Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Teacher Evaluation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
HISD unveils Teacher Excellence System after months of teacher‑led review
Summary
District leaders presented a locally designed Teacher Excellence System (TES) that trustees will vote on in March. TES adds an HISD‑specific planning and professionalism rubric, a path to recognize high‑performing teachers and caps monthly scored observations at four while requiring evaluator certification.
Houston ISD administrators on Feb. 13 laid out a proposed Teacher Excellence System, a locally designed teacher evaluation framework built with input from teachers, principals and shared‑decision bodies. The board will receive a final draft before a vote scheduled for March.
Alyssa Murray, who led the TES design work, said the system is intended to “define what teaching excellence looks like at HISD” while keeping student growth and quality of instruction at its center. Murray said the district sought broad participation: more than 9,000 teachers and leaders completed a district survey, campus shared decision‑making committees reviewed drafts and a Trailblazer program gave principals and teacher representatives sustained advisory access to drafts.
The draft TES framework would add three features not in the current system: an HISD‑specific planning and professionalism rubric that scores teachers’ out‑of‑class work; a "distinguished teacher" review to recognize the top roughly 20 percent of teachers; and a role for campus action plans so teachers receive evaluation credit tied to reaching campus improvement goals.
Murray said the system addresses evaluator calibration and fairness. TES would cap scored “spot” observations at four per teacher each month and require TES evaluators to pass a certification demonstrating calibrated scoring. The district also plans a library of video exemplars and additional resources for teachers and evaluators.
Principals and teachers who participated in the Trailblazer pilot described the process as collaborative and said feedback from campus focus groups and SDMC votes shaped the draft. Principal Ana Gutierrez of Herrera Elementary said the trailblazer work let her campus give input and bring the conversation back to teachers. Teacher representative Valkeith Winters said the program produced tangible changes that reached campus practice.
Murray said the district will release a final draft weeks before the board vote and continue to gather teacher feedback through TES trainers on campus. The Board of Managers deferred action; trustees asked for exemplars and clarity on implementation and resources to ensure consistent evaluator calibration across 273 campuses.
