Evaluating career and technical educators with the Danielson Framework

CTE instruction happens in shops, labs, kitchens and clinical placements. Safety practice, equipment management, industry credentialing, work-based learning placements and advisory committee work are all part of the job.

A rubric written for an academic classroom has nothing to say about any of it, and an evaluator using one tends to score the parts that look most like a traditional lesson.

What we provide

A rubric written for this role on the same four-domain structure your administrators already use, in both the 2013 and 2022 editions.

• Components address safety practice and equipment management directly
• Work-based learning and employer partnerships count as evidence
• Industry credential alignment is part of planning and preparation
• Observation works in a shop or lab, not only at a desk

The rubric derives from Danielson consulting work published by state education agencies. The 2022 edition is our own.

The 2022 rubric at a glance

26 components across 5 domains, written for this role rather than borrowed from the classroom teacher rubric.

Planning and Preparation

• 1a Applying Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy
• 1b Knowing and Valuing Students
• 1c Setting Instructional Outcomes
• 1d Using Resources Effectively
• 1e Planning Coherent Instruction
• 1f Designing and Analyzing Assessments

The Classroom Environment

• 2a Cultivating Respectful and Affirming Environments
• 2b Fostering a Culture for Learning
• 2c Maintaining Purposeful Environments
• 2d Supporting Positive Student Behavior
• 2e Organizing Spaces for Learning

Instruction

• 3a Communicating About Purpose and Content
• 3b Questioning and Discussion Techniques
• 3c Engaging Students in Learning
• 3d Using Assessment for Learning
• 3e Responding Flexibly to Student Needs

Professional Responsibilities

• 4a Engaging in Reflective Practice
• 4b Documenting Student Progress
• 4c Engaging Families and Communities
• 4d Contributing to School Community and Culture
• 4e Growing and Developing Professionally
• 4f Acting in Service of Students

Student Performance

• 5a Constructs Appropriate Assessments
• 5b Demonstrates Appropriate Student Achievement
• 5c Demonstrates Measurable and Significant Academic Growth
• 5d Uses Data to Modify Instruction and Assessment

Each component carries level-of-performance descriptors in all four levels, written in first, second and third person so self-assessments and evaluations read correctly from the same source. Ask us for the full rubric and we will walk you through it.

More than the rubric

Evidence can come from shops, labs and work-based placements, recorded where the work actually happens. The rubric is not a document you print and fill in. It is built into software that runs the whole cycle: observations scheduled and recorded, rubric language inserted into the evaluation for you, self assessments and professional development plans running against the same rubric, and district reporting at the end of the year.

Plenty of districts already have the right rubric sitting in a filing cabinet. The work is in running the cycle with it. See how the software works → See the other 13 roles

Evaluating CTE instructors this year?

Tell us which programs you run, and we will show you how safety practice, credentials and work-based learning are recorded rather than squeezed into an academic rubric. If we are not the right fit for your district, we will tell you that too. Talk with us about CTE evaluation →