She said the department would need to show teachers that it was sincere and serious in its desire to help them become effective. By AUDREY McAVOY ADVERTISING Associated Press HONOLULU — Hawaii’s public schools superintendent said Wednesday she hopes the
By AUDREY McAVOY
Associated Press
HONOLULU — Hawaii’s public schools superintendent said Wednesday she hopes the state makes headway on adopting new teacher evaluations by the end of March, when U.S. Department of Education officials are scheduled to visit the islands for an update on the state’s progress with Race to the Top reforms.
Kathryn Matayoshi told lawmakers at the state Capitol that Hawaii is doing well carrying out four other parts of Race to the Top reforms, but it’s lagging on developing teacher evaluations as part of efforts to develop great teachers and leaders. She noted this area of reform is also the one with the highest profile and gets the most attention.
Matayoshi said it would help if the state and the teachers union — the Hawaii State Teachers Association — reached an agreement on evaluations, or if lawmakers adopted a bill giving the state the authority to implement them.
“It would be wonderful to have an agreement with the HSTA at that time, or legislation passed at that time, or have some other concrete accomplishment settled by the end of March. It would be very good,” Matayoshi told senators and representatives at an informational briefing.
Federal officials told the state in December it hadn’t made acceptable progress on the comprehensive school reform plan that won Hawaii a four-year, $75 million grant. They also warned Hawaii it could lose the grant money if it doesn’t make progress.
The state’s failure to adopt an evaluation system was one of the biggest issues for the state. Questions about whether Hawaii could retain its Race to the Top funding were compounded when union members last week rejected a tentative contract that included evaluations.
Matayoshi said part of the problem was that, in the past, teachers were only evaluated when they were in trouble, and this is giving some the impression the state Department of Education would use the evaluations against people. She said the department needs to change this mind-set.
“You should be given feedback on your performance all the time, all with the eye to helping you improve,” she said.
She said the department would need to show teachers that it was sincere and serious in its desire to help them become effective.
