Student and Educator Support Specialist Guidance Documents

The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) has acknowledged the critical contributions of support specialists as collaborators and providers of essential curricula and services, leading to positive learner growth and development. By implementing a fair, accurate, and meaningful statewide evaluation and support system, the CSDE, in partnership with a variety of partners/practitioners, has fostered a culture where support specialists have a clear understanding of what defines excellence in their work. This focus on educator effectiveness, as applied to all educators, is intended to be both a guide to exemplary performance and recognition of the influence support professionals have on teaching and learning. Promoting educator effectiveness serves to engender pride and provide prioritized, specific, and actionable feedback, along with continuous support.

Student and Educator Support Specialists are those individuals who by the nature of their job description do not have traditional classrooms, but serve a “caseload” of students, staff and/or families. They are often indirectly responsible for content instruction and state standardized assessments may not directly measure their impact on learners. Therefore, white papers, to include sample Student Learning Objectives (SLOs), have been created for the following educators:

White papers and sample Student Learning Goals/Objectives for SESS
Comprehensive School Counselors
ELL / World Language
Library Media Specialists
Math and ELA Coach
School Psychologist
School Social Worker
Special Education Teacher
Speech Language Pathologist
Transition Coordinator
School Nurses
Navigating_CT_Evaluation_and_Support_SESS

Navigating Connecticut's Evaluation and Support Systems for Student and Educator Support Specialists (SESS) →

Please note: Although not certified by the CSDE, the CSDE recognizes the significant contribution of School Nurses to student outcomes. As such, there are additional guidance documents meant to inform the evaluation of these professionals. However, they are not required to take part in the new evaluation and support system.