The Department of Education has finalized details of its new "educator effectiveness" system — a redesigned teacher evaluation that takes into account student academic achievement — as it prepares to unveil the rating system statewide when school starts Aug. 5.

The department will use the next year to smooth any bumps, and beginning July 1, 2015, pay raises and other personnel consequences, such as termination, will be tied to teachers’ ratings. Evaluations for new hires on probation, however, will include employment repercussions starting in the 2013-14 school year.

Education officials say the new system will provide feedback to help all teachers improve while identifying ineffective teachers and recognizing those who are excelling in the classroom. Overhauling teacher evaluations was a key pledge — and one of several major reforms — in the state’s application for its $75 million federal Race to the Top grant.

"This is not about firing teachers. It’s about trying to improve teaching," schools Superintendent Kathryn Mata­yo­shi said Tuesday. "We hire 800 to 1,000 new teachers a year. We’re not looking to get rid of people. We want to help our current teachers get better."

The changes will affect more than 12,500 Hawaii public school teachers.

With agreement from the teachers union, half of a teacher’s annual evaluation will be based on student learning and growth, measured in part by student test scores. The other half will be based on teaching practices and will be rated through classroom observations and student surveys.

"This starts with the premise that the most impactful aspect of a student’s education is their teacher," said Stephen Schatz, the department’s assistant superintendent for strategic reform.

Matayoshi said determining how much weight to give each of the metrics involved surveying more than 1,000 teachers at 81 schools where pieces of the new system were tried out through the past two years. The department also received input from teacher forums and working groups and a joint review committee made up of department and Hawaii State Teachers Association representatives.

How much of a teacher’s evaluation will be based on test scores versus student surveys and classroom observations will depend on job assignment.

For example, for classroom teachers who teach grades and subjects that the annual Hawaii State Assessment tests students on —English language arts and math in grades three through eight and 10 — test scores will account for 25 percent of their evaluation.

For classroom teachers who teach early grades and nontested subjects such as science, social studies, art, gym and foreign language, test scores will account for 5 percent of their evaluation. For those teachers, so-called student learning objectives will account for 45 percent of their evaluation.

Learning objectives will involve teachers setting academic goals at the start of the year and mapping how they will measure the extent to which their students meet those goals.

Rating of a teacher’s practices will involve a classroom observation model developed by teaching expert Charlotte Danielson. The model looks at planning and preparation; classroom environment; instruction; and professional responsibilities. Principals and vice principals have received training on the protocols.

The department has contracted with Cambridge Education’s Tripod Project, which creates the student surveys for dozens of school districts, to handle the student survey piece.

Teachers’ scores will be translated into one of four overall effectiveness ratings: unsatisfactory, marginal, effective or highly effective.

Only teachers rated as effective or highly effective will be eligible for pay increases in the year after the evaluation, under the labor contract approved by HSTA members. Teachers rated as marginal will be given an opportunity to improve and appeal the rating. An unsatisfactory rating will be cause for termination.

"Effective teachers are key to achieving our goals with students, and the new evaluation design provides teachers with the actionable feedback they need to help drive their professional development and support their own growth plans," said Deputy Superintendent Ronn Nozoe. "This is more than an evaluation; it’s a system."

The new system contrasts with existing teacher evaluations being phased out. Those rate teachers every five years, using mostly observation, as "satisfactory," "marginal" or "unsatisfactory" based on five "duties": designing and implementing teaching strategies; creating a positive and safe learning environment; using assessment data; demonstrating professionalism; and reflecting on their practices.

Nationally, about 30 states have school districts that factor student achievement into teacher evaluations, according to the Washington, D.C.-based National Council on Teacher Quality.

"There’s been a big shift the last three or four years, and most of those 30 states require the student achievement piece to be a big percentage," said Sandi Jacobs, the council’s vice president and managing director for state policy.

Some teachers are concerned about the rollout.

"As a teacher and as a parent, I don’t want bad teachers in the classroom. It’s demoralizing. But the real issue is why do we have bad teachers in the first place. We should be recruiting good teachers to begin with," said Corey Rosenlee, a Campbell High social studies teacher.

He added, "The biggest problem I have is that it gives the idea that we can fire away our teacher quality problem. I think the intent is to improve teacher quality, and that is so important. There are some teachers who should not be teaching, but this is not a way of solving that problem."

Kristen Brummel, a Noe­lani Elementary School teacher, said she believes the new evaluations will have the intended purpose of supporting teacher effectiveness and student achievement.

The joint union and department review committee will continue to meet at least twice a year, as agreed to in the latest teachers’ contract, to review the evaluation system and make recommendations.

"At this point so far, we’re very hopeful about the evaluation system," said HSTA Executive Director Al Naga­sako. "In the end, when we look at the data from the field and national research, I’d like us to be nimble enough to adjust and implement a truly research-based and proven model. At this point it’s still a pilot."

Teacher Appraisal
The majority of Hawaii’s public school teachers — those who teach early grades or subjects not included in standardized tests — will be evaluated under a new rating system that heavily factors so-called student learning objectives, measuring how students meet academic goals set by the teachers. Other factors include core professionalism, or teacher contributions outside the classroom; Hawaii growth model, based on test scores; classroom observation; and a survey on students’ impressions of their teachers. How those factors are weighted: