The Stronge Teacher Effectiveness Video Simulation Library is a set of 60 authentic classroom videos. With each video, we have included related teacher and/or student artifacts, as together, they represent the material of real teaching, therefore, increasing the utility of the videos for purposes of professional development, evaluation, and other instructional improvement activities in your school.

We have carefully edited these full-lesson videos and reduced them to be 15-25 minutes in length and typically have provided 8-11 artifacts per teacher, including previous classroom observation results. Captioning has been used to tell you what took place in the class where video segments have been abbreviated. The videos and associated artifacts depict teachers at various levels of effectiveness (highly effective, effective, partially effective, and ineffective). Some videos are intended to provide exemplary examples while others show teachers in need of improvement.

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Video Library Uses

Schools may use these videos and associated artifacts (simulations) for a variety of purposes, such as those listed below.

These simulations can be used in a multitude of ways to provide professional development for teachers. For example, administrators can pick one area of focus (e.g., differentiation, quality questioning, classroom management). During a staff meeting teachers can watch the video for examples of what the teacher is doing well regarding the focus area or ways in which the teacher might improve. Similarly, they can use the artifacts as a basis for a discussion on the importance of teacher reflection or to provide ideas of ways teachers can demonstrate quality work outside of an observation.

Like their potential use in staff meetings, videos also can be used in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to discuss certain behaviors demonstrated in the lesson. Likewise, teachers can look through the artifacts to determine whether they provide quality evidence and/or how the artifacts might be improved.

Administrators can use the videos and associated artifacts to hone their evaluation skills. By practicing collecting evidence, giving summative ratings based on the evaluation protocol (i.e., performance standards, indicators, and rubrics) in your school, and comparing evidence and ratings, administrators can become more familiar with their evaluation process and see specific examples of levels of performance that warrant different rating levels. Engaging in the process in a deliberate manner also can help raters to achieve inter-rater reliability. Administrators can then use the videos and artifacts to share with teachers the specifics of what they are looking for in the evaluation process.

Please note: Stronge and Associates Educational Consulting, LLC offers specific training on making summative decisions/inter-rater reliability, which includes considering all the evidence and associated rating for each performance standard in the Stronge Teacher Effectiveness Performance Evaluation System. For more information please contact us.

Ratings

We have used the video and associated artifacts to provide an overall average rating of each teacher to guide your decision on whether the video simulations should be used as exemplars or as teachers in need of improvement. Ratings include:

Ratings of the teachers have been thoroughly vetted with hundreds of current school district administrators and school principals.

It is important to note that these rating are based on the entire teacher simulation, including the video observation AND related artifacts. Thus, the rating may not be accurate for the video alone.

The video classroom observations are designed to be used in conjunction with evidence from other data sources to determine a summative rating focused on teacher improvement. Most importantly, observations provide a rich source of evidence on particular performance standards by which to provide formative feedback to the teacher.

Artifacts

The artifacts for each teacher are found in the packet with the teacher’s respective name on the cover sheet. Each packet contains an introduction page with a short background on the teacher as well as a listing of the artifacts the teacher has submitted for his/her summative evaluation. Each artifact can be identified by the highlighted short title in the upper left corner. Many artifacts also include a teacher reflection, which is included in a shaded box at the end of the artifact.

Each set of artifacts includes a blank observation form for use with the video (“Formative Feedback Form”), which is taken from the Stronge Teacher Effectiveness Performance Evaluation System. The Stronge System is based on the extant research of the qualities of effective teachers. The performance standards include:

• - Professional Knowledge
• - Instructional Planning
• - Instructional Delivery
• - Assessment of/for Learning
• - Learning Environment
• - Professionalism

Note: The seventh Stronge performance standard (Student Progress) is not used in these simulations. Users may use their own evaluation system and observation forms, as desired.

The lesson plan included with the artifacts corresponds to the video. Because the full-lesson video has been compressed, you will not necessarily see everything annotated in the associated lesson plan.

Most simulations also include the results of one or two additional observations beyond the video observation. These typically are recorded on a Formative Feedback Form, although you may find information from observations on additional forms, such as the Time-on-Task Form or the Informal Classroom Visit Observation Form.

Evidence

As you collect evidence, please remember that evidence may be positive, negative, or an omission (i.e., I would have expected to see…). If you are using these simulations for practicing formative feedback or summative evaluations, you can assume that the material provided represents the entire body of evidence to be considered for review of the teacher. In addition, please note that the results of the video observation should not be any more or any less important than the other observation results or other information sources in the artifact packet.