Cover Letter to Teaching Evaluation Form Dear Principals and/or

Cover Letter to Teaching Evaluation Form

Dear Principals and/or Assistant Principals,

Thank you for your leadership in and assistance with evaluating the teaching performance of our ExCEL teachers.

These evaluations serve two essential purposes: First, they provide invaluable feedback and benchmarking for our

teachers regarding their pedagogical development. Second, they represent a requirement for each ExCEL teacher’s

application for a California state teaching credential.

According to these state requirements, ExCEL teachers must be evaluated once (at minimum) at the end of every

academic year (i.e., by the end of May).

Given the breadth of Teacher Performance Expectations mandated by the state and assessed on these evaluations, it

is recommended (though not required) that principals or assistant principals formally evaluate their ExCEL

teachers at multiple points during the school year, focusing on 1-2 TPEs (and their underlying elements) during

each evaluation point. In this way, evaluators and their ExCEL teachers could focus on development in more

targeted pedagogical areas each time and thus make the evaluation process not only more manageable but also

potentially more beneficial for ongoing teacher development.

Please fill this form out electronically (or scan a paper copy) and email it to me (address below). Feel free to

contact me with any questions that might arise for you regarding these ExCEL teacher evaluations.

Thank you again for your partnership in this matter!

John Beltramo, Ph.D.

Director of ExCEL

Santa Clara University

jbeltramo@scu.edu

(424) 789-3375

Teaching Evaluation Form – ExCEL Teachers

Candidate: ____________________________ Grade Level/ Subject Area: ____________________________

School: ______________________________ Date of Evaluation: __________________________________

Evaluator: ____________________________ Position of Evaluator: ________________________________

Place an X in the appropriate rating for your ExCEL teacher’s performance of each competency (4=Exceptional; 3=Proficient; 2=Basic; 1=Unacceptable; NO=

Not Observed). To successfully complete requirements for the credential, a candidate must earn a score of 3 or above on every element by the end of Spring

Quarter. Please assess performance on these measures as they could be demonstrated by a beginning teacher. For example, a proficient mark on an

element indicates that the candidate performs that TPE proficiently for a beginning teacher.

TPE 1: Engaging and Supporting All Students in Learning

Notes

Element 1. Apply knowledge of students, including their prior experiences, interests and social-emotional learning

needs, as well as their funds of knowledge and cultural, language and socioeconomic backgrounds, to engage them in

learning.

Element 2. Maintain ongoing communication with students and families, including the use of technology to

communicate with and support students and families, and to communicate achievements expectations and student

progress.

Element 3. Connect subject matter to real-life contexts and provide active learning experiences to engage student

interest, support student motivation, and allow students to extend their learning.

Element 4. Use a variety of developmentally appropriate and ability-appropriate instructional strategies,

resources, and assistive technology, including principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Multi-Tiered

Systems of Support (MTSS) to support access to the curriculum for a wide range of learners within the general

education classroom and environment.

Element 5. Promote students’ critical and creative thinking and analysis through activities that provide

opportunities for inquiry, problem solving, responding to and framing meaningful questions, and reflection.

Element 6. Provide a supportive learning environment for students’ first and/or second language acquisition by

using research-based instructional approaches, including focused English Language Development, Specially Designed

Academic Instruction in English (SDAIE), scaffolding across content areas and structured English immersion, and

demonstrate an understanding of the difference among students whose only instructional need is to acquire Standard

English proficiency, and students who may have an identified disability affecting their ability to acquire Standard

English proficiency, and students who may have both a need to acquire Standard English proficiency and an identified

disability.

Element 7. Provide students with opportunities to access the curriculum by incorporating the visual and

performing arts, as appropriate to the content and the context of learning.

Element 8. Monitor student learning and adjust instruction while teaching so that students continue to be actively

engaged in learning.

TPE 2: Creating and Maintaining Effective Environments for Student Learning

Notes

Element 1. Promote students’ social-emotional growth, development, and individual responsibility using

positive interventions and supports, restorative justice, and conflict resolution practices to foster a caring community

where each student is treated fairly and respectfully by adults and peers.

Element 2. Create learning environments (i.e., traditional, blended, and online) that promote productive

student learning, encourage positive interactions among students, reflect diversity and multiple perspectives and are

culturally responsive.

Element 3. Establish, maintain, and monitor inclusive learning environments that are physically, mentally,

intellectually, and emotional healthy and safe to enable all students to learn and recognize and appropriately address

instance of intolerance and harassment among students such as bullying, racism, and sexism.

Element 4. Know how to access resources to support students, including those who have experienced trauma,

homelessness, foster care, incarceration, and /or are medically fragile.

Element 5. Maintain high expectations for learning with appropriate support for the full range of students in the

classroom.

Element 6. Establish and maintain clear expectations for positive classroom behavior and for student-to-student

and student-to-teacher interactions by communicating classroom routines, procedures, and norms to students and

families.

TPE 3: Understanding and Organizing Subject Matter for Student Learning

Notes

Element 1. Demonstrate knowledge of subject matter, including the adopted California State Standards and

curriculum frameworks.

Element 2. Use knowledge about students and learning goals to organize the curriculum to facilitate student

understanding of subject matter, and make accommodations and/or modifications as needed to promote student

access to the curriculum.

Element 3. Plan, design, implement, and monitor instruction consistent with the current subject-specific

pedagogy in the content area(s) of instruction, and design and implement disciplinary and cross disciplinary

learning sequences, including integrating the visual and performing arts as applicable to the discipline.

Element 4. Individually and through consultation and collaboration with other educators and members of the larger

school community, plan for effective subject matter instruction and use multiple means of representing,

expressing, and engaging students to demonstrate their knowledge.

Element 5. Adapt subject matter curriculum, organization, and planning to support the acquisition and use of

academic language within learning activities to promote the subject matter knowledge, including the full range of

English learners, Standard English learners, students with disabilities, and students with other learning needs in the

least restrictive environment.

Element 6. Use and adapt resources, standards-aligned instructional materials, and a range of technology,

including assistive technology, to facilitate students’ equitable access to the curriculum.

Element 7. Model and develop digital literacy by using technology to engage students and support their learning,

and promote digital citizenship, including respecting copyright law, understanding fair use guidelines and the use or

Creative Commons license, and maintaining internet security.

Element 8. Demonstrate knowledge of effective teaching strategies aligned with the internationally recognized

technology standards.

TPE 4: Planning Instruction and Designing Learning Experiences for All Students

Notes

Element 1. Locate and apply information about students’ current academic status, content- and standards-

related learning needs and goals, assessment data, language proficiency status, and cultural background for

both short-term and long-term instructional planning purposes.

Element 2. Understand and apply knowledge of the range of characteristics of typical and atypical child

development from birth through adolescence to help inform instructional planning and learning experiences for all

students.

Element 3. Design and implement instruction and assessment that reflects the interconnectedness of academic

content areas and related student skills development in literacy, mathematics, science, and other disciplines across

the curriculum, as applicable to the subject area of instruction.

Element 4. Plan, design, implement, and monitor instruction, making effective use of instructional time to

maximize learning opportunities and provide access to the curriculum for all students by removing barriers and

providing access through instructional strategies that include: appropriate use of instructional technology, including

assistive technology; applying principles of UDL and MTSS; use of developmentally, linguistically, and culturally

appropriate learning activities, instructional materials, and resources for all students, including the full range of

English learners; appropriate modifications for students with disabilities in the general education classroom,

opportunities for students to support each other in learning, and use of community resources and services as applicable

Element 5. Promote student success by providing opportunities for students to understand and advocate for

strategies that meet their individual learning needs and assist students with specific learning needs to successfully

participate in transition plans (i.e., IEP, IFSP, ITP, and 504 plans).

Element 6. Access resources for planning and instruction, including the expertise of community and school

colleagues through in-person or virtual collaboration, co-teaching, coaching, and/or networking.

Element 7. Plan instruction that promotes a range of communication strategies and activity modes between teacher

and student and among students that encourage student participation in learning.

Element 8. Use digital tools and learning technologies across learning environments as appropriate to create

new content and provide personalized and integrated technology-rich lessons to engage students in learning, promote

digital literacy, and offer students multiple means to demonstrate their learning.

TPE 5: Assessing Student Learning

Notes

Element 1. Apply knowledge of the purposes, characteristics, and appropriate uses of different types of

assessments (e.g., diagnostic, informal, formal, progress-monitoring, formative, summative, and performance) to

design and administer classroom assessments, including the use of scoring rubrics.

Element 2. Collect and analyze data from multiple measures and sources to plan and modify instruction and

document students’ learning over time.

Element 3. Involve all students in self-assessment and reflection on their learning goals and progress and

provide students with opportunities to revise or reframe their work based on assessment feedback.

Element 4. Use technology as appropriate to support assessment administration conduct data analysis, and

communicate learning outcomes to students and families.

Element 5. Use assessment information in a timely manner to assist students and families in understanding student

progress in meeting learning goals.

Element 6. Work with specialists to interpret assessment results from formative and summative assessments to

distinguish between students whose first language is English, English learners, Standard English learners, and students

with language or other disabilities.

Element 7. Interpret English learners’ assessment data to identify their level of academic proficiency in English

as well as in their primary language, as applicable, and use this information in planning instruction.

Element 8. Use assessment data, including information from students’ IEP, SSTP/IFSP, ITP, and 504 plans, to

establish learning goals and to plan, differentiate, make accommodations and/or modify instruction.

TPE 6: Developing as a Professional Educator

Notes

Element 1. Reflect on their own teaching practice and level of subject matter and pedagogical knowledge to

plan and implement instruction that can improve student learning.

Element 2. Recognize their own values and implicit and explicit biases, the ways in which these values and

implicit and explicit biases may positively and negatively affect teaching and learning, and work to mitigate

any negative impact on the teaching and learning of students. They exhibit positive dispositions of caring, support,

acceptance, and fairness toward all students and families, as well as toward their colleagues.

Element 3. Establish professional learning goals and make progress to improve their practice by routinely

engaging in communication and inquiry with colleagues.

Element 4. Demonstrate how and when to involve other adults and to communicate effectively with peers and

colleagues, families, and members of the larger school community to support teacher and student learning.

Element 5. Demonstrate professional responsibility for all aspects of student learning and classroom

management, including responsibility for the learning outcomes of all students, along with appropriate concerns and

policies regarding the privacy, health, and safety of students and families. Beginning teachers conduct themselves

with integrity and model ethical conduct for themselves and others.

Element 6. Understand and enact professional roles and responsibilities as mandated reporters and comply

with all laws concerning professional responsibilities, professional conduct, and moral fitness, including the

responsible use of social media and other digital platforms and tools.

Element 7. Critically analyze how the context, structure, and history of public education in California affects

and influences state, district, and school governance as well as state and local education finance.

Summative Comments

Commendations:

Recommendations:

Candidate Signature: ___________________________________ Evaluator Signature: ___________________________________