After a several-month-long debate in the Buckeye State over teacher personnel policies, Ohio now stands at a crossroad. The biennial budget bill (HB 153) calls for the state to develop a model teacher evaluation framework by the end of this year and to adopt policies tying teacher evaluations to other key personnel decisions like dismissal, placement, tenure, and compensation. Likewise, school districts and charter schools must implement their own local evaluations, based on the state model, starting with the 2013-14 school year.
It's no surprise to anyone that a teacher's effectiveness has a tremendous impact on a child's learning and academic trajectory ? more so than any other in-school factor. The quality of the evaluation framework developed by the Ohio Department of Education - and the integrity with which districts and charters implement them and design other teacher personnel policies informed by them? has the potential to dramatically improve Ohio's teaching force and enhance student achievement.?
For this reason, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, along with the Nord Family Foundation and Ohio Grantmakers Forum, is convening two free, public events in northern Ohio around assuring highly effective teachers for all Ohio students. Mark your calendars for September 12 (Lorain County Community College, late afternoon) and 13 (downtown Cleveland, early morning). Additional details are forthcoming.
Featured speakers will include Mike Miles, superintendent of Harrison School District 2 in Colorado, a district on the cutting edge of teacher compensation reform, will share about the teacher effectiveness work his district is doing and the successes they are seeing as a result.? A representative from the National Council on Teacher Quality will talk about the teacher effectiveness movement nationally and what research tells us about teacher quality, and an Ohio voice will also be represented on the panel. Chester E. Finn, Jr., president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, will moderate both discussions.
Stay tuned for more details and RSVP information.