The Division of Teacher and Leader Effectiveness impacts student achievement by providing programs and resources to enhance teacher and leader effectiveness that include the following: Title II, Part A grant awards; teacher and leader effectiveness systems; and professional learning.
The goal of the division is to promote and support teacher and leader effectiveness to improve student learning in every classroom in the state.
- Manages effective use of Title II, Part A funds at the state and local level that are specifically targeted for use to meet the highly qualified teacher requirements of No Child Left Behind.
- Promotes effective use of professional development funds and activities to support school improvement.
- Maintains current data regarding teacher shortage areas.
- Supports the Teacher Keys Effectiveness System and Leader Keys Effectiveness System – Georgia’s teacher and leader evaluation and professional development processes.
Teacher Keys Effectiveness System
As part of the Race to the Top Initiative (RT3), Georgia, in collaboration with RT3 Districts, educational partners, and the Evaluation Task Force Committee, developed a new effectiveness system for teacher evaluation and professional growth. In Spring 2012, Race to the Top Districts participated in a pilot of the Teacher Keys Effectiveness System. These 26 districts provided critical feedback and data that was used to revise and improve a new system designed for building teacher effectiveness throughout Georgia. The new Teacher Keys Effectiveness System (TKES) consists of multiple components, including the Teacher Assessment on Performance Standards (TAPS), Surveys of Instructional Practice, and measures of Student Growth and Academic Achievement. The overarching goal of TKES is to support continuous growth and development of each teacher.
For additional information and resources related to TKES, please visit the TKES webpage.
Leader Keys Effectiveness System
During the 2012-2013 pilot/full implementation school year, Georgia will implement the Leader Keys Effectiveness System (LKES). The LKES is a common evaluation system that will allow the state to ensure consistency and comparability across districts, based on a common definition of leader effectiveness. Though research indicates the most important factor in a student’s education is first and foremost, the teacher, today’s school leader is expected to lead the school with this ultimate goal of increasing student learning while helping staff to grow professionally. The goal of Georgia’s Leader Keys Effectiveness System is to provide leaders with meaningful feedback and to support the continuous growth and development of each leader by monitoring, analyzing, and applying pertinent data from multiple sources toward attainment of established performance goals. LKES offers clear and precise indicators and resources to leaders throughout the process.
For additional information and resources related to LKES, please visit the LKES webpage.
Student Growth Percentiles - Georgia's Student Growth Model (GSGM)
The Student Growth and Academic Achievement component of the Teacher Keys and Leader Keys Effective Systems consists of Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs) and Student Learning Objectives (SLOs). For courses that have state assessments (CRCT 4th-8th and EOCT), an SGP will be used to calculate the student growth component of the Teacher Effectiveness Measure (TEM) or Leader Effectiveness Measure (LEM). An SGP describes a student's growth relative to his/her academic peers - other students with similar prior achievement (i.e., similar history of scores). A growth percentile is generated for each student which describes his or her "rank" on current achievement relative to other students with similar score histories. A growth percentile can range from 1 to 99. Lower percentiles indicate lower academic growth and higher percentiles indicate higher academic growth. Annual calculations of student growth are based on state assessment data (grades 4-8 CRCT and EOCT).
SGPs do not require a verticle or developmental scale (a continuous scale spanning multiple grades in the same content area) in order to describe student growth. This growth model does not calculate how many scale score points a student improved from year to year. Rather, this growth model describes growth in terms of how a student performed this year relative to other students who have a similar academic history.
For more information, please visit the GaDOE's Assessment and Accountability webpage for Georgia's Student Growth Model.
You may find additional resources and information about how the SGPs will be used in the Teacher Keys and Leader Keys Effectiveness Systems by visiting the TLE Student Growth Percentile webpage.
Student Learning Objectives
A vital component of the Teacher Keys and Leader Keys Effectiveness System is Student Growth and Academic Achievement. For teacher of tested subjects, this component consists of a student growth percentile measure. Tested subjects include reading, English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies for grades 4-8 and all high school courses for which there is an End-of Course Test (EOCT).
Non-tested subjects include all courses not listed as tested subjects. Approximately 70-75% of all teachers teach non-tested subjects for at least some portion of the instructional day. For teachers of non-tested subjects, this component consists of the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE)-approved Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) utilizing district-identified achievement growth measures.
The primary purpose of SLOs is to improve student achievement at the classroom level. An equally important purpose of SLOs is to provide evidence of each teacher's instructional impact on student growth. This allows teachers to plan for student success by ensuring that every minute of instruction is moving students, teachers, and schools toward the common vision of exemplary instruction and high levels of student academic growth.
For additional information and resources related to SLOs, please visit the SLO webpage.
GaDOE TLE Electronic Platform
The TLE Electronic Platform is available for principals and teachers to use as part of the Teacher and Leader Keys Effectiveness System. This system grants Georgia principals virtual access to the common evaluation systems (TKES/LKES), further supporting the ability of schools, districts and the state to ensure consistency and comparability in teacher and leader effectiveness and evaluation. Know that this tool has been and will continue to be developed to support you and your staff in working towards building capacity to impact student achievement in your school, your district, and the state of Georgia. As you lead this evaluation process, GaDOE staff encourages you to take advantage of the many resources included on this site and hopes you will encourage your staff to do the same.
For additional information and resources related to the GaDOE TLE Electronic Platform, please visit the TLE Electronic Platform webpage.
Professional Learning Resources for Teacher and Leader Effectiveness
The Teacher and Leader Effectiveness (TLE) Division aims to provide professional learning to support teachers and leaders in the successful implementation of the Teacher Keys and Leader Keys Effectiveness Systems (TKES & LKES). All professional learning opportunities are designed to develop knowledge, skills, and behaviors to improve teacher and principal practice and effectiveness leading to increased student achievement. The professional development provided is aligned with the components of TKES and LKES, and fosters ongoing improvements in teaching and student learning.
For additional information and resources related to professional learning, please visit the Professional Learning Resources webpage.
Title II, Part A, Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund
Federal Program Title II, Part A (CFDA: 84.367) is a formula grant for the purpose of increasing academic achievement by improving teacher and principal quality. Awards are made to state education agencies (SEAs) that in turn make formula subgrants to local education agencies (LEAs). State agencies for higher education (SAHEs) also receive a (separate) formula grant. SAHEs in turn award competitive grants to partnerships that must include at least one institution of higher education (IHE) and its division that prepares teachers and principals, and a school of arts and sciences IHE, and a high-need LEA.
Title II, Part A provides these agencies the flexibility to use these funds creatively to address challenges to teacher quality, whether they concern teacher preparation and qualifications of new teachers, recruitment and hiring, induction, professional development, teacher retention, or the need for more capable principals to serve as effective school leaders.
In Georgia, the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) works in partnership with the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) to administer the Title II, Part A Program.
For more information please visit the United States Department of Education website (Ed.gov) to read the legislation, non-regulatory program guidance, and other information or resources. For more information on Georgia's implementation of Title II, Part A, please visit the GaPSC website (www.gapsc.org, Educator Preparation).
Leader and Teacher Preparation Program Effectiveness Measures
DRAFT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT (through November 2012)
Thank you for reviewing the final draft of the Leader and Teacher Preparation Program Effectiveness Measures. This document will be posted on both the GaPSC and the GaDOE websites and will remain available for public comment for 90 days. These recommendations will be reviewed this fall by the RT3 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and the US Education Department. Feedback from these reviews will inform future work on the part of the task force. At this time, the State plans to pilot the LPPEM and TPPEM in 2013-14.
Leader and Teacher Preparation Program Effectiveness Measures Draft
To comment on the Leader and Teacher Preparation Program Effectiveness Measures Draft please click on this link to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.
Public Comment Opportunity