Final Evaluation Report: Minnesota State Teacher Development, Evaluation, and Peer Support Model

**Updated 8/26/16 with Value-Added Addendum

Minnesota Statutes 122A.40, Subdivision 8 and 122A.41, Subdivision 5, require that all districts evaluate teachers beginning in the 2014-2015 school year. In response to the statutes, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) convened a work group in early winter 2011 to consult with the MDE Commissioner to develop a state model for teacher growth and development. In winter 2013, MDE released the Minnesota State Teacher Development, Evaluation, and Peer Support Model and began planning for a pilot of the Model during the 2013-2014 school year.

The Model consists of three components for evaluating teacher performance: 1) teacher practice, 2) student engagement, and 3) student learning and achievement. Sixteen school districts and one charter school from across Minnesota agreed to participate in the Pilot. Six of the sites implemented the full Model (all three components) and 11 implemented one or two components. Fourteen of the 17 districts are located outside of the Twin Cities metro area. Total enrollments ranged from 202 to 7,510 students.

In August 2013, the Joyce Foundation funded the University of Minnesota’s Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) in the College of Education and Human Development to conduct an evaluation of the Pilot implementation. CAREI conducted surveys and interviews with participating teachers and summative evaluators and with MDE staff responsible for the development and implementation of the pilot. This final report summarizes results of surveys and interviews conducted from March to June, 2014, when the pilot year was concluding.

**Due to the data required for value-added assessment, the evaluation of the value-added subcomponent of student learning and achievement was completed after submission of the final evaluation report. The updated final evaluation report includes the value-added addendum.

Please note that the student engagement component is featured in the following publication:

Dretzke, B.J., Sheldon, T. D., & Lim, A. (2015). What do K-12 teachers think about including student surveys in their performance ratings? Mid-Western Educational Researcher, 27(3), 185-206.