Hi, this is Ron Noble from ESE�s Educator Effectiveness Team.
The CAP Rubric is based on the Teacher Performance Rubric that is part of ESE�s Model System
for Educator Evaluation.
Nearly all Massachusetts districts use this rubric as the anchor of their educator evaluation
systems.
The rubric is organized with the following hierarchy.
There are four Standards of Effective Practice: Curriculum, Planning, and Assessment, Teaching
All Students, Family and Community Engagement, and Professional Culture.
Each Standard is then broken out into several Indicators.
In total there are sixteen Indicators across the four Standards.
These Indicators are then divided into even smaller aspects of practice called elements.
The rubric includes a total of thirty-three elements.
It�s at this most granular level that the rubric includes descriptions of practice.
These performance descriptors are observable and measurable statements of educator actions
and behaviors aligned to each element.
They serve as the basis for identifying the level of an educator�s performance in one
of four categories: Unsatisfactory, Needs Improvement, Proficient, or Exemplary.
The architects of the model rubric distinguished among the four performance levels on the bases
of quality, scope of impact, and consistency.
Without attention to all three, distinctions between different levels of performance are
likely to be superficial.
For example, it is not Proficient practice, if a principal �consistently� does something
but rarely does it well or reaches few students.
Likewise, classroom teachers may consistently offer high-quality instruction to some students,
but struggle to meet the needs of others, such as academically advanced students, English
Language Learners, students with disabilities, or those who present behavioral challenges.
By assessing teacher candidates on their ability to implement practices with quality, scope,
and consistency, program supervisors and supervising practitioners can provide a more nuanced appraisal
of candidate practice than if they rated only along the four performance levels.
Doing so also recognizes that beginning teachers are unlikely to be fully Proficient in most
elements of practice.
The minimum thresholds associated with the quality, scope, and consistency dimensions
of the six essential elements signal expectations that candidates achieve proficiency in terms
of the quality of their practice, but may still be working to execute high quality practice
consistently and with all students.
Let�s take a closer look at how the rubric performance descriptors can help an assessor
rate a candidate on the dimensions of quality, scope, and consistency by looking at the Proficient
descriptor for the meeting diverse needs element: �Uses appropriate practices, including tiered
instruction and scaffolds, to accommodate differences in learning styles, needs, interests,
and levels of readiness, including those of students with disabilities and English language
learners.� This descriptor signals the level of quality associated with proficient practice
of this element.
We want to see candidates who are adept at differentiating their practice to meet the
needs of all learners and the descriptor provides some examples of observable supports one might
see, such as tiered instruction.
If a candidate is able to demonstrate practice with the quality of the Proficient descriptor,
the next step is to consider whether he/she is able to do so with all students.
Look at the Needs Improvement descriptor.
Notice the phrase �fails to address an adequate range of differences.� That phrase speaks
to the scope of practice.
If the candidate is able to execute the practice with quality for only a subset of students,
but not all students, an assessor might conclude that the �scope� dimension should be rated
at the needs improvement level.
Finally, we must consider consistency.
Can the candidate meet the learning needs of all students all of the time?
Here we can see a key difference between the Needs Improvement and Proficient descriptors
that will help assessors make a distinction.
The Needs Improvement descriptor starts with �may use some appropriate practices,�
whereas the Proficient descriptor is more absolute: �Uses appropriate practices.�
The implication is that the Proficient practitioner is using appropriate practices all of the
time and the less than Proficient practitioner struggles with consistency.
Assessing candidates on the dimensions of quality, scope, and consistency for each of
the six essential elements allows assessors to appropriately differentiate expectations
for beginning teachers.