Contact:

Joann Taylor - Assistant Director, Strategic Compensation
Phone: 414-9592
Email: jotaylor@austinisd.org

Background

AISD REACH constantly works to provide a system of supports and rewards, and one additional way to support teacher growth is through peer observation. As we were developing the pilot teacher appraisal system, many teachers expressed the desire to receive constructive and objective feedback from their peers to help improve their practice. In order to meet this need as well as the TIF grant requirement of two observations, REACH is piloting a peer observation system in the 2011-2012 school year.

Program

• The REACH program has hired eight teachers to serve as peer observers and conduct the classroom observations. These observers will receive extensive training from New Teacher Center as well as from district personnel to ensure inter-rater reliability.
• Each teacher will have the opportunity to be observed twice throughout the year and will be rated on the new instructional practice and classroom climate rubrics. One observation will be announced and the second will be unannounced.
• Each teacher will have the opportunity to participate in pre and post conferences with the peer observers. Pre-conferences will allow the teacher to discuss their lesson plans, classroom expectations, and possible areas for the peer observer to look for during the observation. Post conferences will reflect on how the teacher felt the lesson went, what the observer saw and areas of strength and improvement. All conference conversations will be confidential. The formal observation rubric will be available to principals.
• These observations will not be included in your appraisal.
• In order to understand the schools and classrooms, peer observers will conduct walkthroughs from August 29-September 22.

Scoring

Each observation will be scored based on the instructional practice and classroom climate rubrics. Each observation has the possibility for a total score of 52. Both rubric totals will be combined for a final score.

Compensation

If teachers receive a cut score of 78 and do not receive any ones on the rubric, he/she will receive a $500 stipend.

Resources

Please visit our Peer Observation Resource Page for sample lessons and ideas that align with the rubric. You will need to log in to the cloud to access the site.

Peer Observer Rubric