AOS 43 moves forward with educator evaluation and professional growth plan

    LAGRANGE — AOS 43 schools, representing both SAD 41 and SAD 31 are moving forward as scheduled to meet the requirements of L.D. 1858, the State of Maine’s Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Law, according to Superintendent of Schools Michael Wright.

    A steering committee comprised of teachers and administrators from the eight AOS 43 schools has been meeting since last year to study, discuss, and review elements of the new plan which Wright believes will be far more meaningful for all educators. “We believe that the most important dynamic in any school system is what happens at the classroom level between teacher and student, ” he said.
    “The new system will place emphasis on adoption of a common set of standards and language which are representative of our vision of what constitutes good instruction, then  supporting this concept through professional development geared toward each teacher’s individual needs.
    “We want professional development to be what takes place every day, not just on early release and in-service days. Schools should be places where all people, adult as well as students, come to learn every day.”
    The AOS 43 Steering Committee is looking at such concepts as peer coaching and peer observation to help accomplish their goals. Peer coaching will provide opportunities for teachers to work with other teachers in a close, safe and trusting relationship in an effort to hone and refine classroom teaching techniques. Peer observing, less technical than peer coaching, will be a process expected of all teachers.
    “We are very excited about the general concept of professional ‘coaching’ and we are discussing the notion of ‘social capital’, the interactions between the professionals working together in a school setting,” Wright said. “There is research suggesting that this can be a powerful factor in continual improvement.” 
    Assistant Superintendent Stacy Shorey has promoted the idea of coaching in AOS 43 schools this year through the creation of literacy coaches. “We are looking to expand upon that concept in a larger, broader arena” Wright said. “The hope is that these interactions between professionals will open up classrooms and make observation of instruction a common, everyday occurrence.
    “All educators will have a choice as to how they grow, but no one can choose not to grow. On-going professional growth is really the cornerstone of our plan. We all continue to grow and improve or else we begin to decline, we don’t just remain in the same place.”
    The law also requires that a portion of a teacher’s evaluation be tied to student achievement and Wright says the group is discussing this as well. “There is a never ending effort by legislators and bureaucrats to attain accountability in education, a place where accountability can be very elusive. They often want to take something very complex, such as teaching and learning, and reduce it to something very simple, like a test score or a number. This makes lawmakers and others feel more secure, but the problem is, it often doesn’t make sense,” according to Wright.
    “It’s a very difficult thing to connect any one student’s achievement, or any group’s achievement directly to a teacher’s performance. There are far too many factors to consider that are outside an educator’s sphere of control or influence,” Wright said. “It’s not General Motors and the brakes are bad. If anyone had a good system of determining this type of connection we would all have it by now.”
    Having said this, the superintendent makes it clear that there will be much more accountability of educators with the new system than ever before. “Far more will be expected of everyone” Wright said. “All educators will be responsible for demonstrating their own professional growth on a yearly basis and for helping others grow.”
    The AOS 43 Steering Committee will be aiming to bring a plan to a stakeholder group by February. From there, the plan will be presented to both district’s boards of directors for approval in the early spring. The plan is scheduled to be piloted next year in all AOS43 schools with more formal implementation the following year.