Racing to the Top! a message from Superintendent Dr. Curtis Jones We are truly off to a great start this school year! It appears you went home over the summer, enjoyed your vacation time and came back ready to make this the best year the Griffin-Spalding County School System has ever had, and I thank you for that.
Today, I'd like to update you on Race to the Top. As you know, one of our short term goals is implement Year 2 of RT3.
One component of that is implementing Class Keys. As one of the 26 school districts partnering with the state to implement RT3, we have agreed to apply the revised class keys this school year. In the very near future it will be announced that the newly revised class keys will be titled, "Teacher Keys".
In short, a reduced number of standards and strands will allow better focus. Because this is a pilot year this process will not be perfect. There are some questions about reliability and validity, and we're going help the state work through them. Training will occur this fall. We'll share that information with you as soon as we have it.
But we do know that 10% of the teachers within the 26 school districts will be evaluated this second semester with Teacher Keys. Ten percent of the teachers in our district will be selected by the Department of Education to be a part of a carefully controlled sampling process. Each school in our district will have someone participate. My belief is that we will know who those individuals are around the first part of November, if not sooner. We'll let you know as soon as we know more.
Stakeholder input is important in Race to the Top. As you may remember, some student surveys were distributed in our school district last spring. Those surveys have now been reviewed. The questions have been refined, the data has been analyzed, and over the next month the original survey questions will be reworded so that they are appropriate for 4th and 5th graders, too. Part of the idea behind surveying students, from grade 4 and up, is to help inform teachers about their practice. It's a small percentage of the overall teacher evaluation, but it's one way that Race to the Top believes that students can help influence their learning.
The same is happening with a teacher survey to allow teachers to comment on their principal's performance. So student surveys, teacher surveys, and parent surveys are all being worked on at this time. It's going to be a fast 3 months as we continue to put this process in place.
Non-CRCT/EOCT courses
Lastly, for our teachers in subjects which do not have a CRCT or a EOCT, work is now being done to determine how you can receive that same type of information on student performance. For example, if we give a pre- and post-test, growth can be measured. A timeline will be developed over the next month so that you can help us develop what these assessments will look like.
So, Race to the Top is moving forward - particularly this part about teacher effectiveness and leader effectiveness. We will continue to keep you informed as more developments occur.
Today is the Griffin High vs. Spalding High football game. I hope you are able to enjoy the game and hope you have a great weekend!
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Have you ever ridden in a cardboard boat? Ever tried to build one that actually floats? If not, well here is your chance! The Griffin-Spalding County United Way will be "launching" its 2012 Community Campaign on Saturday, September 17th at 9:00 am at Dundee Lake Park with a cardboard boat race. 
