8 Jan 2010
Dallas is One of Six Districts Nationwide to Participate in Project Funded by the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
DALLAS–The Dallas Independent School District, in cooperation with the Dallas Alliance-AFT, has been selected to participate in a two-year national research project designed to develop a new, fair and reliable measure of effective teaching.
The Measures of Effective Teaching project is being underwritten by a $1.3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dallas is one of only six school districts in the country to be selected to take part in the project and will be implementing the project as a middle school initiative.
"This is a very exciting project that will ultimately help improve the quality of instruction in Dallas' classrooms," said Michael Hinojosa, Superintendent of Schools. "Thanks goes to the Gates Foundation for selecting Dallas ISD and to Alliance-AFT for the enthusiastic way that its leadership is supporting this initiative. Measuring teacher effectiveness is critical to ensuring that every student has an effective teacher in every classroom, every school year."
Texas is already a pioneering state when it comes to promoting teacher excellence. The Measures of Effective Teaching project will pave the way for new advances that will take into account a broader range of what teachers do and capture more fully the context in which they teach. The project will attempt to develop a comprehensive set of measures that will provide a richer and more complete picture of teacher effectiveness.
"We are excited to partner with Dallas ISD on this critical project," said Rena Honea, president of Alliance-AFT. "As we join several districts around the country and the national American Federation of Teachers, we look forward to working together to develop a clear measure of teacher effectiveness."
The project will be implemented during the next two school years. The district and Alliance-AFT will be working together to get approximately 500 teachers that meet specific criteria at the middle school level to volunteer for the research project. Teachers who volunteer for the project will be compensated up to $1,500 for their participation. The project's independent researchers will collect six types of data including videotaped classroom observation, teacher reflection on videotaped lessons, student feedback, supplemental student assessments, assessment of teachers' recognition and diagnosis of student misperceptions, and teacher surveys focused on working conditions.
The Communities Foundation of Texas and the Texas High School Project will serve as the intermediary and fiscal agent for the grant for the Measures of Effective Teaching project. Since its founding in 1953, Communities Foundation of Texas has grown to become one of the nation's largest community foundations, serving as a hub for collaboration between donors, nonprofits and other funding organizations to stimulate creative solutions to key challenges. The Texas High School Project is a unique public-private alliance dedicated to ensuring all Texas students graduate high school ready for college and career success.
For more information about the Measures of Effective Teaching project, visit: www.metproject.org.