Good Monday!
I realize there has been a delay in my Blog and I will offer an apology without an excuse.
There has been a lot going on in Crawford County. All schools have been working diligently to get a solid draft of their Vision, Mission and Belief. The BOE is also working on a district level VMB. These will be the driving force behind all we do over the next few years and the process, although slow, has been very productive.
There is big piece of legislation that is making its way through legislation. Senate Bill 364. You have heard me talk about it in previous Blogs, but it will change a lot of the requirements for evaluations and testing. I was part of a Race to the Top District and a complaint that was voiced from the inception was the amount of testing (SLOs) and the required 6 observations for every teacher. This Bill addresses these concerns and seems to be a step in the right direction. I have included the Georgia School Boards Association’s synopsis of the Bill that passed the House:
Provisions – annual performance evaluations for teachers of record, principals, and assistant principals:
An evaluation system adopted by the State Board of Education for education personnel shall use multiple measures and shall not include the the test scores of students who have not been in attendance for a specific course for at least 90% of the instructional days for the course.
Teachers of record, assistant principals, and principals shall be evaluated using multiple, rigorous, and transparent measures.
Teachers of record, assistant principals, and principals shall be given written notice in advance of the school year of the evaluation measures and any specific indicators that will be used to evaluate them.
Systems may implement a tiered evaluation system, including reduced observations for certain teachers of record with proficient or exemplary ratings allowing time for coaching and mentoring new teachers and teachers with needs development or ineffective ratings. Such evaluations shall consist of no less than two classroom observations and one summative evaluation annually.
Beginning with the 2016-17 school year, evaluation measures will include the following elements:
For teachers of record who teach courses subject to annual state assessments aligned with state standards:
Growth in student achievement on the annual state assessment shall count for 30%
Professional growth shall count for 20%. Professional growth shall be measured by progress toward or attainment of professional growth goals.
Teacher evaluations and observations shall count 50% (including multiple observations conducted annually by appropriately trained and credentialed evaluators, using clear consistent observation rubrics and supplemented by other measures aligned with student achievement and professional growth)
For teachers who do not teach courses subject to the annual state assessments;
Growth in student achievement shall count for 30% of the evaluation. Student growth measures shall utilize at least one growth measure.
Professional growth shall count for 20%. Professional growth shall be measured by progress toward or attainment of professional growth goals.
Teacher evaluations and observations shall count 50% (including multiple observations conducted annually by appropriately trained and credentialed evaluators, using clear consistent observation rubrics and supplemented by other measures aligned with student achievement and professional growth
For principals and assistant principals:
Growth in student achievement based on the school score on annual state assessments shall count for at least 40% of the evaluation.
School climate shall count for 10%.
20% shall be based on achievement gap closure, Beat the Odds or CCRPI data as determined by the flexibility contract.
30% shall be based on leader evaluations, observations, and standards of practice.
Teachers of record, principals, and assistant principals shall be evaluated on personal merits without imposition of any quota system or predetermined distributions of ratings.
Provisions – student assessment:
The student assessment program shall include a comprehensive summative assessment program for grades 3-12:
Each local system shall administer, with state funding, a research based formative assessment with a summative component tied to performance indicators in English and language arts/reading in grades one and two, subject to available appropriations
The State Board shall adopt a school readiness assessment for students entering first grade.
Local systems are strongly encouraged to develop and implement multiple formative assessments in reading and mathematics for grades K-5, including mastery in reading by the end of third grade and mastery in the basic mathematics skills by the end of fifth grade.
End of grade assessments in English, language arts/reading and mathematics shall be annually administered in grades 3-8.
End of grade assessments in science and social studies shall be annually administered in grades 5 and 8.
If the flexibility contract calls for multiple formative assessments during the year that result in a single summative score, such assessments may take the place of end of grade assessments.
State Board shall periodically review, revise, and upgrade content standards.
State Board adopted end of course assessments shall be administered in grades 9-12 for all core subjects.
State Board required writing assessments may be embedded within the other required summative assessments.
Alternate assessments for specified students shall be aligned with alternate academic achievement standards.
State Board shall ensure that alternate assessments are in compliance with applicable federal law but do not impose additional requirements that unduly burdens a local school system or does not benefit students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.
If allowed by federal law, the Department of Education may establish a pilot program utilizing an existing program of multiple formative assessments resulting in a single summative assessment that is valid and reliable in measuring individual student achievement or growth and student academic needs. Such assessments may be utilized in place of end of course and end of grade assessments if provided for in the school system flexibility contract.
The State Board shall adopt policies that will move the end of grade and end of course assessment windows as close to the end of the school year or semester as possible.
Local systems are strongly encouraged to administer such tests with the last week of the mid-year semester or within the last two weeks of the school year depending upon the length of the course.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon approval by the General Assembly and Governor.
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Due to the length of the synopsis I will conclude my BLOG for today.
