Edivate Observe Best Practices & Template Gathering Requirements

This article is meant to guide you through the process of building a template and emphasizes "best practice" during that process.  

Taking the time to address each item listed in this article can allow you to have the information and reports you need for your summative and formative assessments. You can think of this article as a checklist to help ensure you have addressed all areas related to building a template.

Start by collecting paper copies of documents you are wanting to convert to an electronic version.   When you are ready to build a template, please complete the Edivate Template Requirements Gathering form.

Check List

• District/Building level template creator assigned
• Template name and type determined
• Tags for filters determined
• Template reporting needs determined
• Template scoring needs determined
• Template scoring rubrics and final rubric scoring determined
• Matched current document with item labels

Pre-Planning

Template Creations

• Assign a specific person to create district level templates used across buildings.

Template Name & Type

• Determine which forms you would like to recreate in Edivate Observe.
• Determine what you will name your templates and if your district/school name needs to be included.
  • Naming Suggestions Employee Group-Template type: School or District Name Examples: Teacher-Formal Evaluation: AnySchool or Guidance Counselor Evaluation

Template Instrument Needs

• Determine what data you would like to collect and how it needs to be reported.
  • Default Type of Evaluation: Formal, Informal, Other (can be modified)
  • Grade level (Example tags: Elementary, Secondary or 1st,2nd, etc.)
  • Career stage (Example tags: Tenure, Non-tenured)
  • Subject (Example tags: Math, ELA, Science) 

• Do you need filters for reporting?
• Which tags do you need to create for your filters?
  • Observer (Example tags: Principal, Coach, Teacher, Mentor)  
• What is required for reporting, tracking progress, evidence of observed behavior and end of year reports?
• Consider the professional resources that will be attached to the template.
  • If any, for whom and what type of resources?(Example: documents, images, videos)
• Consider the difference between scripting as evidence and open-ended comments.
  • You may need to add an open-ended item type to your layout to use for comments, if needed.

Scoring  

All scoring can be hidden if you do not want the invitee to see score.

• Determine whether scoring is necessary for reporting.
• Determine if it is summative, average or another configuration.
• Determine if section level score is required.
• Determine if overall score is required.

Overall Scoring / Section Score (requires rubric) 

This scoring is needed for trend reports to function.

• Average (you will need to have an average section score for each section)
  • example: Exemplary:3.5 - 4.00, Proficient: 2.65 - 3.49, Partially Proficient:1.85 - 2.64, Ineffective:1.00 - 1.84
• Summative
  • example: Exemplary: 39-44, Proficient: 38-28, Partially Proficient:18-27, Ineffective:17-11

Weighted Scoring 

Weighted scoring can be applied.  

Example:

Template Setup Layout

When creating your template, it is best to match the current document (from that you are recreating) to the corresponding item types specified.

Item Types

• Labels: Best used for instructions.
• Can also be used to suggest using counters and timers
• Reminder for scripting for evidence collection

• Rubrics: Best used to determine observed behavior and to demonstrate trends over time, listing specific criteria for scoring     

• Multiple choice: Best used to quickly mark one or more observed qualities, characteristics, etc. It can also be used for scoring if the section uses scoring. Can be used for select all, select multiple or select one.
• Open- ended:  Best used for questions, notes or comments related to a section or overall document. This item type can also be used for open-ended scoring if there is section scoring. 

Template Edits/Revisions

• Best practice is to keep the template in Edit/Draft mode until all changes are made.  
• After the template is finalized, do NOT make any changes until the end of the evaluation year. Making changes to the template once finalized will cause multiple versions. Template data will be "disconnected" and reporting will be more "difficult".

Evidence

• Scripting Tool: Best used to date, time stamp notes of what you see during an observation. Scripting notes can be aligned to observation document categories.

• Text Tool: Best used to allow for simple notations of what you see during an observation.

• Counter tool: Best used to keep track of the number of times a specific action is performed.

• Timer tool: Best used to keep track of the amount of time of a specific action or directive based on a specific prompt.
• Marking Public or Private: When attaching evidence consider if evidence should be public or private. Evidence marked private can only be seen by the observer.

Reporting

Pre-Built Reports

• Results by Item Report:  displays a summary of the observed data for all items in a template. Can be best used for identifying the strengths and needed areas of growth for educators.  Using tags will provide specific details related to the tag for filtering results.
• Proficiency Trend Report: (Requires master and/or section level rubric scoring) Best used to see how invitee is progressing over time. Using tags will provide specific details related to the tag for filtering results. 

• Observations by Template Report: Best used if you need to have a pdf version of multiple completed observations for reporting or record keeping purposes. Report can be printed or stored electronically
• Observation Status Report: Best used for tracking what observations have been completed, in Review or still in progress. 
• Detailed PD Status Report: Best used for tracking completed or in progress assigned professional development
• Data Export: Best used for custom data manipulation