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CONTACT: Matt Cardoza,
GaDOE Communications Office, (404) 651-7358, mcardoza@gadoe.org
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February 10, 2016 -- State School
Superintendent Richard Woods today released the following statements regarding
SB 364, which would decrease the number of tests students have to take, as well
as lower the weight of test results on the state’s teacher and leader
evaluation system.
SB 364
would:
•
Reduce the number of state tests from 32 to 24
•
Reduce the weight of student test scores on the teacher evaluation system from
50% to 30%, with the remaining percentage coming from professional growth plans
On the
reduction of state-mandated tests:
“I
wholeheartedly support Senator Lindsey Tippins’ bill, SB 364, because it
reflects many of the issues I’ve felt all along are burdensome to student
learning and the recruitment and retention of our best teachers. The federal
government requires 11 tests; Georgia requires almost three times that.
Realignment is needed, and SB 364 would do just that, reducing the number of
state-mandated tests students must take. By streamlining testing requirements, we
can free up schools to focus on literacy and numeracy in the early grades,
giving students a better foundation for success.”
On lowering
the weight of test scores in the teacher and leader evaluation systems and
adding a true professional growth component to the teacher and leader
evaluation systems:
“I also am in
full support of SB 364 because it reduces the percentage that student test
scores count for teachers’ and leaders’ evaluations. Not only are Georgia
students suffering from over-testing, Georgia teachers are, too. We need to
loosen the weight of test scores for teacher evaluation and fill the gap with a
professional growth component, which is just what SB 364 proposes. This would
allow the evaluation system to become more of a coaching tool instead of a
‘gotcha’ tool. We conducted a survey of more than 53,000 Georgia teachers, and
an overwhelming percentage selected ‘number of state-mandated tests’ and the
‘method for evaluating teachers’ as the main reasons why 44 percent of newly
hired teachers leave the profession within five years. SB 364 will provide a
better tool for teachers and also help recruit and retain the best teachers.”
On requiring
students to be in class more in order to count toward a teacher’s performance:
Another issue SB 364 addresses has to do with the
percentage of days students have to be present in class to be counted toward a
teacher’s performance. Currently, students have to be in class only 65% of the
time in order to count toward a teacher’s performance.
“The
current 65% is far too low, and the SB 364 legislation to raise that to 80% is
much more reasonable. Teachers should not be responsible for students who are
not in class.”
On allowing
all districts to implement tiered observations:
“We know a one-size-fits-all
approach doesn’t work for our students, and it doesn’t work for our teachers,
either. I appreciate that SB 364 allows for tiered observations for our best
teachers, which will free up administrators to spend more time with new or
weaker teachers while giving teachers who receive high evaluation scores the
benefit of fewer observations and more flexibility in the classroom.”
