According to draft documents released by the district on Thursday, Houston ISD’s new system for evaluating its approximately 11,000 teachers appears to be similar to its current one, with a significant focus on classroom observations and student test scores, but without the contentious student survey component that had been considered.
According to the plans, the majority of teachers’ annual evaluations would be based on how well their pupils perform on standardized tests and how well they score on roughly ten to twenty quick classroom observations conducted by campus officials. Teachers’ lesson planning, their contributions to campus culture, and a shared school-wide score based on how successfully staff members meet a set of yearly campus goals would also account for a lesser portion of the points.
According to Deputy Chief of Academics Alyssa Murray Rocha, who assisted in creating the proposal, the state-appointed school board of HISD is expected to vote on the evaluation method in March.
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In general, board members have backed the labor and academic plans put forth by Mike Miles, the state-appointed administrator of HISD. Critics of Miles’ teaching methods, such as community advocates and teachers unions, have criticized them, calling them drill-and-kill techniques that limit instructors’ ability to foster critical thinking in class debates or projects.
According to draft blueprints that HISD shared with the Houston Landing, if authorized, the system would be implemented the following school year and would play a major role in establishing some teachers’ compensation levels in 2026–2027 on a scale that goes from $62,000 to $92,000 yearly. Details of the proposed 2026–2027 wage plan have not been made public by HISD officials. At the moment, a teacher’s years of experience, the subject they teach, and the school they work for all have a significant impact on their salary.
According to Rocha, the new teacher assessment follows months of integrating community and staff feedback into the plans. Although her team mandated that the majority of the evaluation be based on student test results and classroom observations, they employed months of input from principals, teachers, school-based committees, and a district advisory group to determine the remaining components of the ratings.
They eliminated the student survey component, which would have accounted for between 5 and 15 percent of the final scores, after teachers expressed reluctance to use it in their ratings, according to Rocha.
Rocha stated, “We have really purposefully solicited feedback and made decisions based on what people said.” This is something I want instructors to be enthusiastic about. I am aware that evaluations might cause anxiety, which is quite normal, but we are determined to continue honoring all educators.
How we got here
Miles attempted to redesign HISD’s appraisal system shortly after Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath nominated him as superintendent, so the implementation of the new teacher assessment system is a bit of a do-over for him.
Because Miles received sufficient comment on the plan as needed by state law, the Houston Federation of Teachers’ August 2023 lawsuit against HISD resulted in a court-ordered injunction against the teacher ratings, marking Miles’ first foray into legal issues. As a result, Miles was compelled to switch to a modified version of the state’s suggested teacher evaluation method. The updated version was nonetheless condemned by some educators since it included requirements for teachers to employ Miles’ recommended teaching strategies, which include asking students for their opinions approximately every four minutes throughout class.
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Beginning the process that resulted in the development of the appraisal that HISD revealed Thursday, the board of HISD agreed a few months later in December 2023 to permit the district to start creating a homegrown teacher evaluation system as part of its District of Innovation initiative.
According to Rocha, her team will keep making changes to the assessment tool until March, when HISD intends to submit a final draft to the board. These changes will be made in response to input from various advisory groups, campus debates, and teacher focus groups.
Linked to performance pay
According to Rocha, the anticipated incentive pay and the new evaluation are connected but distinct. Superintendent Mike Miles, who was chosen by the state, may still implement pay-for-performance programs via HISD’s present evaluation tool in the event that the new appraisal system fails.
According to their 2023–24 evaluations, teachers at the original 28 schools under the Milesoverhaul model are actually already earning incentive pay this year. Depending on how well they were assessed, this pay can range from 1 to 8 percent of their base income, according to Rocha. Teachers at the 130 schools that are currently undergoing refurbishment will get the additional compensation next year.
instructors at the redesigned schools would keep their current pay scale if HISD proceeds with a pay-for-performance scheme, but instructors at the other half of the district’s schools would be ranked on a scale from $62,000 to $92,000 according to their evaluation scores.
The principal of HISD’s Energy Institute High School, Lori Lambropoulos, is one of about 20 principals who have met with HISD on a regular basis in recent months to provide feedback on the teacher assessment. Her institution does not adhere to Miles’ overhaul model; instead, it adopts a project-based learning approach with less structured classroom instruction than other campuses. Although her instructors have not yet been eligible for pay increases, she has noticed that staff members are more enthusiastic about the potential improvements.
“I’ve noticed that some of my teachers, to whom I may have been providing feedback for years, seem to be getting a little more on board and inspired now, especially because they know there could be potential compensation tied to this,” Lambropoulos said.
However, HISD parent Naomi Doyle-Madrid, who was a part of a district advisory group that examined the evaluation methods, expressed her fear that the new ratings will not allow instructors to be more innovative with their lessons. She added that because of Miles’s teaching guidelines, one of her sons no longer enjoys open-ended writing prompts. Doyle-Madrid does not anticipate that the new evaluation system will alter that.
When you force children to participate in these four-minute activity bursts, critical thinking, analysis, comprehension, and reading comprehension are neglected, according to Doyle-Madrid. We are pushing children through a process too quickly, which prevents them from thinking things through and having more productive discussions.
Key changes
Although the major structure of the new teacher evaluation maintains the same central elements as the current one namely, classroom observations and student test score increases there are updates to some more minor components.
The following modifications are included in the recently published evaluation system:
- Five percent of teachers scores would be based on how well their campus achieved a list of goals set out before the school year, which could include factors like raising student attendance or reducing rates of student discipline. The score extends school-wide, meaning all teachers within a school receive the same number of points in that category.
- Teachers seeking any of the top three out of seven performance categories (Proficient II, Exemplary I and Exemplary II) would need to submit an application to be considered as a distinguished teacher. The application involves having students take a survey rating their teacher and the teacher submitting a one-page write-up of their contributions in areas like mentoring, leading initiatives, professional development and more. HISD s academics and strategic initiatives departments would collaborate to review the applications. Teachers who do not apply to be a distinguished teacher would not be eligible to earn any of the top three performance ratings, even if their scores reach the required thresholds.
- All campus principals, assistant principals and other staff evaluating teachers instruction would be required to receive training on how to grade teachers, then pass a test on doing so. The measure is intended to ensure evaluators rate teachers fairly and consistently.
- Teachers who are not first-year teachers and whose previous year rating was proficient or higher may opt out of a once-per-year 45-minute classroom observation, with instructional ratings based instead on 10-minute observations at least once per month. The 10-minute observations are required regardless of whether teachers opt out of the longer observation.
- Elective teachers and others whose classes do not include a formal test would receive a list of options for measuring their students level of achievement.
- Teachers would be able to earn a small amount of points on their evaluation for their efforts spent preparing and planning their lessons, which is not included in the current evaluation tool.
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