PowerWalks - PDAS Alignment

There is a push by many in our field who want to combine teacher coaching and evaluation instruments. At best these people are misguided or inexperienced, at worst they are idiots. I don’t write this to offend, it just the recognition that in this case, I have considerable expertise. Coaching is for skill building and skill refinement. Evaluation is to determine the response to coaching and overall effectiveness. Both are critical, inter-dependent leadership functions, but they are separate leadership functions.

Now, it is important that the coaching observation protocol that I select is correlated to my evaluation protocol, but they are not the same. Football practice, at times, closely resembles a football game and at times it does not. But every practice activity supports the execution of high-level football skills when it actually counts, the football game. In Texas, to evaluate teachers, we use the PDAS (Professional Development and Appraisal System). PDAS is not a coaching tool. In fact, when used correctly (an event more rare than anyone will ever admit) it is barely adequate as an evaluation tool. Regardless, the very subjective PDAS observation is the BIG game.

On the other hand, PowerWalks, used by LYS Schools across the country, is a concrete, objective, observable practice, coaching tool. As teachers improve at the execution of discrete and observable higher yield instructional practices over time their PDAS results invariably improve. Below is the correlation of PowerWalks observation and coaching data to PDAS.

Improving Instructor Location data has a positive effect on the following PDAS domains.

• Domain I (Student Participation)
• Domain II (Learner-Centered Instruction)
• Domain III (Evaluation and Feedback)
• Domain IV (Management)
• Domain V (Professional Communication)
• Domain VIII (Improvement of Academic Performance of All Students)

Improving Pupil Engagement data has a positive effect on the following PDAS domains.

• Domain I (Student Participation)
• Domain II (Learner-Centered Instruction)
• Domain IV (Management)
• Domain VIII (Improvement of Academic Performance of All Students)

Improving Lesson Framing & Instructional Alignment data has a positive effect on the following PDAS domains.

• Domain I (Student Participation)
• Domain II (Learner-Centered Instruction)
• Domain III (Evaluation and Feedback)
• Domain IV (Management)
• Domain V (Professional Communication)
• Domain VIII (Improvement of Academic Performance of All Students)

Improving Instructional Rigor data has a positive effect on the following PDAS domains.

• Domain I (Student Participation)
• Domain II (Learner-Centered Instruction)
• Domain III (Evaluation and Feedback)

Improving Instructional Relevance data has a positive effect on the following PDAS domains.

• Domain I (Student Participation)
• Domain II (Learner-Centered Instruction)
• Domain VIII (Improvement of Academic Performance of All Students)

Improving Monitoring Student Understanding data has a positive effect on the following PDAS domains.

• Domain I (Student Participation)
• Domain II (Learner-Centered Instruction)
• Domain III (Evaluation and Feedback)
• Domain IV (Management)
• Domain V (Professional Communication)
• Domain VIII (Improvement of Academic Performance of All Students)

Improving High Yield Student Practices data has a positive effect on the following PDAS domains.

• Domain I (Student Participation)
• Domain II (Learner-Centered Instruction)
• Domain III (Evaluation and Feedback)
• Domain VIII (Improvement of Academic Performance of All Students)

Improving High Yield Teacher Practices data has a positive effect on the following PDAS domains.

• Domain I (Student Participation)
• Domain II (Learner-Centered Instruction)
• Domain III (Evaluation and Feedback)
• Domain IV (Management)
• Domain V (Professional Communication)
• Domain VIII (Improvement of Academic Performance of All Students)

Decreasing Lower Yield Practices data has a positive effect on the following PDAS domains.

• By definition, the frequent and consistent use of a lower yield instructional strategies and practice should not be correlated with exceeding expectations on PDAS

Improving Classroom Management data has a positive effect on the following PDAS domains.

• Domain I (Student Participation)
• Domain II (Learner-Centered Instruction)
• Domain III (Evaluation and Feedback)
• Domain IV (Management)
• Domain V (Professional Communication)
• Domain VII (Compliance with Policies)
• Domain VIII (Improvement of Academic Performance of All Students)

Improving Basic Learning Environment data has a positive effect on the following PDAS domains.

• Domain I (Student Participation)
• Domain II (Learner-Centered Instruction)
• Domain IV (Management)
• Domain VII (Compliance with Policies)
• Domain VIII (Improvement of Academic Performance of All Students)

Improving Advanced Learning Environment data has a positive effect on the following PDAS domains.

• Domain I (Student Participation)
• Domain II (Learner-Centered Instruction)
• Domain IV (Management)
• Domain VII (Compliance with Policies)
• Domain VIII (Improvement of Academic Performance of All Students)

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

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