“No Board of Education meeting would be complete without some discussion of NCLB” commented the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Pat Wright at the State Board of Education’s annual retreat on April 25th. The State Board will also have to do more than discuss the response to a number of waiver requests. This week the USED made it clear that the state must do more than issue guidelines for instructional evaluations, and also must ensure that student academic progress/outcomes are a significant component of teacher and principal evaluations.
Department representatives, stakeholders, and the Board agreed when devising the evaluation documents for teachers and principals that student academic progress should be a strong component in any evaluation, and agreed on a recommendation of 40%. USED, however, responded to Dr. Wright that policy directed by guidelines was not good enough. It is now our understanding that the Board will likely amend the evaluation document to require that student academic outcomes comprise at least 40% of teacher/principal/assistant principal evaluations. Dr. Cannady, former State Superintendent and current Board member, suggested that the Board consider a proposal that division superintendents certify that student academic progress comprised at least 40% of each teacher/principal/assistant principal evaluation documentation. Dr. Wright and her team will begin new discussions with USED next week in an attempt to resolve this and other issues related to NCLB. Dr. Wright told the Board that, although the USED did not accept all of the state’s requests for a wide range of accommodations, this federal staff had proved much more amenable to negotiation and “give and take” than those in charge in the early days of NCLB.
