S.M.A.R.T. Growth Plans (combining PGPs and SLOs)
A collaborative initiative by superintendents across West Michigan to create a meaningful, simple and compliant process and documentation that will meet state law §1248 and §1249 on teacher performance goals and student growth for educator evaluations. The end result was a S.M.A.R.T. Growth Plan that has two sections: Teacher Action Goal(s) and Student Impact Goals.
Section 1: Teacher Action (PGP)According to state law (§1249(2)(a(iii)), “for each teacher, there must be specific performance goals and any recommended training that would assist the teacher in meeting these goals.” These can be teacher generated goals based on research based instructional strategies, likely to align with the district adopted evaluation framework. For probationary teachers and any teachers rated less than “Effective,” districts will assign an Individualized Development Plan (IDP). The primary difference between an IDP and PGP is that “the school administrator shall develop the IDP in consultation with the teacher and in conjunction with the year-end evaluation.” Several districts across the state simply call all growth plans IDP's, since the term PGP is not found in the law. We will simply refer to both as “Growth Plans” and will be the section referred to as the Teacher Action Goal(s).
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Click on images to enlarge. NOTE: Sample Action Steps may involve both Teacher Action Goal and Student Impact Goals
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Plan of Assistance (Unique design for IDPs)
Several districts have implemented a policy for assigning a teacher a "Plan of Assistance." Basically, the administrator feels there is sufficient evidence to recommend a plan of action and set particular growth goals for a teacher. This can be done for any teacher, including "Effective" Teachers who may have one area needing significant improvement. The simplicity of this system is that ALL teachers complete a Growth Plan that is generated by the teacher and approved by the administration. ANY teacher who is assigned a "Plan of Assistance" by an administrator meets the requirement of the law for an "Individual Developmental Plan (IDP)" when districts simply define an IDP = Growth Plan + Plan of Assistance. Therefore, any teacher below "Effective" must be assigned a "Plan of Assistance" which may simply be district initiatives a new teacher likely missed in recent years.
Section 2: Student Impact Goals (SLO)According to PA-173, state assessment results are not required to be used until 2018-19 and only apply to teachers with a direct connection with the standards being tested. In 2018-19, “Student growth also may be measured by student learning objectives or nationally normed or locally adopted assessments that are aligned to the state standards.” Currently, the state law calls for educator evaluations to “take into account student growth and assessment data … using multiple measures that may include student learning objectives.”
Within the Growth Plan, we will refer to this portion as the Student Impact Goals. The Growth Plan may constitute multiple measures if there are two or more goals associated with student growth and assessment data. Local superintendents agreed on the following requirements:
See a sample Power Point for introducing to teachers. |
Click the images to enlarge.
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The components of the blank Template can be placed in systems like PIVOT, iObservation and Frontline, or simply use the Google Doc. There is also a Guidance Doc that supports the criteria for completing the template. Districts will differ on how thorough they expect Growth Plans, to see three different size samples, click below for:
- Algebra 1 folder (minimally compliant, mid-size and thoroughly complete).
- 1st Grade folder (includes reading and math at three different 'sizes' depending on district
- At the Ottawa Area Center, two teachers wight SXI students wrote rigorous yet attainable growth targets for ELA Core Skills and Math Core Skills in a center-based program.
