When schools join the Network for Educator Effectiveness, they receive a comprehensive system for educator evaluation. NEE membership includes access to multiple evaluation measures for teachers, principals, instructional coaches, counselors, librarians, speech-language pathologists, paraprofessionals, and additional non-classroom positions.

While NEE provides its full system to member schools, local districts have flexibility to determine the best implementation strategies to meet their needs. And with such a comprehensive set of evaluation tools and resources at their disposal, schools will need to decide which of the NEE components to implement.

This blog provides a list of the local decisions districts will consider as they move forward with NEE implementation. This is a long, comprehensive list, and NEE is available to work with schools through any of these decisions and questions that come up. If you’d like to work through these steps with guided support from NEE, contact your NEE trainer or the NEE Help Desk at nee@missouri.edu or 844-793-4357.

NEE Teacher Evaluation

  • Select measures: Which NEE measures will be incorporated in teacher evaluations: observations/walkthroughs, student surveys, teacher professional development plans, and/or Unit of Instruction plans? Will the same measures be incorporated for all teachers or will there be some differentiation, i.e. for beginning teachers, provisional teachers, etc.?

    Note: NEE recommends a phased approach, starting in the first year with the classroom observation process before incorporating additional measures in following years, if desired.
  • Select focus indicators: Which 3 to 5 NEE indicators will be used in observations/walkthroughs for most instructional staff? Focus indicators generally align with district or building school improvement initiatives. Districts may select all focus indicators to be used district-wide, or they may select 1-2 to be used district-wide while buildings select another 1-2 to be used in their buildings.

    Note: Alternate sets of focus indicators may be created for groups of teachers to address their specific roles, such as Special Education teachers, beginning teachers, none-core teachers, etc. Consider whether additional sets of focus indicators will be used and whether those indicators will be set at the district level or building level.
  • Classroom Observations: How many observations will principals be expected to complete per teacher? There may be a different number of observations expected for new teachers, probationary teachers, tenured teachers, etc. Expectations for each teacher group should be consistent across the district and clearly communicated.
  • Student Survey: Will the district use the NEE Student Survey? For all teachers or some teachers? Which indicators will be included in the survey (generally the same focus indicators as observations/walkthroughs)? When will surveys be administered? Some schools administer the survey twice per year, in November and February, while others will administer once per year, just in February.
  • Teacher Professional Development Plan: Will the district use NEE’s Teacher Professional Development Plan? For all teachers or some teachers? Will teachers complete all sections of the PD plan? What are the deadlines for the three sections of the PD plan (pre-implementation approval, mid-year check-in, final approval)? Will principals score the final PD plan to be included in the teacher summative evaluation? If so, what is the deadline for principals to score the PD plan?
  • Unit of Instruction Plan: Will the district use NEE’s Unit of Instruction plan? Consider why the district will use the UOI: Will the purpose be to check if teachers can effectively plan a sequence of lessons to deliver a portion of the curriculum, or is it to help teachers develop better skills in creating a sequence of effective lesson plans? Will the UOI be used for all teachers or some teachers? Will teachers complete all sections of the UOI? What is the deadline for completing the UOI? Will principals score the UOI to be included in the teacher summative evaluation? If so, what is the deadline for principals to score the UOI?
  • Summative Report: How often will principals complete a summative report for teachers?
  • Communication: How will the new evaluation practices and expectations be shared with principals and teachers?

    Note: NEE recommends conducting teacher orientation sessions in the spring (late March or early April, before the first year of implementation starts in August) at the building level to provide teachers with a basic overview of the NEE system. NEE staff can lead these sessions. Then, during back-to-school activities in late summer, NEE recommends another session with teachers to review focus indicator rubrics, timelines, and expectations. At that time, teachers will also be able to log into their NEE accounts, and a short tour of the NEE Data Tool can be conducted.

    For principals, NEE recommends conducting an overview session in January prior to implementation to give them a complete understanding of the process.

NEE Principal Evaluation

  • Select measures: Which NEE measures will be incorporated in principal evaluations: teacher surveys, principal professional development plans, building improvement plan organizers, building personnel development plans, and/or analysis of building management organizers? Will the same measures be incorporated for all principals or will there be some differentiation based on principals’ roles?
  • Teacher Survey: Will the district use the NEE Teacher Survey? For all principals or some principals? When will the teacher survey be administered? (Generally, NEE recommends January administration.)
  • Principal Professional Development Plan: Will the district use NEE’s Principal Professional Development Plan? For all principals or some principals? Will principals complete all sections of the PPPD? What are the deadlines for completing the three sections of the PD plan (pre-implementation approval, mid-year check-in, final approval)?
  • Building Improvement Plan Process Organizer: Will the district use NEE’s Building Improvement Plan organizer? For all principals or some principals? Will principals complete all sections of the BIP? What is the deadline for completing and scoring the BIP?
  • Building Personnel Development Organizer: Will the district use NEE’s Building Personnel Development organizer? For all principals or some principals? Will principals complete all sections of the BPD? What is the deadline for completing and scoring the BPD?
  • Analysis of Building Management Organizer: Will the district use NEE’s Analysis of Building Management Organizer? For all principals or some principals? Will principals complete all sections?
  • Summative Report: How often will supervisors complete a summative report for principals?
  • Communication: How will the new evaluation practices and expectations be shared with principals and principal supervisors?

Specialist Evaluations

  • Instructional Coach: Which 3-5 elements of the Instructional Coach evaluation organizer will be completed? (This could be standardized across the district or customized by building or individual.) What is the deadline for completion? Will any of the NEE teacher evaluation measures also be incorporated in the Instructional Coach evaluation (observations, student surveys, PD plans, etc.)?
  • Librarian: Which 3-5 elements of the Librarian evaluation organizer will be completed? (This could be standardized across the district or customized by building or individual.) What is the deadline for completion? Will any of the NEE teacher evaluation measures also be incorporated in the Librarian evaluation (observations, student surveys, PD plans, etc.)?
  • Counselor: Which 3-5 elements of the Counselor evaluation organizer will be completed? (This could be standardized across the district or customized by building or individual.)What is the deadline for completion? Will any of the NEE teacher evaluation measures also be incorporated in the Counselor evaluation (observations, student surveys, PD plans, etc.)?
  • Speech-Language Pathologist: Which 3-5 elements of the SLP evaluation organizer will be completed? (This could be standardized across the district or customized by building or individual.)What is the deadline for completion? Will any of the NEE teacher evaluation measures also be incorporated in the SLP evaluation (observations, student surveys, PD plans, etc.)?
  • Paraprofessional: How often will paraprofessionals be observed/scored using the Paraprofessional Score Sheet and accompanying scoring rubric?
  • Summative Report: How often will supervisors complete a summative report for the above positions?
  • Communication: How will the new evaluation practices and expectations be shared with school specialists and their supervisors?

Professional Responsibility

  • Will the district evaluate additional school positions (classified staff, stipend positions, district administrators) using the NEE Professional Responsibility tool? If so, determine which positions will be evaluated and which elements of the evaluation organizer will be utilized for each position.
  • Frequency: How often will staff be evaluated using the Professional Responsibility tool?
  • Communication: How will the new evaluation practices and expectations be shared with staff and their supervisors?

POWERHub (Peer Observations)

  • Will the district subscribe to the NEE POWERHub peer observation tool for completing peer observations? Which teachers will have a subscription?
  • Will teachers be expected to share peer observations with others (instructional coaches, principals, mentors, etc.)?

As schools get started with NEE, these decisions will guide their initial implementation strategy. Implementation may start small and evolve from there. That is a great approach! Schools may decide later to implement different components or add tools to their existing practices. Remember NEE support is available during every stage of your implementation. We encourage you to contact us at nee@missouri.edu or 844-793-4357. We look forward to working with you!

The Network for Educator Effectiveness (NEE) is a simple yet powerful comprehensive system for educator evaluation that helps educators grow, students learn, and schools improve. Developed by preK-12 practitioners and experts at the University of Missouri, NEE brings together classroom observation, student feedback, teacher curriculum planning, and professional development as measures of effectiveness in a secure online portal designed to promote educator growth and development.