Duncan outlines priorities at principals’ conference

Teacher evaluations cited as education reform priority

By James Michael Brodie 

Education Secretary Arne Duncan brought his reform message to school administrators on Friday, calling for teacher evaluations that re­flect what is taking place in the classrooms.

"The teacher evaluation system is basically broken," Duncan told attendees at a joint confer­ence of the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the National Association of Secondary School Principals. "Ninety-nine per­cent of teachers in some states are rated above average. … Right now we don’t reward excel­lence. We don’t know who the superstars are."

Duncan said some states have laws that prohibit combining student data and teacher outcomes — including California, where Duncan was a recent visitor.

"They have a great teacher system and a great student system, but they have a firewall between the systems," he said. "California has 300,000 teachers. That means their top 10 per­cent, or 30,000 teachers, are among the best in the world. And the bottom 30,000 teachers probably shouldn’t be teaching. And no one in California can tell you who the top and bottom teachers are."

"I want to be able to track students back to teachers because I think great teaching matters," he said. But Duncan said many education groups have "been far too worried to talk about excel­lence or to talk about how important excellence is; and I feel that if we can identify who those great teachers are, it could make a big differ­ence" in student achievement.

Response from administrators

The principals’ groups welcomed Duncan’s comments.

"They are on board with where we are; [Dun­can] knows our positions," NAESP President Diane Cargile told Education Daily®. "Principals want to be accountable. We want to be those lead­ers. And we appreciate them hearing us. This is an administration that is pro-education. They are looking at ways to close the achievement gap." NASSP Executive Director Gerald N. Tirozzi called Duncan "a significant breath of fresh air. When he speaks to a group of principals, he has real credibility."

But Tirozzi expressed hope that the Education Department would revisit its expenditure for prin­cipal professional development, calling a proposed $20 million allocation "pennies per principal."

"They talk about principals and the impor­tance of principals, and yet when you look at their plans, there is not a lot of money for leadership development," Tirozzi said. "Somehow, someway, the department is going to have to show a stronger commitment to how we develop, conduct and pro­vide professional development for all principals."

The educators also had questions about how and when the American Recovery and Reinvest­ment Act funds would reach them.

Gerald Mohr, executive director of the In­diana Association of School Principals, said the Republican governor of his state, Gov. Mitch Daniels, tried to block ARRA funds. Mohr said funds had been diverted away from the kinds of schools it was intended for, leaving many at the principal level wondering if they would actually see any of the money.

"We don’t want to come back in two years and say, 'We don’t know where the money went,'" said Mohr, who asked for ED’s help in tracking the funds.

Priorities to show up in ESEA?

ED General Counsel Charlie Rose, who also addressed the principals conference on Friday, said while the department has not settled on what changes it will likely make to the Elemen­tary and Secondary Education Act when it comes up for reauthorization, there are several items the principals have been advocating for that could show up, including:

• Multiple assessments.
• English-language learners’ outcomes not being counted in English assessments until the students show English proficiency.
• Students with disabilities being assessed at grade levels recommended in their individual education plans.
• High school graduation rates that include five-year graduates, with provisions to extend the window on counting graduation rates of stu­dents with disabilities until the students turn 21.