State questions teacher evaluation results

Only 1 percent of Delaware teachers received an unsatisfactory rating under a new teacher evaluation system. State officials are questioning those ratings when four of five students who graduate are not ready for college or jobs.

“We have made important progress, but we clearly have more work to do,” Secretary of Education Mark Murphy said in a press release. “Going forward, we need to ensure that school leaders implement the system well, so that our overall results reflect the reality of what’s happening in our classrooms."

"When only one in five of our students is graduating high school ready for their next step," Murphey said, "we still have a long way to go.”

Too many administrators used their discretion to upgrade a teacher's evaluation regarding student growth goals, he said.

Overall, this resulted in only 1 percent of teachers receiving “needs improvement” ratings; 51 percent received “highly-effective” and 48 percent received “effective” ratings.

In Cape Henlopen School District, Cathy Petitgout, supervisor of human resources, said there were no unsatisfactory teachers.

Six teachers received an “unsatisfactory with administrative discretion” rating for the student growth part of the evaluation, but Petitgout said those were upgraded to satisfactory after they showed improvement.

“There could have been reasons why the kids didn't reach the goal such as they didn't turn in their homework,” Petitgout said.

Cape Henlopen School District has a higher rate of student achievement compared to other school districts in the state. Coupled with proactive work by school principals, this accounts for the positive teacher reviews, she said.

“Cape principals write out expectations for teachers, and teachers follow through with them,” Petitgout said.

The district is also involved with teacher evaluations. Petitgout said she is considered an “expert evaluator” by state standards. She meets quarterly with administrators to make sure evaluations are progressing, and that administrators are reviewing teachers using criteria the state expects to be checked.

“I do think Cape principals take the evaluations seriously, and they are thorough,” she said.

Throughout the week, she said, principals conduct classroom walk-throughs and give teachers immediate feedback following the visit.

While teachers are now held accountable for showing improvement in student learning, Petitgout said, home life and parental involvement are major contributors to student success.

To cloud evaluations further, Delaware students will take a new test to gauge their growth starting next fall. Smarter Balanced will replace the Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System. Petitgout said DOE has not explained how student growth will be determined under the new test system.

“They're not talking too much about the new test,” she said.