TKES and LKES Evaluation System Approved

The Rules Committee voted on Wednesday to send the new Teacher Keys Effectiveness System (TKES) and Leader Keys Effectiveness System (LKES) evaluation systems to the full board for a vote.  The full board unanimously approved the rule which requires all school systems and charter schools to implement TKES and LKES by the 2014-2015 school year and fulfills the requirement set forth in HB 244 which passed during the 2013 Legislative Session. 

The TKES and LKES evaluation systems will give each teacher, assistant principal, and principal one of four rating levels: Exemplary, Proficient, Needs Development, and Ineffective.  School systems will base decisions regarding retention, promotion, compensation, dismissals, and all other staffing decisions on the results of these evaluations.

The GA DOE fell behind federal deadlines during the implementation of TKES and LKES.  Mike Royal, the vice-chairman of the Board, said this time was crucial to implement an effective system.  Royal continued by saying, "This is going to be a work in progress and I'm proud that we withheld it for the time we did because this is what's right for Georgia teachers and Georgia classrooms.  We told the federal government, 'No, we're not ready.' And that was the right thing to do."

To read the entire rule that was approved at the SBOE meeting, CLICK HERE. 

To read HB 244 from the 2013 Legislative Session, CLICK HERE.

To read AJC articles featuring comments by PAGE regarding implementation of new evaluations systems, click below:

• 1/1/2011: Teachers to be graded on student test scores
• 1/2/2011: Georgia Teacher Evaluations: Two Views 
• 1/3/2011: Teacher report cards 

CCRPI Indicators for 2013-2014 School Year

The Rules Committee and full State Board of Education approved the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) indicators as Georgia's state accountability report for the 2013-2014 school year.  The United States Department of Education (US ED) has granted Georgia a flexibility waiver for the federal accountability requirements under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in order to use the CCRPI as the state's accountability report.

State-funded K-12 Course List Updated

The Rules Committee and full State Board of Education also approved updates to the list of state-funded courses for the 2014-2015-. Changes include course clarifications and deletions as well as the addition of Advanced Placement (AP) courses, International Baccalaureate (IB) courses, statistical reasoning, and new and updated Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) courses. 

Sumter County Board of Education Hearing

The State Board of Education held a hearing on Thursday after the full Board meeting to determine the status of the Sumter County Board of Education.  The State BOE recommended that the Sumter County Board of Education not be suspended based on AdvancED'S (SACS) decision in February to move the school system to Accredited Warned status from probation status.