The Maryland State Department of Education rejected new teacher-evaluation proposals from nine of the state’s 24 county school systems around the beginning of February. Reasons for the rejections included non-compliance with state law and/or federal education reforms the state promised in order to obtain a federal grant.
Details came just last week, and the rejections were based primarily on the fact that teacher-evaluation proposals didn’t put enough weight on standardized test scores.
Two counties—Frederick and Montgomery—declined their share of the $250 million from the Race to the Top grant, hoping to gain some autonomy in crafting the teacher-evaluation plans, the Washington Post reported earlier this month. Systems that accepted Race to the Top money were required to count student growth, normally measured by standardized tests, as 50 percent of the evaluation, while Montgomery and Frederick are only required to comply with state law, which requires student growth measures to account for a “significant” part of the evaluations.
The Montgomery proposal called for the Maryland School Assessment, given in reading and math to students in grades 3 through 8, to be used as one of several factors in evaluating teachers, without specifying a specific percentage or weight for the standardized test scores. That plan was found unacceptable.
“I’m disappointed that the strengths of the Montgomery County Public Schools system are being compromised as a result of this decision,” the Post quoted Montgomery County Superintendent Joshua P Starr as saying. “We have clearly shown over the years that a collaborative approach to teacher evaluations and support that also uses student achievement data sets the stage for improvement of student achievement.”
The proposal from Prince George’s County, also rejected by the state, called for teacher evaluations that consisted of student surveys, student learning objectives, and the statewide assessments. Here, the state had a problem with the percent weight assigned to the MSA test scores: the district proposed counting them for 15 percent, while the state wanted 20.
Proposals for teacher evaluation from St. Mary’s, Washington, Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, and Charles counties were also rejected. The remaining districts will begin using their approved plans in July, and districts whose plans were rejected have until May 15 to submit new proposals.