Baltimore city public schools teacher observation policy

BALTIMORE CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Formal Observation of Teacher-Level Certificated Employees

  1. Purpose
    1. Educator daily practice impacts student achievement by establishing high expectations and ensuring students have access to grade-level content, creating safe and welcoming learning environments, and engaging stakeholders to support student academic success and social, emotional and physical needs.
      1. Formal observations are an opportunity for the professional practice of teacher-level certificated employees to be observed in alignment with district expectations, resulting in authentic assessments of performance and opportunities for feedback and support. Baltimore City Public Schools (“City Schools”) is committed to employees receiving specific, actionable feedback through observations of their practice.
        1. This administrative regulation provides necessary procedures to implement Board Policy GCO.
        1. Roles and Responsibilities
          1. The qualified observer and the employee share responsibility for productive and professional interactions related to the formal observation process.
            1. The employee is responsible for reviewing and acknowledging receipt of ratings and feedback they receive from the qualified observer.
              1. The Office of Human Capital will maintain and communicate formal observation guidance.
                1. As part of a collaborative culture of open professional practice and student success, there should be ongoing informal observations of practice that give the observer and employee important information about employee and student performance. While a written report is not required for each informal observation, employees should receive feedback based on informal observations of practice.
                  1. Employees shall receive formative feedback based on observations of professional practice – whether informal or formal – within a reasonable amount of time of being observed.
                    1. As part of the evaluation, there shall be at least two formal observations of each teacher-level certificated employee.
                      1. There will be two windows for formal observations to be completed. The start and end dates for these windows will be established and communicated by the Office of Human Capital.
                        1. In instances where one or more of these dates fall on a weekend or holiday, the relevant window beginning and/or end date will shift to the next work day.
                        2. Milestones related to formal observations – including informal observations, Initial Planning Conferences, Mid-Year Performance Reviews, and post-observation conferences – may occur outside of these windows.
                          1. The qualified observer will communicate to the employee that this is a formal observation at the beginning of the observation, in accordance with formal observation guidance maintained and communicated by the Office of Human Capital .
                            1. An announced formal observation will include a pre-observation conference to discuss the lesson or activity to be observed prior to the observation of practice. An unannounced formal observation will not include a pre-observation conference to discuss the lesson or activity to be observed prior to the observation of practice.
                              1. In SY 2019-20 and SY 2020-21, all formal observations for teacher-level certificated employees will be announced.
                                1. Beginning in SY 2021-22, the first formal observation in a school year for an employee will be announced. All other formal observations conducted in a school year will be unannounced, in accordance with formal observation guidance maintained and communicated by the Office of Human Capital.
                                  1. The qualified observer will determine the date and time of the formal observation, whether announced or unannounced.
                                    1. All formal observations shall take place during a window for formal observations, as described above within this regulation.
                                    2. The first formal observation in a school year should not take place until the employee has had his or her Initial Planning Conference.
                                    3. The second formal observation in a school year should not take place until the employee has had his or her Mid-Year Performance Review.
                                    4. Prior to each unannounced formal observation in a school year, the employee shall receive formative written feedback. For classroom teachers, each instance of formative feedback shall be based on an informal observation of professional practice.
                                    5. A qualified observer shall not conduct an unannounced formal observation without having previously conducted either an informal or formal observation of practice which resulted in formative feedback for the employee.
                                      1. Formal observations should occur as an opportunity to observe the employee’s regular professional practice. In accordance with formal observation guidance maintained and communicated by the Office of Human Capital:
                                        1. An unannounced formal observation should not be conducted after an unexpected, significant disruption to the school or work schedule.
                                        2. An unannounced formal observation should be conducted when the qualified observer would reasonably expect to see evidence of the expectations outlined in the observation rubric.
                                        3. When the observation rubric is used to determine a rating for formal observations of practice, there should be a preponderance of evidence at that level of the continuum. While every descriptor for an indicator may not be evident every day, there should be evidence from the majority of descriptors to inform a rating for that indicator.
                                          1. Employees can ask to waive an unannounced formal observation due to unforeseen circumstances at the point of being notified that they will be formally observed. The qualified observer may choose to reschedule the formal observation. Written documentation of this request must be provided to the qualified observer that same day.
                                            1. The qualified observer must prepare a written observation report following the formal observation – whether announced or unannounced – and share this written observation report via the appropriate electronic evaluation system, with comments that provide feedback to the employee.
                                              1. The observation report will include a place for written comments by the employee being observed.
                                              2. The employee’s recorded acknowledgement may be written or electronic and indicates receipt, not necessarily agreement with the contents.
                                                1. The qualified observer will schedule a post-observation conference that must take place within ten work days after the formal observation, whether announced or unannounced.
                                                  1. The written observation report should be discussed during the post-observation conference.
                                                  2. The employee and the qualified observer will review and discuss topics in accordance with formal observation guidance maintained and communicated by the Office of Human Capital , including, but not limited to:
                                                    1. The employee’s preparation and performance;
                                                    2. Student work and assessment(s) of learning;
                                                    3. Student attendance; and/or
                                                    4. Parent and stakeholder engagement.
                                                      1. An ineffective employee evaluation rating of a teacher-level certificated employee shall include formal observations conducted by more than one qualified observer, including a qualified observer other than the employee’s immediate supervisor.

                                                      Related policies and administrative regulations:

                                                      GCO, GCO-RA, GCO-RB, GCO-RC, GCO-RE, GCO-RF, BBA, BLA, GBM

                                                      Regulation History: New Administrative Regulation, adopted September 24, 2019; revised October 5, 2020