TeacherofRecord(TOR)DefinitionFramework

TheTeacherofRecorddefinitionframeworkisthestartingpointforadialoguewithinandbetweenStateEducationAgencies(SEA),LocalEducation
Agencies/schooldistricts(LEA)andschoolsaboutthepurposes,characteristics,anddataelementsrequiredforeffective,reliableTeacherStudent
DataLinks(TSDL).ThesediscussionsshouldincludeneartermusesoftheTSDL,aswellaslongertermusesthatleverageemergingteaching
practicesandtechnologies.TheframeworkprovidesthestructureforacommonunderstandingoftheTORconceptsalongwiththeflexibilityfor
customizationofaTORdefinitiontoreflectastateseducationpoliciesandpriorities.

HowtoUsethisTORDefinitionFramework
Definition ATeacherofRecordisaneducatorwhoisresponsibleforaspecifiedproportionofastudentslearningactivities
Template thatarewithinasubject/courseandarealignedtoperformancemeasures.

Step1: DiscussthepurposesforwhichtheTSDLandTORdefinitionwillbeused,addingto,ormodifyingthelist.Consider
establishingaseparatedefinitiontocovereducationprofessionalswhohavenotbeenassignedtheprimary
responsibilityforaspecifiedcourse/subjectbutwhosupportandcontributetothelearningofastudentorgroup
ofstudents.
Step2: DiscussthecharacteristicsoftheTORdefinition,addingtoormodifyingthelist.
Step3: DiscussthedescriptionsandquestionsprovidedforeachwordinquotationmarksintheaboveTORtemplatefora
definition(seediscussionquestionswhichfollowbelow).Selectthewordsorphrasesthatyouwilluseandcreate
aTORdefinitiontailoredtoitspurpose(s)fortheTeacherStudentDataLink(TSDL).
Step4: ReviewthedatamodelthatsupportstheTORframework.Considerthedataelementsrequiredtosupportthe
TORdefinitionandwhetherthesecanbegatheredinacosteffectivemanner.ReconsidertheTORdefinitionif
dataarenotavailabletosupportit.

Purposes: TheTSDLandTORdefinitioncanbeusedformultiplepurposesincludingto:
1. Supportfund/resourceallocationformulas.
2. Allowfortheidentificationoftheprimaryteacher(s)assignedresponsibilityforasubject/courseandtracktheir
contribution(s)tostudentachievement.

3. Identifyothereducators,suchasreadingspecialists,whocontributetoastudentslearningandtracktheircontributionto
thestudentsachievement.
4. Planandevaluateprofessionaldevelopmenttailoredtostudentoutcomesandspecificacademicstandards,objectives,
andpedagogy.
5. Haveappropriatestudentoutcomedatawithineducatorevaluationsystems.
6. Examineteacherprepprogramsacrosscolleges,universitiesandotherprogramprovidersusingstudentoutcomedata.

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TeacherofRecord(TOR)DefinitionFramework

7. Betterevaluateinstructionalpracticesandprogramsanddeterminetheireffectivenessinincreasingstudentachievement.
8. Supportaccountabilitymodelsincludingonesbasedonlongitudinaldatathatcanlinkcontributionstostudentoutcomes
tomultipleteachers,programsandschoolsovertime.
9. Supportpayforperformanceprograms.
10. Identifyhighlyeffectiveteacherstoberolemodelsandcoachesincollaborativesupportofothereducators.

Characteristics: TheTeacherofRecorddefinitionshould:
1. Beflexibletocoverallgradelevels,preKthrough12.
2. Accommodateteacherassignmentchangesandturnoverduringthecourseofthesemesteroryear.
3. Besupportablebycurrentsystemsanddatacollectionmethods.
4. Beclearandunderstandableforallstakeholders.
5. Beapplicabletoallteachersandcoverallcoursesandsubjectsincludingvirtual(online)courses.
6. Accommodatecoorteamteachersforagivensubject/course.

SampleDefinitions: ATeacherofRecordisaneducator(oreducatorsincoteachingassignments)whohasbeenassignedtheleadresponsibilityfora
studentslearninginasubject/coursesectionwithalignedperformancemeasures.

AContributingProfessionalisanindividualwhohasbeenassignedtheresponsibilitytoprovideadditionalservicesthatsupportand
increaseastudentslearning.

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TeacherofRecord(TOR)DefinitionFramework

TeacherofRecord(TOR)FrameworkDiscussionQuestions
PossibleTerms
Educator Manyindividualsmaycontributetoastudentsprogressduringanacademicyear.TheSEAandLEAs Teacher
needtodeterminewhethermorethanoneindividualcanbedesignatedasaTeacherofRecordfor Educator
examplewithteamteaching.TheyshoulddiscusswhetheronlystatecertifiedteacherscanbetheTOR. CertifiedTeacher
ShouldtheTORdefinitionbebroadenedtoalsoincludetheprincipal?Shouldindividualswhofacilitate ResponsibleTeacher
virtuallearningcoursesbeincludedintheTSDL?
PrimaryTeacher
Individual
SpecifiedProportion Ateacher/educatormaydeliverfrom1to100%ofthetotalscheduledcoursetime,academicstandards 150daysofclassroom
and/orlearningactivities.Aspecifiedproportion(orminimumthreshold)shouldberequiredto instructionperyear(Tenn.)
designateanindividualasaTeacherofRecordforstudentsinasubject/course.Whatshouldthat 75daysofclassroom
proportionbe?Whatvariable(s)shouldbemeasuredtime,standards,instructionalcontent,learning instructionpersemester
activitiesorother?Whatshouldtheunitofmeasurementbeminutes/hours/days/credits/numberof (Tenn.)
standardsorlearningactivities/other?Howcanthemeasurebemonitoredtoensurethattherequired xx%ofinstructionaltimefor
specifiedproportionismet?Isitnecessarytotrackbothteacherandstudentattendancetodetermineif thecourse
thethresholdismetifthemeasureisclassroominstructiontime?Howdoesthisproportionchangeif xx%ofacademicstandards
multipleteachersaretrackedastheTORforaparticularstudent? forthecourse
LearningActivities TheSEAandLEAsshouldagreeonthetypesofdataaroundlearningactivitiesthatshouldbetracked, ActualInstructionalTime
basedontheintendedpurpose(s)oftheTOR.ThisshouldbeconsistentwiththediscussiononSpecified LearningActivities
Proportion,toensurethatwhatisrequiredasthethresholdcanbetrackedandverified.Themost ActualEngagedTime
commonaspectofthelearningactivitythatiscurrentlytrackedistheamountoftime(actualforteacher DaysofInstruction
andstudentorscheduledtimemightbeused).Also,theSEAandLEAsshoulddiscusswhetherinstances
LearningStandards
oflearningmightbeabetterwaytoconnectlearningpracticestoteachersandtostudentprogress.
Thismightincludetrackingbylesson,project,event,orlearningstandard.TheSEAandLEAsshould
discusswhetherthelearningactivitiestobetrackedwithTORmightincludeatraditionalclassperiod,
virtuallearning,selfpacedcourses,labs,orevenmoregranularlearninginstancesthatcanbemanaged
andtrackedwithaninstructionalmanagementsystem.Trackingactualengagedclasstimeiscurrently
achievable(atleastattheLEAlevelonarudimentarybasis)usingtraditionalstudentinformation
systems(SIS).Amorenuancedtrackingofinstructionalstandardsorlessonswillrequirealearning
managementsystem(LMS).

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PossibleTerms
Subject/Course Thisdealswiththecontent/skill/knowledgeareabeingtaughtwhich,irrespectiveofthegradelevelof Subject/Course
thestudent,mustbeidentifiedsothatitcanbealignedtotheperformancemeasure.TheSEAandLEAs Course/Section
shoulddiscusstheabilitytomatchLEAcoursecodeswithSEAcoursecodes.Thediscussionshould
includethebenefitsofhavingonecommonsetofstatecoursecodes(alignedtostatestandards)thatis
usedbyallLEAsandschoolsforcoursescheduling.
Performance Thesearemeasuresofstudentperformancethatcanbeusedtodetermineastudent'sprogress/growth PerformanceMeasure
Measures towardsmeetingstandards,objectives,orgradelevel/courseexpectations.TheSEAandLEAsshould SummativeAssessment
discussalignmentofcoursecodestoperformancemeasures.Thereshouldalsobedialogueabouthow StateAssessment
toassessnoncoresubjectsandotheroutcomessuchasprogressonIEPobjectives.Furtherdiscussionis DistrictAssessment
neededtodeterminemeasuresforthecontributionsofnonTORstaffsuchastutorsandmedia
specialists.

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