Performance Evaluation Plan

District 228 Overarching Understandings
The Superintendent along with the Board of Education has adopted the following overarching enduring understandings:

  • We agree that all students can learn.
  • We agree that students learn in different ways and have a variety of strengths and weaknesses.
  • We recognize that most of our students are achieving at an acceptable rate, and we believe these same students can do better.
  • We also recognize that there are a number of students who are not achieving at an acceptable rate, and we firmly believe that they can do better.

We must focus our attention on understanding why some students are not thriving academically and add additional supports to enable all students to achieve at an acceptable rate. In addition, we must provide all of our educators a foundation in best practices of teaching and learning. To ensure that we help students learn, District 228 collaboratively developed the following principles and practices. These principles and practices are aligned to several components in the Danielson Framework, as indicated within the parentheses, and they are at the center of our improvement process.

Learning Principles

Teaching Practices

Students need learning experiences that:

  • are framed with consistent, clear expectations and objectives (1c).
  • connect classroom content with the real world (3a).
  • engage and increase motivation (3c).
  • are differentiated (1b; 3c).
  • tap into their interest and curiosity (3c).

Effective teachers enhance learning by:

  • connecting with the students and building respectful relationships (2a).
  • creating a safe, controlled, positive environment in both the classroom and building (2a; 2d).
  • varying instructional techniques (1e; 3a).
  • providing organized, structured, and sequenced experiences (1e; 3c).
  • building upon their content knowledge and transferring knowledge to students through expert instruction (1a).

Purpose of the Performance Evaluation Plan
According to the Joint Faculty Association (JFA) Procedural Agreement (section 14.1), “evaluation of a teacher shall be conducted for the primary purpose of improving instruction... [Feedback] should be constructive and accompanied by suggestions for improvement (pg. 25)."

To meet this end, District 228's Performance Evaluation Plan will:

  • provide a framework for professional practice that develops a shared understanding of the complexities of teaching that supports a collaborative culture within our educational community which leads to student achievement;
  • provide a common language among teachers and observers;
  • incorporate the use of self-assessment and self-reflection throughout the evaluation process;
  • structure professional conversation around best practices in teaching and learning;
  • support District 228's mission, vision, overarching understandings, learning principles and teaching practices;
  • promote professional growth through a formative examination of practice; and
  • structure training programs, such as District 228's Induction and Mentoring Programs, to the Danielson Framework in order to support the development of our non-tenured teachers.