Evaluating Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) in the Denver Public Schools

As the primary sponsor for implementing the Student Learning Objectives (SLO) process in the Denver Public Schools (DPS), the department of Accountability, Research and Evaluation (ARE) commissioned the Center for Assessment, Design,Research and Evaluation (CADRE) to conduct an evaluation of the SLO process. The evaluation work focused on examining the implementation experiences of this process at four case study schools, and on analyzing outcomes from growth results used to evaluate student learning and to inform educator evaluations. This evaluation work was motivated by ARE’s interest to ensure that efforts to improve upon the SLO process in 2016-2017 address key issues and barriers identified from the 2015-2016 evaluation findings. The four briefs developed by CADRE address different aspects of the evaluation work conducted for DPS. Topics addressed by the briefs are as follows:

• Brief 1 - The SLO Delivery Model at the District and School Levels 
• Brief 2 - Findings from Case Studies of the SLO Implementation Experiences at Four Schools
• Brief 3 - District-wide Perceptions about the SLO Process in 2015-2016
• Brief 4 - Examining student growth and teacher ratings on the SLOs

In the first brief, we highlight implications associated with using different SLO delivery models in 2014-2015 and 2015-2016. We also explore implications associated with the different delivery models used at schools. In the second brief, we highlight findings from the SLO implementation experiences at four case study sites. We discuss the criteria used to select our case study sites and identify common barriers found across sites that impeded the SLO implementation work. The third brief highlights results from teacher and administrator responses to SLO items included in the mid-year Leading Effective Academic Practices (LEAP) Survey and in the end-of-year Data Culture Survey. Both surveys were administered district-wide to teachers and administrators. Finally, the last brief highlights key findings from analysis conducted to evaluate the validity of student growth results and corresponding teacher ratings based on the aggregation of student growth results.