blog posts and news stories

Pittsburgh Public Schools Uses 20 New Content Suite Videos

In June 2015, Pittsburgh Public Schools began using Observation Engine for calibration and training their teacher evaluators. They were one of our first clients to use the Content Suite to calibrate and certify classroom observers.

The Content Suite contains a collection of master scored videos along with thoughtful, objective score justifications on all observable elements of teaching called for by the evaluation framework used in the district. And it includes short video clips focused on one particular aspect of teaching. The combination of full-length and short clips makes it possible to easily and flexibly set up practice exercises, collaborative calibration sessions, and formal certification testing. Recently, we have added 20 new videos to the Content Suite collection!

The Content Suite can be used with most frameworks, either as-is or modified to ensure that the scores and justifications are consistent with the local context and observation framework interpretation. Observation Engine support staff will work closely with each client to modify content and design a customized implementation plan that meets the goals of the school system and sets up evaluators for success. For more information about the Content Suite, click here.

Empirical Education Helps North Carolina to Train and Calibrate School Leaders in the North Carolina Educator Effectiveness System

Empirical Education, working with its partner BloomBoard, is providing calibration and training services for school administrators across the state of North Carolina. The use of Observation Engine began in June with a pilot of the integrated solution, and once fully deployed, will be available to all 115 districts in the state, reaching more than 6,000 school leaders and potentially 120,000 teachers in the process.

The partnership with BloomBoard gives users an easy-to-use, integrated platform and gives North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) a comprehensive online training and calibration solution for school administrators who will be evaluating teachers as part of the North Carolina Educator Evaluation System (NCEES). The platform will combine Empirical’s state-of-the-art observer training and calibration tool, Observation Engine, with BloomBoard’s Professional Development Marketplace.

NCDPI Director of Education Effectiveness, Lynne Johnson, is excited about the potential for the initiative. “The BloomBoard-Empirical partnership is an innovative new approach that will help change the way our state personalizes the training, professional development, and calibration of our educators,” says Johnson. “We look forward to working with partners that continue to change the future of U.S. education.”

Read the press release.

Oklahoma Implements Empirical’s Observation Engine for Certification of Classroom Observers

Tulsa Public Schools, the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma Administration, and Empirical Education Inc. just announced the launch of Observation Engine to implement the Teacher and Leader Effectiveness program in the state of Oklahoma. Tulsa Public Schools has purchased Empirical Education’s Observation Engine, an online certification and calibration tool for measuring the reliability of administrators assigned to conduct classroom observations. Tulsa Public Schools developed the Tulsa Model for Observation and Evaluation, a framework for ensuring teaching effectiveness performance, as well as best practices for creating an environment for successful learning and student achievement. Nearly 500 school districts in the state are piloting the Tulsa Model evaluation system this year.

In order to support the dissemination of the Tulsa Model, the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma Administration (CCOSA) is training and administering calibration tests throughout the state to assess and certify the individuals who evaluate the state’s teachers. The Tulsa Model is embedded in Observation Engine to deliver an efficient online system for state-wide use by Oklahoma certified classroom observers. Observation Engine is allowing CCOSA to test approximately 2,000 observers over a span of two weeks.

Observation Engine was developed as part of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Measures of Effective Teaching project in which Empirical Education has participated as a research partner conducting R&D on validity and reliability of observational measures. The web-based software was built by Empirical Education, which hosts and supports it for school systems nationwide.

For more details on these events, see the press announcement and our case study.