Cindy Kaiser, principal of Milford School, took this photo of Shari Davis, resource room teacher for grades K-3, while evaluating Davis in her classroom at Milford School. (Photo provided)

Clearly there is more work for Wawasee teachers and administrators. Milford School principal Cindy Kaiser and her assistant, Ryan Connor, have to evaluate 42 licensed teachers between them that includes meeting with the teachers at least three times each during the school year for about an hour each time.

And there are only 180 days in the school year.

But the new teacher evaluation system being utilized in the Wawasee Community School Corp. has not been as stressful as first thought. Teachers and administrators are learning it has many positive benefits. Last spring, Wawasee adopted Mid-continent Research For Education and Learning, based in Denver, as its new teacher evaluation system. It was adopted from among three choices and is also utilized in the Bremen and Northridge school districts.

Adopting a new evaluation system was spurred by a mandate from the Indiana Department of Education to change the way teachers are evaluated. IDOE likely, at least in part, set the mandate in order to be eligible to receive federal Race to the Top funds, which includes tying teacher performance to pay.

Choosing McRel was a detailed process. “We did not choose the tool lightly,” said Joy Goshert, director of instruction and curriculum for the Wawasee district. The assessment, curriculum and teaching committee of the school corporation led the process and broke into three teams to research each option. “We shared that information with teachers during the (Wednesday) Smart Starts and teachers voted on McRel last spring,” Goshert said, noting teachers were able to ask questions and provide input before an evaluation system was chosen.

During the month of May in 2012, teachers were allowed to digest the standards of McRel and ask questions. An intense two-day training session followed at Wawasee High School in June.

Kaiser noted McRel is research-based with rigorous standards for more accountability in the classroom. “It meets 21st century standards for life skills and being ready for college,” she said.

McRel has five standards for evaluating teachers: leadership, teachers knowing the content they teach, a respectful environment, reflecting on their practice and facilitating student learning. Using the five standards, teachers are rated as developing, proficient, accomplished or distinguished.

“The five standards seemed doable and we felt they would make Wawasee better,” Kaiser said, commenting on why McRel was chosen.

The McRel system involves teacher self-assessments, a tool not part of the previous evaluations used for more than 10 years, teachers being observed by and meeting with administrators and teachers writing a professional development plan. “By the end of the year, teachers will have a professional development plan written for next year,” Kaiser said.

Another major change has been how often teachers are evaluated. With the previous system, a teacher with more than seven years of experience only had to be evaluated once every three years. Now, every teacher is evaluated yearly.

Teachers seem to be reacting favorably to McRel. Kristi Harris, math teacher at WHS, said it “requires conversations between administrator and teacher focused on the evaluation and classroom experience.” Teachers are required to write professional development plans, do self assessments that encourage reflective thinking and documentation is required to support the ratings, she added. “It allows for growth from the beginning of the year to the end and from year to year,” Harris said.

Melissa Possell, first grade teacher at Milford Elementary, as well as Harris, were involved in the process of choosing McRel. Possell said teachers were at first concerned about the amount of additional work the new system would create “but it has not been as stressful as first thought and we realized we were already doing many of those things, but this just shows us a better way of doing it.”

Teachers are able to get clarification and direction on the evaluation process and can access the process electronically to provide documentation, Possell noted.

“Just as we want our students to be lifelong learners, so should we,” Harris said. “Working with administrators, recognizing those areas we are excelling in, addressing those areas to strengthen, the tool is an asset.” Possell and Harris say McRel encourages dialogue between administrators and teachers. “Because of the dialogue, I believe I know more about the teachers than I ever did,” Kaiser said.

Implementing a new evaluation system brings growing pains. Some teachers have not been comfortable with McRel because it reveals growth areas the previous system did not. McRel only began to be used at Wawasee for real beginning with the 2012-13 academic year, so it is a work in progress. Goshert noted terms and phrases are still being defined more clearly, such as what does it mean for a teacher to teach with ethical standards?

Another important aspect is how well McRel fits in with the attributes of successful school districts. “When you look at the research of what makes a school district successful, it fits in well with the five standards of McRel,” Kaiser said. “It can only help teachers grow.”

Though interpretations of teacher evaluations may be adjusted somewhat because a new state superintendent of education was elected in November, they are required by state law now so they will be around a while.