teachers training teachers.

Experienced teachers work with new teachers in this induction and support program to offer classroom observations, curriculum support, model lessons and whatever it takes to create success.

One size does not fill all, especially when it comes to teacher evaluation. Under a trust agreement between the Federation of Teachers and the Poway Unified School District, evaluation formats are tailored to meet the developing needs of teachers -- new teachers, experienced tenured teachers and tenured teachers who are in grave need of assistance. The Poway Professional Assistance Program is a comprehensive peer support and review system focused on student learning.

New teachers

It would be unreasonable to expect a doctor fresh out of medical school to perform intricate, risky operations, but that is often what is expected of new teachers. With as little as one semester of student teaching, new teachers are placed in classrooms with little or no support other than what they can obtain for themselves. Supervision is often sporadic and most times, new teachers are evaluated with the same expectations as their veteran colleagues.

Since its inception in 1987, more than 900 new teachers in the Poway Unified School District have received assistance through the Poway Professional Assistance Program. PPAP is both an induction and supervision program. Training is completed in the best place for new teachers to learn -- their own classrooms.

What makes this induction program unique is that new teachers receive their training from the greatest single source of expertise -- experienced teachers. These training teachers, called teacher consultants, must be tenured with a minimum of five years of experience and go through an extensive selection process. All consultants must have had a variety of teaching experiences.

The consultant provides the new teacher with thorough and frequent classroom observations, reflective comments, curriculum support, model lessons, coaching, classroom arrangement and sometimes just a sympathetic ear. In other words, the teacher consultant does whatever it takes to create success for the new teachers and their students.

Just as all students learn at different rates, so do new teachers. The philosophy of the program is to tailor feedback and support to the individual teacher's needs. In a typical weekly visit to a new teacher, the teacher consultant observes and records reactions, commendations, encourages reflection by asking questions, and provides suggestions in a journal about what is happening in the classroom regarding management, lesson design, student participation, teacher presence, curriculum and student assessment.

Each consultant assumes responsibility for the first-year evaluations of the new teacher. Working with a maximum of 15 first-year teachers, the consultant completes the contract requisite of six formal, written observations. It is expected that the consultant will have more than 40 hours of contact time throughout the year.

Second-year teachers

Second-year teacher support is designed to guide teachers as they transition from their first year of teaching. Support is provided through full-time teacher consultants at the elementary and middle schools. Due to the unique needs of high school second-year teachers, on-site veteran teachers provide this support service.

The goal of the second-year program is to help teachers with the implementation of their individual induction plan. Assistance is tailored to improve the individual's level of expertise by refining teaching skills, locating new resources and incorporating a more reflective view of teaching strategies and practice.

Second-year teachers participate in a variety of activities based on their identified needs. Personal interactions are pivotal to this program, and consultants help teachers meet their professional growth goals. Routine peer coaching helps each teacher identify and implement the "next best steps" in the classroom teaching practices.

Collegial meetings bring second-year teachers together for a common purpose. District-wide opportunities for professional growth, open to all teachers, provide a range of topics that are selected from a menu of offerings. Teachers also receive individual support from their consultant that focuses on personalized requests.

The evaluation of the second-year teachers is the responsibility of the site principal. The consultants maintain teacher confidentiality and are not involved in the evaluation process. Teachers may share evaluators' comments with a support provider if they want assistance with the next best steps for professional growth.

Experienced, tenured teachers

The PPAP program not only manages the new teacher program, but has responsibility for two additional programs targeted toward experienced teachers: the Alternative Evaluation and Permanent Intervention programs.

Rather than participate in the traditional evaluation checklist procedure, tenured teachers are encouraged to be actively involved in the evaluation process. The Alternative Evaluation program is based on the premise that professional educators are capable of setting their own professional growth goals for the year.

The program is offered to teachers who have five years of experience within the district and who have consistently demonstrated a high degree of competence. In addition, they must possess a well-defined educational philosophy, and have participated in staff development activities. The site principal selects participants from qualified volunteers.

The program is designed to make the relationship between the principal and teacher more collegial. The emphasis is on the process of the evaluation and not the product, with paperwork kept at a minimum. Emphasis is placed on self-reflection, collaboration between teacher and principal, strengthening of collegial relationships and cooperation.

At a conference held early in the fall, the teacher and administrator meet and agree upon goals related to the Poway school district's teaching standards. Together they establish the criteria to be used in the evaluation of those goals.

Goals vary from teacher to teacher. Teachers and administrators are encouraged to be creative in both setting goals and defining the criteria for measuring those goals. Options range from a collaborative effort to simple modification of the traditional practice. Examples of evaluation options are: collaborative groups, portfolios, peer coaching and classroom action research.

At this conference approximate dates are set for two brief evaluation meetings to be held during the year. The purpose of these conferences is to discuss the teacher's progress toward achieving his or her goals. Administrators are not required to make a traditional formal observation; rather, they are expected to make more frequent, informal classroom visits.

A major goal of the program is to decrease teacher isolation by creating an atmosphere of collegial dialogue about teaching practices. It is recognized that people learn better when they are not isolated. Consequently, built into the evaluation system is a place for at least two scheduled interactive sessions with peers throughout the school year. Some activities that meet this requirement include peer coaching, classroom visitation and site-level grade or curriculum-specific meetings.

At the end of the school year, the teacher and the principal meet to review the teacher's work. The teacher provides a written self-analysis of the progress made toward meeting the established goals and the effect on classroom performance, and the plans for subsequent growth. In addition, the administrator may provide a written summary about the teacher's goals and other commendations related to overall school goals.

Teachers in need of assistance

The Permanent Teacher Intervention Program (PTIP), part of the Poway Professional Assistance Program, is a cooperative effort between the Poway Federation of Teachers and the Poway Unified School District. PTIP is designed to help permanent teachers who have been identified as being in serious professional jeopardy. This means that the teacher's classroom performance evaluation has been rated unsatisfactory overall. The goal of PTIP is to provide assistance and support to improve the teacher's performance.

The PTIP teacher receives assistance with instructional techniques, strategies, curricular objectives, student progress toward achieving standards, classroom management, establishing and maintaining a suitable learning environment, and professional goal-setting from a teacher consultant

A permanent teacher who receives an overall unsatisfactory evaluation by the site administrator may request the assistance of a consultant from the Poway Professional Assistance Program. This teacher consultant helps improve the teacher's performance in areas found not to meet standards. However, the consultant makes no evaluative judgments on the PTIP teacher's performance. The teacher's evaluation remains with the site administrator.

The consultant collaborates with the teacher and the evaluator to develop a plan for improvement and then assists with the implementation of the plan by providing materials, suggestions and corrective feedback.

Governance of PPAP

The unique governance structure of the Poway Professional Assistance Program is a model for shared decision-making. The governance board consists of three union and two district representatives. It is the board's responsibility to oversee the operations of the new teacher program and the Permanent Teacher Intervention Program.

The board's responsibilities include: reviewing observations and evaluations, recommending support and assistance, approving teachers' plans for improvement, guiding teacher consultants and determining the length of time the teacher remains in the program. The board meets formally three times each year and on an as-needed basis.

If a permanent teacher receives a second overall unsatisfactory evaluation, the PPAP governance board considers all of the prior efforts and resources used to improve the teacher's performance. The board may decide to place the PTIP teacher in mandatory assistance. The board then reviews observations and evaluations, recommends support and assistance, approves the PTIP teacher's plan for improvement and guides the teacher consultant.

The evaluation of the teacher placed in mandatory assistance is conducted by an evaluation team composed of the site evaluator, a district administrator and a third person chosen by the PPAP governance board. The teacher consultant, serving outside of the formal evaluation process, continues to meet with the evaluators to coordinate assistance and support efforts.

Classroom observations conducted by the evaluation team may be completed individually or collaboratively, but the final written evaluation is a collaborative effort that is signed by all three members.

The length of time a teacher is placed in mandatory assistance is determined by the PPAP governance board on a case-by-case basis, but is never less than one semester.

If it is decided that a teacher is to be dismissed, an independent review of the assistance and evaluation process is conducted by a qualified expert chosen by the PPAP governance board. A written report of the review is submitted to the governance board to determine if the intervention plan met the contractual and statutory fights of the teacher. A copy of the review is also sent to the district superintendent and the Poway Federation president. The PPAP governance board makes no recommendation on the final disposition of the case following the independent review.

Impact on student learning

Working together, Poway Unified School District and the Federation of Teachers use the evaluation process to ensure that caring, competent and qualified teachers provide significant impact on student learning. Because teachers are actively involved in the evaluation progress, they see themselves as valued professionals.

Susan Van Zant is principal of Meadowbrook Middle School. Don Razska is president of the Poway Federation of Teachers. Charlotte Kutzner is program director and a teacher consultant for the Poway Professional Assistance Program.