Friday, October 30, 2015

Contents

Update on Evaluation Forms in iObservation – for All Administrators

Update on Evaluation Forms in iObservation

From Shelly Beech

Here is an update on the Evaluation forms in iObservation.?? As I mentioned earlier in the week, the Evaluation tab is on the iObservation website; however, after further review it is evident that the form is not in the correct format for us to use.?? It will also be necessary to provide more training for all of us on how to use this form correctly.?? With that being said, we will not use the Evaluation form for the first and second year teachers evaluations that are due on November 6.?? We will continue to use the format that we used last year.?? I have provided directions on how to proceed with the November 6 evaluations below.?? If you have any questions after you have read through this entire document, please contact your HR Director.

Steps for completing the First and Second Year Teacher Evaluations due November 6

?? The evaluation may be completed in one of two ways:

1. You may use the observation form that is in iObservation and complete the evaluation as a goal status for the teacher.?? This form has the comments section for each element.?? At the bottom of the form is the ???Overall Comments??? section.?? This would be the place you would add your final comments about their progress towards their goals in their growth plan and note any concerns.?? You should use the same language from the growth plans and the evaluation model for teachers in this section as well.?? You would have the teacher sign this form and then upload it into Talent Ed where it will be signed by both of you again to confirm it is the evaluation form,

OR

2. You may use the goal status form that we have used in the past and complete the evaluation on this form.?? You need to make sure that you include the goals that are in the growth plan and the elements they have listed.?? You need to provide comments on each of the elements.?? You will also do an overall comments section at the end of the evaluation that summarizes your overall comments.?? You will have the teacher sign the form either in the system or, if you have done it on paper, you will need to have it uploaded into Talent Ed and then signed electronically by the teacher.

?? You should continue to document all observations in the iObservation system.?? This will be the documentation for the process.?? When the form is ready all of the information will go over into the evaluation form so all of your time and efforts are not done in vain.?? Even though we are not using the iObservation evaluation form for this evaluation cycle, you will still need to continue to complete the required walk throughs, informal observations and formal observations.

?? Please review the sample evaluations that were shared in professional development in August.?? If you have any questions or need guidance on a teacher???s evaluation, please contact your HR director for assistance.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Contents

Moving Student Grades in Pinnacle Caused by Staff Reductions – for Elementary Administrators

Moving Student Grades in Pinnacle Caused by Staff Reductions

From Alan King
Elementary teachers who were moved based on student numbers were switched right around the end of the quarter, which is unfortunate for grading purposes. An added problem is that each quarter’s grades in Pinnacle are calculated from the beginning of the year to the end of the current quarter (thus first quarter grades are important for each quarter). Because of this calculation, we will need to move the student grades for those students who switched classes because a teacher was added or taken away. We will take care of this issue for you, but we will need accurate information from the affected elementary schools. Please send to Alan King the names of students who were moved, along with the name of teacher they were moving from, and the name of the teacher they were moving to. Contact Alan if you have any questions.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Contents

Moving Student Grades in Pinnacle Caused by Staff Reductions – for Elementary Administrators
Action Needed Regarding Health Benefits – for All Administrators
Battle of the Brains Preview – for Elementary Administrators and All District Administrators

Moving Student Grades in Pinnacle Caused by Staff Reductions

From Alan King
Elementary teachers who were moved based on student numbers were switched right around the end of the quarter, which is unfortunate for grading purposes. An added problem is that each quarter’s grades in Pinnacle are calculated from the beginning of the year to the end of the current quarter (thus first quarter grades are important for each quarter). Because of this calculation, we will need to move the student grades for those students who switched classes because a teacher was added or taken away. We will take care of this issue for you, but we will need accurate information from the affected elementary schools. Please send to Alan King the names of students who were moved, along with the name of teacher they were moving from, and the name of the teacher they were moving to. Contact Alan if you have any questions.

Action Needed Regarding Health Benefits

From Stephanie Connor
Please print out and share this flyer with all staff who do not have regular access to e-mail. It is important that all employees understand that ALL employees MUST renew their benefits coverage by November 13, 2015, in order to have health insurance coverage for 2016.

Battle of the Brains Preview

From Mary Barron
Six teams of students from the Quest Elementary Gifted Program will be presenting their Battle of the Brains submissions for an outside exhibit @ Science City. This preview of their work can be seen on Friday, October 30th at Central Office from 5:30-6:30PM. The Battle of the Brains is one of the nation’s most robust STEM competitions, sponsored by Burns & McDonnell, with the winning team awarded part of a $150,000 grant.

Monday, October 26, 2015

Contents

Update on Evaluations in iObservation – for All Administrators
Moving Student Grades in Pinnacle Caused by Staff Reductions – for Elementary Administrators

Update on Evaluations in iObservation

From Shelly Beech
We know the November 6 evaluation due date is fast approaching. We want to give you an update on the Evaluation form in iObservation. The Evaluation tab is on the website. It was placed there prematurely and we want to review the format carefully before sending it out to the system. We are going to have the tab taken down until it can be reviewed; however, the plan will be to have it back up by Wednesday, October 28. We would ask that you not go in to the system to complete an evaluation as the format may change. We will send out another notice with directions for completing the evaluation to you next week.
Thank you for your patience with this process.

Moving Student Grades in Pinnacle Caused by Staff Reductions

From Alan King
Elementary teachers who were moved based on student numbers were switched right around the end of the quarter, which is unfortunate for grading purposes. An added problem is that each quarter’s grades in Pinnacle are calculated from the beginning of the year to the end of the current quarter (thus first quarter grades are important for each quarter). Because of this calculation, we will need to move the student grades for those students who switched classes because a teacher was added or taken away. We will take care of this issue for you, but we will need accurate information from the affected elementary schools. Please send to Alan King the names of students who were moved, along with the name of teacher they were moving from, and the name of the teacher they were moving to. Contact Alan if you have any questions.