Joint Educator Evaluation Committee (JEEC)

The Joint Educator Evaluation Committee met this afternoon.  We reviewed data from IBRIC, the company that compiles all JPAS results and looks for trends.  Overall scores are down two points over the last five years, which is statistically significant.  Managing the Classroom remained stable.  Delivering Instruction and Interacting with Students are trending down.  Some proposed possible reasons were district split, loss of professional development days, and low morale.  These results are from approximately 3000 evaluations done per year with Jordan and Canyons combined.  Jordan alone had about 1700 evaluations done for the last two years with overall scores dropping one point.

When JPAS was piloted in 1995, there were more categories on the bar graph including below basic (10% of pilot), basic (20% of pilot), proficient (50% of pilot), and superior (20% of pilot).  All but below basic were removed.  Utah is going to a teacher effectiveness model, see UEN.org for more information.  The JEEC approved a pilot year (2011-2012) of adding the demarcations to the bar graph and labeling them Ineffective, Minimally Effective, Effective, and Highly Effective.  You will notice this change on your JPAS Feedback Report.  JEEC will be evaluating how these demarcations help improve teacher practice in the classroom.

Due to changes in Utah law, evaluations now must be completed annually on every teacher.  Jordan District is going to keep JPAS for all provisional teachers twice a year and for career teachers every three years. On the interim years when teachers do not have a JPAS evaluation, they will use the Licensed Interim Evaluation.  Teachers will receive information about this new evaluation tool during JPAS training at the beginning of the school year.  There will be a place on the JPAS website where you will log in to your evaluation within the first month of school.  There you will complete a .pdf on what you plan to do to meet indicators in Learning Environment, Instruction, Assessment, and Professionalism.  You will also complete the first part of the Licensed Interim Reflection and Professional Development Plan.  In the last month of school, you will meet with your administrator to review both documents.  The administrator will submit a version of the evaluation that says Yes or No on meeting your stated goals for those areas.  The indicators are similar to and aligned with those in JPAS.  Watch for more information as the new school year begins.  Year round teachers will not have their JPAS training until after the Administrator Conference where the principals will be trained.