New Haven, Conn–With yesterday’s release by the Neag School of Education of its report on the pilot implementation of SEED—CCER’s executive director, Jeffrey Villar, reflected on his experience leading one of the districts that piloted the program. “I was pleased that Neag’s study shows the Connecticut System for Educator Evaluation and Development (SEED) to be making positive changes in practice amongst teachers and administrators,” said Villar. “I was the superintendent of one of the pilot districts that implemented SEED, and I saw the very same positive changes taking place in my district.”
The Neag report–titled “An Evaluation of the Pilot Implementation of Connecticut’s System for Educator Evaluation and Development”–is based upon data collected within the eight districts and two consortia that piloted the SEED program between September 2012 and October 2013. Hundreds of interviews and surveys were conducted amongst district and school leadership, teachers, union leaders, and representatives of Regional Educational Service Centers.
The findings show that the program has already had a measurable impact on the professional practice of educators, who are generally supportive of the model and believe it can have a positive impact over time. Indeed the majority of educators within the pilot districts reported increased time spent on evaluation activities, with valuable and reliable results. However, the study finds that teachers and leaders would still benefit from higher levels of support as this new evaluation model is rolled out.
“When we were piloting the program in my district,” Villar reported, “it was very clear that we need to be providing administrators with more time and training on how to provide actionable feedback to their teachers. Like any complex system, it has to be implemented properly if it is going to be a success. I am excited that the pilot was a success, and CCER looks forward to supporting districts as they continue to implement this program”.
Dr. Villar has spent almost two decades within Connecticut’s public education system, and he now heads up CCER, working to reform the educational system so that every child receives an exceptional education, without exception.
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