Georgia could delay impact of teacher evaluation system | www.myajc.com

Georgia teachers who receive poor scores on their job evaluations this year may be forgiven under a proposal the state Department of Education plans to make to the federal government.

The state was set to roll out a high-stakes teacher evaluation system this year that bases half of teachers’ job ratings on students’ academic growth, as measured in some grades and subjects through standardized tests. The new system influences decisions about hiring, firing, certification and — for some — pay. It’s tied to a $400 million federal grant called Race to the Top and to Georgia’s request for freedom from some requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

But State School Superintendent John Barge told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he plans to ask federal permission to delay the consequences of the new system. Teachers would still be evaluated under it, as required by state law. But the results would not be used for what the Georgia Department of Education called “high-stakes decisions.”

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