Educators and school systems hard at work on evaluation frameworks
Seven school systems—Baltimore City and Baltimore, Charles, Kent, Prince George’s, Queen Anne’s, and St. Mary’s counties— are currently field testing pilot models of new evaluation frameworks for teachers and principals. Learn more about their progress and the recent work of the Educator Effectiveness Council.
How will the evaluation frameworks affect you?
Find out the answer to some frequently asked questions, and make sure you understand all of the complex language of Maryland’s educator evaluation framework.
Initial Recommendations of the Council
The Maryland Council for Educator Effectiveness met on June 20, 2011, to advance initial recommendations in the development of a statewide educator evaluation system.
While all Council members agree on the goal of raising achievement and improving teaching and learning, consensus was not achieved on the initial recommendations.
Read more.
The Education Reform Act, Race to the Top, and Educator Evaluations
In May of 2010, the Education Reform Act became law. In addition to providing early mentoring for teachers who may be at risk for failing to achieve tenure, the law mandated that student growth would be a “significant component” and “one of multiple measures” in a teacher’s evaluation. According to the law, no evaluation criterion could account for more than 35%. The law also mandated that evaluation systems must be mutually agreed upon at the local level. Since ERA became law, locals have been hard at work revising and fine-tuning their evaluation systems to reflect its provisions.
On August 24, Maryland, along with nine other states and the District of Columbia, was announced as a winner of round two of Race to the Top (RTTT). Maryland's application also touched on the issue of educator evaluations.
Ensuring that the reforms implemented through RTTT and ERA are equitable, fair, and beneficial to both students and educators is a top priority.
Interpreting the terms of RTTT and the ERA is the Maryland Council for Educator Effectiveness, co-chaired by MSEA Vice President Betty Weller and Interim State Superintendent Bernie Sadusky. The Council’s 21 memberswill help define some of the most crucial components of the application, including how both teachers and principals will be evaluated, what constitutes an effective or highly effective educator, and more.
MSEA believes that educator evaluation systems must be educator-informed, research-based, and collaboratively developed. Evaluation systems should be fair, transparent, timely, rigorous, valid, and designed to improve instruction by focusing on teaching and learning.