Whitman Elementary - Tulsa Public Schools

Human Capital Partners meet with each principal toward the end of each school year
and review the evaluation data for purposes of determining which teachers merit
exiting/retention. Because Human Capital Partners work so closely with principals, they know
which teachers have needed support for improvement, the levels of intervention necessary
(from subtle suggestions to intensive mentoring) and how successful the supports to the
teacher were. HC Partners know for which teachers the principals have adequate
documentation and rationale for purposes of making a recommendation for termination or
non-renewal.
Principals have the ultimate responsibility for making a recommendation to their
Associate Superintendent regarding exits. That said, they benefit greatly from the counsel and
support of the HC Partners. For purposes of assisting principals in determining which teachers
should be recommended for exiting, the HC Partner and the principal look at those teachers
who scored between a 1 and a 2 on their evaluation(s). Their primary focus is typically those
teachers who scored a 1 or a 2 on the domain of Classroom Management or Instructional
Effectiveness. They also evaluate the PDPs that were used and the teachers’ success in meeting
the goals of the plans for improvement. They also consider those teachers who were placed in
the 8-week intensive mentoring program or who were asked to participate in the program but
declined. HC Partners also assist principals by reminding them of key legal issues that can
influence the District’s ability to exit a teacher. Specifically, HC Partners help principals focus on
retention and release decisions involving those teachers who are in their last year of
probationary status. In doing so, they can exit those teachers who should be exited before they
gain tenure and help the District improve the effectiveness of its career teaching pool.
Hiring. As always, the teachers’ evaluation record is available to principals with whom
the teacher is interviewing. As such, the TLE data also provides an essential data element for
the District when teachers are investigating a move from one school to another. In addition,
while value-added data is not a component of the teacher evaluation system or included within
the decision-making regarding the exiting of teachers, planning is underway to use value-added
data in the summer of 2011 for purposes of identifying those teachers with strengths in specific
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