Page 2 - StoryboardApril2017

BPS Scales Back Evaluations to Make Time for Learning
I’m all for professional accountability and striving as a team to help children achieve high standards. However, my dislike of high-stakes testing and overcomplicated teacher evaluations is no secret. Brevard teachers and administrators have complained that both consume resources that could be better spent on instruction.
be more time for educators to care for Brevard’s children and less time spent on a bunch of compliance documents.
This change follows our effort to reduce district assessments. Last school year, I announced
BPS would stop 192 mandatory district-level assessments. Teachers still may use the exams, if they want, especially if they align with school progress-monitoring plans. State-mandated tests and evaluation requirements still remain. Now, the state legislature appears ready to ease some state mandates. I have joined other Florida
superintendents in advocating for changes through our BPS lobbyists and the Space Coast legislative delegation.
Among the changes
to testing and teacher evaluations in
bills that have won support in the House and Senate:
• Ending the requirement that school districts base faculty evaluations on the state-calculated value added model score (or VAM). Districts instead would have the choice to apply VAM.
• Reducing end-of-course exams to two or three subjects critical to student advancement.
That is why I announced earlier this month that Brevard Public Schools will eliminate Professional Growth Plan evaluations – commonly known as PGPs – for teachers in the next school year.
For administrators, we will end the complex “deliberate practice” portion of their evaluations. For both, we have cut in half the required minimum classroom observations. If feedback from our BPS team is correct, the result should
Discount for BPS employees
MatthewSteiner
Office Manager 321-345-9550
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BPS STORYBOARD - April, 2017 - VOL V, ISSUE 7 - PAGE 2
Catching up with Dr. B
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