Prairie State Wire

Illinois State Board of Education, Teacher Performance Assessment Task Force met July 15.

Here are the minutes provided by the task force:

I. Call to Order/Roll Call:

Dr. Jason Helfer called the meeting to order at 3:31 p.m. and asked meeting facilitator Delaney Workman to conduct a roll call. A quorum was present.

Members Present:

Senator Tom Bennett

Dr. Kathryn Chval

Elizabeth Dampf

Dr. Marie Donovan

Shauna Ejeh

Representative Amy Elik

Shannon Fehrholz

Jessica Handy

Dr. Terry Husband

Dr. Lori James-Gross

Dr. Christie McIntyre

Erika Mendez

Senator Laura Murphy

Jessica Nunez

Jennifer Smith

Dr. Michelle Stacy

Robin Steans

Representative Katie Stuart

Kesa Thurman-Stovall

Dr. Diana Zaleski

Ex-officio member appointed by the state superintendent of education: Dr. Jason Helfer

Members Absent:

Dr. John Burkey

Dr. Vito Dipinto

Dr. Andrea Evans

Lori Grant

Katrina Hankison

Gloria Helin

Bob Langman

Dr. Abir Othman

Claire Siejka

Dr. Mary Ticknor

Others Present:

Meeting facilitator: Delaney Workman

Bill Curtin

Jill Donnell

Sara Kaufman

Nicole Murphy

Jim O’Connor

Julie Peters

Jessica Tobias

II. Approval of Minutes

Dr. Helfer called for discussion on the previous meeting minutes. Hearing no discussion, he called for a motion to approve the minutes. The motion was made by Dr. Stacy and seconded by Representative Stuart. Dr. Helfer then called for a roll call vote. Ms. Workman took the roll call vote on the motion.

Dr. Kathryn Chval – Yes

Elizabeth Dampf – Yes

Shauna Ejeh – Yes

Representative Amy Elik – Yes

Shannon Fehrholz – Yes

Jessica Handy – Yes

Dr. Terry Husband – Yes

Dr. Lori James-Gross – Yes

Dr. Christie McIntyre – Yes

Erika Mendez – Yes

Senator Laura Murphy – Yes

Jessica Nunez – Yes

Dr. Michelle Stacy – Yes

Robin Steans – Yes

Representative Katie Stuart – Yes

Kesa Thurman-Stovall – Abstain

Dr. Diana Zaleski – Yes

The motion was passed.

III. Public Comment

Dr. Helfer called for any public comment. Two individuals wished to provide public comment.

First, Jill Donnell, executive director for the Council on Teacher Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, thanked the committee members for the work they are doing for teacher preparation across the state. She encouraged committee members to consider incorporating aspects of the Danielson framework into their final recommendation. Additionally, she encouraged the group to carefully consider the purpose of a new assessment.

Next, Julie Peters, associate director of the Teaching of History Program at the University of Illinois Chicago, reminded the group of a comment made by Dr. Evans in a previous meeting. She explained that it is important for the members to keep in mind the reason for a teacher performance assessment (TPA). She then said that it is important to consider that if there is a problem, there needs to be a solution to the problem.

IV. New Business

Dr. Helfer moved on to new business and explained to members that the meeting would consist of breakout rooms. Within each room, members are asked to guide their discussion using specific questions on use, purpose, value, and quality. The questions are below.

Use, Purpose, and Values

Considering the various uses for and various “audiences” of a TPA, how and in what ways ought a TPA be used to:

• Reasonably ensure “Day 1 readiness” to serve as a teacher of record?

• Support the development of a novice teacher?

• Inform education preparation provider’s program scope and implementation?

• Serve as part of a thoughtful and well-rounded licensure system?

• Advocate for teaching as a profession?

Quality

From your perspective, what constitutes a “quality” TPA that creates the greatest likelihood of:

• Reasonably ensuring “Day 1 readiness” to serve as a teacher of record?

• Supporting the development of a novice teacher?

• Informing education preparation provider’s program scope and implementation?

• Serving as part of a thoughtful and well-rounded licensure system?

• Advocating for teaching as a profession?

Within the breakout rooms, task force members were organized into groups based on their affiliation. There were three categories: Higher Education, Legislator/Advocacy Group, PK-12 Education. Within each group, members had 45 minutes to discuss the above questions. A summary of each breakout room discussion is included in Appendix A.

Once breakout rooms ended, Dr. Helfer held space for members to share the discussions that occurred.

Senator Bennett shared that his room struggled. Many topics were discussed, such as the TPA being a measure of skills and a gatekeeper into the profession. He also said that his group noted the importance of the triad – the relationship between a student teacher, cooperating teacher, and university supervisor.

Dr. Chval explained that her group, Higher Education, noted that the assessment that the task force recommends cannot do everything. It is important to keep the purpose in mind.

Ms. Steans said her room discussed that having a teacher performance assessment ensures readiness into the profession. This needs to be done in a developmentally appropriate way that also can share information with programs for continuous improvement purposes.

Ms. Dampf said her group discussed the value of an assessment to measure how well a teacher candidate has taken their coursework and translated it into practice. She also said that her group expressed interest in having the TPA be integrated into the preparation experience, with candidates having the opportunity to collect evidence throughout their program.

Dr. McIntyre reiterated the need to clearly define and remember the purpose for a teacher performance assessment.

Dr. Helfer thanked members for their time and robust discussions within the breakout rooms. He informed the group members of their next steps.

V. Adjournment

Dr. Helfer asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Dr. Donovan motioned for adjournment. Dr. Evans seconded. All members present unanimously agreed to adjourn.

The motion was passed.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:45 p.m.

https://www.isbe.net/Documents_TPA/20240715-Minutes.pdf