX
We look at performance data for each individual, and we use that to drive their professional development activities. That’s been a huge tool for our director of professional learning. We’re actually saying, This is where we need help’ and ‘We don’t need to focus on this.
MARIE KUEHLER Director of Human Resources and Customer Service
Comal Independent School District
You can personalize PD plans even more by uploading your district’s actual student data to Professional Learning—empowering your teachers to practice their new skills in a real-world scenario before applying them to their classrooms. So teachers understand how their professional growth can directly impact their students today, and you know they’re taking a targeted approach to improving student outcomes in your district.
Additionally, you can tailor their PD plan to align to their PD needs from day one. Created during the hiring process via PowerSchool Candidate Assessment, each teacher’s PD profile displays their strengths and areas for improvement. It’s designed to accompany educators throughout their careers and across roles.
3. Measuring PD impact in the classroom.
You could develop the most incredible PD plan, but if it doesn’t improve student outcomes or drive teacher growth, then it’s not adding value. The best way to identify which professional learning strategies are effective is to calculate their impact on student outcomes using student performance data. And PowerSchool is the only K-12 edtech partner unifying the student and teacher data needed to make this possible.
By comparing student data before and after a teacher completes their PD, you can evaluate its impact on student success and determine if the PD plan could be effective for your other teachers. Even if you identify that the PD didn’t improve student growth, you now have the data needed to dive in and refine your professional learning strategies right away.
AL
PowerSchool helps each district meet the needs that have been identified. The professional development increases teacher effectiveness, which in turn raises student achievement. Last year, our math initiative work made an immediate improvement in our secondary math instruction… We saW definite gains in the unit assessments. We had 66% of our overall students meet their math growth targets, and 48% of our students were proficient on the national norms
CATHY SEALE K-12 instructional Leader Education
Alabama
Using student data to inform teacher development will put your teachers on a better learning path, increase your students’ success, and steer your school or district towards better strategic decisions.
Learn More
Want to learn more about Unified Talent Teacher Development? See an on-demand demo here.
View Nowhttps://tntp.org/assets/documents/TNTP-Mirage_2015.pdf ↑
https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/Effective_Teacher_Professional_Development_REPORT.pdf ↑
https://www.rand.org/education-and-labor/projects/measuring-teacher-effectiveness/teachers-matter.html ↑
https://powerschoolstg.powerschool.com/whitepaper/talentindex/ ↑
https://powerschoolstg.powerschool.com/whitepaper/talent-managements-roi-in-k-12-education/ ↑
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