>> NOEL WOOLARD: Thank you for joining us for this

>> NOEL WOOLARD: Thank you for joining us for this webinar on Administrative Support in Autism Spectrum Disorder. My name is Noel Woolard. I am a Technical Assistance Associate with VCU in the Autism Center for Excellence. I am joined in this webinar today by Selina Layden, training coordinator with ACE, to share with you ten tips that administrators should consider when evaluating a teacher who instructs students with autism spectrum disorder. Before we get started, I would like to briefly share with you how this topic came about. Back in the spring of 2011, school divisions across the Commonwealth of Virginia were invited to apply to the Department of Education and VCU�s Autism Center for Excellence for three years of technical support specific to autism. Forty-one school divisions applied, but only eight applications, covering 12 different school divisions, were awarded the grant. In an effort to support school divisions who were ready for change but who did not get selected for the grant, ACE worked with stakeholders across the state of Virginia to develop goals that we termed State Goals. One of these State Goals was in the area of administrative support. Our State Goal Committee spent several months meeting face-to-face and virtually with leaders across the state of Virginia to determine what support documents, tools and resources administrators needed in order to support their teachers working with students with autism. It did not take us very long to realize that administrators wanted tools that would help them to complete their responsibilities that were part of their daily job requirements. One of the most important things that administrators are responsible for is teacher evaluation. For those of you currently working in the public school system in Virginia, you know that there is a fairly new teacher evaluation system in place. Administrators in Virginia asked us to use the same framework of standards and indicators required by the Virginia Department of Education to make those standards and indicators more autism-specific. These administrators felt that it would help them as they evaluate, support, and shape the behavior of teachers who work with students with autism in their buildings. So in an effort to meet the needs of these administrators across the state of Virginia, we created two different resources. The first resource is titled Autism Spectrum Disorder: Performance Standards and Evaluation Criteria. This document is aligned with the Virginia Department of Education�s seven performance standards for teacher evaluation. The indicators under each standard come from the Virginia Autism Council�s Professional Competencies and the National Professional Development Center on Autism, specifically their Autism Program Environment Rating Scale, or APERS. The second resource is a scoring rubric that can be used to help administrators complete the performance standards and evaluation criteria. These tools were introduced in a previous webcast. For more information on both of these two tools, please view the archived webinar titled Increasing Administrative Support to Achieve Systems Change in the Public School Setting, or visit the link on the VCU Autism Center for Excellence website to locate PDF versions of both of those documents. Okay, so first I would like to start by sharing some facts. First fact; autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, is the fastest growing developmental disability with prevalence numbers reported by the Center for Disease Control this year, 2014, of 1 in 68 children having an autism spectrum disorder. Due to this increasing prevalence, it is clear that teachers who are working in the public school setting will work with a student with autism at some point in their teaching career. Many school divisions have been proactive about supporting this group of students. They�ve identified teachers who work primarily with students with autism and they provide autism-specific training and resources to assist them in their daily work with this population. Here�s another fact for you; students with autism have unique needs in the areas of communication, social development, sensory, and behavior. These needs vary immensely, ranging from mild to severe. We also know that there may be extreme variations in academic abilities, ranging from students with high intelligence who demonstrate skills well above grade level to students who will need an alternative and/or functional curriculum to meet their needs. Yet another fact; all teachers need support from their administrators, especially those who work with students with autism. Richard Ingersoll, a University of Pennsylvania researcher, looked at trends in teacher retention and attrition. He found that teacher attrition is especially high in the first five years. His research estimates that between 40 and 50 percent of new teachers leave the teaching profession within the first five years. More alarmingly, they found that attrition rates of first-year teachers have increased by about one-third in the past two decades. So not only are there far more beginners in the teaching force, workforce, but these beginners are less likely to stay in teaching. It is our hope at the Autism Center for Excellence that any tool that we create for administrative support will also help to support those teachers working with students with autism to stay in the teaching workforce as long as those teachers remain effective. As we mentioned before, many states, including Virginia, are working to provide guidance on teacher evaluation. Given the unique needs of students with autism and what is known about evidence-based practices for students with autism, it comes as no surprise that the evaluation of a typical teacher in the general educational classroom should look different from a teacher who supports students with autism spectrum disorder. As we know, students with autism are educated in a variety of settings across the public school arena, and staff must tailor their teaching practices to meet the needs of those students placed in those classrooms. Oftentimes, in education, we know what good teaching practices should look like, but we tend not to implement those practices to fidelity. This is where we find that gap between knowledge and implementation. So what could we do to close that gap? In this webinar we will be sharing some tips that will help in this process. But first, we want to start with the teacher and the administrator. We want to make sure that they collaboratively develop informed goals; goals that are based on what is currently happening in the classroom, and goals that are based on where the teacher themselves want to make growth. Also, look at the student data. Where can the teacher improve? All of this data should be used to create goals that are smart. From there, the teacher and the administrator can collaboratively identify professional development opportunities within the division and outside of the division to support those goals. Targeted professional development should lead to teacher competence, which then directly will lead to student achievement. As students achieve, the teacher may become more motivated and may decide to revise a component of their goal or to choose a new goal based on the previous goal being mastered. This cycle will enhance implementation of evidence-based practice and promote student growth. So now let�s talk about some tips that may be helpful as administrators evaluate teachers who work with students with autism. Tip number one; know what evidence-based practices for autism look like when implemented in the classroom. Also, know what they don�t look like. Administrators that we polled while we were developing our autism-specific tools for teacher evaluation told us that they struggle in knowing what good implementation looks like, specific to evidence-based practices. The National Professional Development Center on Autism recently, in 2014, completed a thorough review of the literature to identify the practices that comprise an effective educational program for students with autism. Currently, there are 27 evidence-based practices that have been identified. These practices range from visual supports, to specific communication systems, to one of my favorites, exercise. Teachers should be able to fluently talk about the evidence-based practices that they are using in their classroom when asked by an administrator, a professional peer, or even a parent. If you are an administrator, you should have some knowledge of what differential reinforcement looks like when implemented correctly in the classroom. Do you, as an administrator, know what visual supports look like for a student with autism who has above- average cognition and who is being educated in the general education classroom? If you are not familiar with some of these evidence-based practices, or you would just like to learn more about them, you can read about them in the free online NPDC briefs and learning modules. The resources for those are found in a later slide. As an administrator who has students with autism in your building, it is essential that you are familiar with these evidence-based practices and can identify them when they are implemented in the classroom. Tip number two; meet with the teacher and conference with them before, as well as after, your observation. In the state of Virginia, the Virginia Department of Education requires that all new teachers are evaluated formerly three times a year, while veteran teachers receive a formal evaluation one time a year. It is best practice to have a preconference meeting prior to those formal observations. But often, this is a step that is skipped in the public school setting because, simply, there is no time. A preconference meeting is an excellent way to let the teacher know what to expect during the observation and to set a stage for good collaborative evaluative relationship. When meeting with the teacher beforehand, let the teacher guide the discussion as much as possible. Allow them to detail areas where they would like to improve. Ask them if there are areas that they would like to work on throughout the course of the year. As an administrator, you can help to guide this conversation by asking leading questions to keep the conversation on point. Then, after the observation, make sure to meet with the teacher again. This meeting should, ultimately, take place as soon as possible after the observation. Give helpful, constructive feedback in the post-conference. Every teacher, no matter how experienced, can improve. Don�t leave the post-conference meeting without making sure that the teacher has a clear goal that they are working on and a clear direction for change. Jessica Davis, an assistant principal at Lancaster Middle School in Lancaster, Virginia, shares this thought; one of the most effective ways to grow professionals is to enhance their ability to self-reflect. Rather than telling them what their strengths and weaknesses are, let them discover themselves through the pre- and post-conference. By allowing the teacher time to self-reflect, it may increase their motivation to make changes in their own teaching practices, which in turn will directly impact student growth. Tip number three; get in to the classroom. Visit the classroom often; not just the couple of times a year when you will be doing a formal evaluation. Make sure that you observe the teacher teaching different lessons at different times of the day. Observe that particular class as they transition to different parts in the building. Is it clear that the students are familiar with the routine of the day? Are students clear about the classroom rules? When I was a classroom teacher, I always loved it when the principal and the assistant principal would come into my classroom. They would only be there for about 10 or 15 minutes, but they would always leave a note on my desk and it would include two comments; one comment stating something that I did very well, and one comment about a lesson I was teaching or about a way that I handled a particular behavior of a student in my class. That second comment allowed me to self-reflect and modify or enhance the lesson or behavioral plan that I was implementing. The time that they spent in my classroom was very little, but it provided great support and it was a very positive experience for me. When you, as an administrator, spend time with the teacher in their class in a variety of settings, you will get a pretty good idea of what the teacher and class look like on a daily basis when you are not observing them. Tip number four; look at the physical environment. When I go and do an observation of a classroom, this is actually the first thing that I look at. I try to get into a classroom before the students and the teachers even arrive so I have an opportunity to walk around and kind of check things out. I look first at the boundaries of the room. Do the students know what part of the room that they are allowed to access and which parts they are not allowed to access? Are students standing behind the teacher�s desk? Or even worse, are they sitting in the teacher�s chair? Are student desks grouped in ways to promote small group learning and individualized learning? Are there centers in the room that are clearly labelled? Are rules and procedures posted for the students in the classroom or for those volunteers or substitutes that come into the classroom infrequently? When I taught, I had to think very carefully about the physical structure of my classroom. I had a student who eloped often, so I had to have a boundary that was set up in the classroom that reminded her not to leave the classroom, while at the same time, making sure that all of the students and staff could enter and exit the classroom without difficulty. I also had to make sure that all of the students and staff could be seen wherever they were in my classroom at any given time. I didn�t want a student to be able to hide in an area where I couldn�t visually see them. I had students in my classroom who were kindergarten age all the way up to fifth grade, and as a teacher supporting students across these different ages and grades, I had to make sure that visual schedules, classroom and individual roles, and behavior plans and supports were posted in the classroom in an area where the students and also the staff could access and use them daily. As an administrator, you should be able to look at the physical setup of the classroom, without students in the classroom, and get a pretty good idea of the teacher�s classroom, management, and organizational style. The way a teacher sets up her classroom, the physical space of her classroom, may prevent behavioral problems and promote learning for those students in the classroom. Tip number five; look at student learning. Are the students in the classroom engaged in work that is aligned with state standards? Are their work activities matched to goals in the IEP? Are they working on activities that allow them to grow, or are they working on the same activity day after day? I visited a classroom recently, during the month of May, where a student was working on a word find puzzle from Christmas. I don�t believe that this activity was part of the teacher�s lesson plan for the day. And to be truthful, I think the teacher probably just needed something to give the student so they looked busy on the day of the observation. If I, as the observer, hadn�t gone over to the student and looked at the content of the worksheet, I might have just thought the student was actively engaged in a meaningful activity. While you are observing in the classroom, look closely at what the students are doing. While you observe, make sure to write down specific, measurable, observable, and objective information based on you observations; state facts that are supported by numbers. So, for example, when you do your post-conference with you teacher, you can provide evidence of what you saw in the classroom. For example, you could say six of your ten students were engaged during your language arts lesson. Then you would describe what those four students who were not engaged were doing. As you look at student learning, also look at student independence within the classroom. Can they start and complete an activity independently or do they need the assistance of another adult? Is peer-mediated instruction implemented throughout the day, specific to communication and social skills instruction, or does the teacher have to facilitate all of these interactions? We will now transition over to Selina who will share tips six through ten. >> SELINA LAYDEN: For tip number six, you want to be clear with teachers about the scoring of the tool. After observations are done, there are some steps that you are going to need to take in order to provide clear and effective feedback. The goal of each of these tools is to help teachers become more successful, and clear, effective and informative feedback is going to be a key factor in making this happen. The scoring mechanism for the performance standards includes four levels; exemplary, proficient, developing or needs improvement, and unacceptable. As with the standards, these levels are in line with the VDOE Uniform Performance Standards. The goal for teachers is to be proficient in all areas. It is unlikely that a teacher would be exemplary in all areas, though they may have some areas in which they are exemplary. It is important to be clear with teachers about the goal so that teachers know their aim and are motivated rather than discouraged. Letting them know ahead of time will help clarify things. There are some indicators that will be difficult to observe a teacher doing. For example, using data to guide planning or building positive relationships with parents may be difficult to see during an observation period. However, there are other ways to find out how a teacher is doing in these areas. For example, the teacher may be able to submit copies of parent communication or the data that he or she uses to plan their instruction. By having teachers submit their evidence, they are also able to provide you with information that you would not be otherwise able to garner. This information will need to be submitted to you, the administrator. It is important to let teachers know that submitting evidence is a way to show or highlight their success in their classroom and in the school community. The types of evidence that you may have teachers submit can include lesson plans, interviews, student data, classroom and behavior plans, IEP�s, transition plans, and other products. Now it�s time to score the observations. You will have collected your evidence and done your observations and now you need to determine how the teacher did. This is where the Companion Rubric is helpful. The Companion Rubric gives you the behaviors and products that you will need to look for in order to determine how the teacher is doing. From there, you will be able to determine if the teacher�s performance falls into the exemplary, proficient, developing, or unacceptable range. If you are ever unsure, you can always ask the teacher to provide you additional evidence or do further observations as needed. Remember those smart goals the teacher set with you? Now is the time to dig those back up and review them. You want to emphasize areas of strength and let the teacher know what goals he or she showed improvement or success. However, you may also need to discuss areas of need. It is likely that a teacher may have an area of need but still be a good teacher. We can�t all be good at everything, but by reviewing goals and data and providing effective feedback, a teacher can discover where he or she needs to improve. The important part of discussing scoring with a teacher is that it is a time to go celebrate success and to identify areas of improvement. When identifying these areas of improvement, it is also important to support teachers in how to improve their knowledge and skills. As the administrator, it is your responsibility to provide resources that will help the teacher improve their instruction. This can mean many different things. It could include looking for professional development activities, pairing the teacher with another teacher who does that skill well, providing online resources to the teacher to review, coaching, and many other options. You will want to talk with the teacher about thinking through the areas of need and determining a plan for improving on those areas. This plan may serve as the basis for the following year�s smart goals. For our final tip; as the administrator, you will be able to see many teachers� performance evaluations. Take this opportunity to review your professional development plan for your staff. Are you seeing trends in your teachers� area of need that you can provide professional development? For example, if many of your teachers have students� learning data to guide planning as an area of need, what kinds of professional development activities can you provide and arrange so that teachers can improve on this indicator? Alternatively, if most of your teachers scored high on implementing accommodations and modifications outlined in the IEP, perhaps this is not an area that you would want to focus for your professional development. The Performance Standards and Companion Rubric tools can aid you in aligning professional development that is appropriate and productive for your teachers and will also be meaningful. There are many resources that are available to teachers and administrators. Here are some resources that are available to you and your teachers. Each of these sites provide free online resources on evidence- based practices, characteristics, or the performance evaluation system in Virginia. As we close this webcast there are a few things to remember. As an administrator, we often feel like we need to know everything, but the reality is that we can�t know everything. So how do you support your teachers in growing and becoming more successful? You need to remember these six things; one, be knowledgeable. Know something about what you are asking your teachers to do. And if you need to learn more, take advantage of the resources that are available to you. Two, be supportive. Help teachers to know that it is okay to grow and that you are there to support them to do so. Sometimes it is scary to admit what you don�t know, especially to your administrator. Letting teachers know that you want them to be successful and you�re there to support them is an important piece in helping them to grow. Three, be a resource. Sometimes teachers want to improve but they don�t know how. Being someone that they can go to in order to ask questions, brainstorm with and learn from is going to be important. Four, be a willing partner. Let teachers know that you are there with them and you are ready to learn more right alongside them and help them to learn more. It�s okay to acknowledge that you have something to learn too and you want to learn right along with them. Five, be a link to resources. Again, because you won�t know everything, and that�s okay, but you need to be able to tell teachers where they can go to obtain the knowledge and the skills that they need to improve on. The resources that you saw in the previous slide are only a sample of the free information that�s available to you and your teachers. Finally, six, be patient. Growth takes time and, yes, some failure. Encourage your teachers, reinforce their attempts, even if they don�t quite meet the mark yet. Help them remember that growth takes time too. By remembering these things, we can help support teachers to become more effective which will only help our students to be more successful. If you have questions, Noel and I are happy to work with school divisions as they continue to implement the performance standards with teachers who work with students with ASD. You can see our contact information here. Thank you for watching this webcast. And again, please let us know if you have any questions.