PEPG General Resources

PEPG System Requirements

An Overview of PEPG System Requirements. (PPT, 1MB) This self-navigating slide presentation answers many questions about the requirements of a performance evaluation and professional growth system, providing the following information:

  • The legal context and policy that informs system requirements
  • A general overview of the Performance Evaluation and Professional Growth (PEPG) system components and rule requirements
  • Details of the two required measures of educator effectiveness, Professional Practice and Student Learning and Growth
  • Detailed analysis of the main features and functions of the SLOs (Student Learning Objectives)
  • Various approaches to combining multiple measures to arrive at a summative rating
  • A compilation of guidance articles that have been published in the Maine DOE newsroom

Updates to PEPG System Requirements (Effective June 3, 2018)

As part of the Maine Department of Education’s efforts to ensure that new and conditionally certified teachers have access to high quality peer support, some changes were made to Chapter 180: Performance Evaluation and Professional Growth Systems. 

These changes are contained in a new Section (11) of Chapter 180: Peer Support and Mentoring, and accomplish the following:

  1. Retain a peer level of peer support and feedback for all teachers and principals.
  2. Establish a mentor/coach component for all newly hired and conditionally certified teachers.
  3. Differentiate peer support requirements to provide greater support for new and conditionally certified teachers.
  4. Provide greater, more structured support for conditionally certified special education teachers.
  5. Provide the SAU with flexibility in establishing mentor and coach qualifications as well as assigning mentors and coaches to better target educator needs.
  6. Sharpen the line between peer support components and evaluation components

The revised Chapter 180, with an effective date of June 3, 2018 can be found here.

The Maine DOE guidance encourages districts to have documentation of a peer support and mentoring component by the PEPG Steering Committee.  Districts  should  have a plan for peer support and mentoring in place as close as possible to the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year.  Either this sample document or a more detailed document created by the PEPG Steering Committee should stay on file with the district.  It does not need to be submitted to the DOE at this time.   

Student Learning and Growth

  • Student Learning and Growth — Approaches to Measuring Teacher Effectiveness. (PPTX, 2MB) This slide presentation introduces emergent thinking on a method of rating teachers on the student learning and growth component of a performance evaluation and professional growth (PEPG) system. The "Performance-Gap-Reduction" (PGR) method presents a unique approach to targeting and measuring student growth and to rating teacher impact on that growth. This resource supports districts in understanding both the PGR method and the more commonly used method. The Maine DOE welcomes input and feedback from districts who decide to use either of the methods described in this presentation.
  • Expanded Rating Scales for Student Learning and Growth (DOC, 34KB) Differentiating the impact that individual teachers have on student learning and growth requires, among other factors, a rating scale that is expanded. This resource provides two examples of expanded scales.
  • High Quality Assessments in a PEPG System. (PPTX, 1MB) This slide presentation prepares teachers to begin the process of selecting assessments by helping them to:
  • Understand  the broad context for using student learning and growth as a measure of effectiveness
  • Understand where assessments fit in the SLO process
  • Understand the meaning of student 'growth' in a PEPG system
  • Understand the basic elements of a growth measure in a PEPG system
  • Review the guidelines for appropriate content standards
  • Review the requirements and guidelines for selection of assessments
  • Maine DOE Student Learning Objective (SLO) Framework Handbook for Teachers and Administrators. (PDF, 1MB).This companion to the Maine DOE T-PEPG Model provides detailed guidance on developing Student Learning Objectives to satisfy the state’s requirements for using student academic data to improve and evaluate the impact of teachers on student learning and growth. In preparing this document, the Department sought counsel from many experts, including Maine administrators and teachers.

    Special Education

      Evaluator Training

      American Institutes of Research (AIR) Brief. (PDF, 126KB) Describes the need for reform in professional learning for administrators and articulates the qualities to look for in a training program.

      Updated SLO Training Resources

      Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) September 10, 2018 

      The T-PEPG teacher and principal training modules on the teacher PEPG page and principal PEPG page may be tailored to locally designed PEPG systems.