Tests will now play diminished role in Georgia teacher evaluations
Student test results will play a smaller role in the evaluations of Georgia teachers and other public school educators after a vote by the Georgia Board of Education Thursday.
The board approved rule 160-5-1-.37, which implements Senate Bill 364, approved this spring. The law and the new regulation reduce the weight of test-based student growth in the evaluations of teachers and school leaders.
Test results previously comprised half of each teacher evaluation and 70 percent of each leader’s evaluation. Under SB 364, that dropped to 30 percent for teachers and 40 percent for school leaders.
The legislation and resulting rule called for other changes, such as fewer classroom observations and new measures of growth for certain teachers and additional measures for evaluating leaders, such as school climate.
About the Author
Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.
