BOE approves policy plan to require new educator performance reviews

Against the objections of scores of teachers, the Board of Education approved proposals Tuesday to make it board policy that the state change to a performance-based management system for teachers and principals.

The policy additions, which must go through a "consult and confer" process with unions before they become final, require the state Department of Education to adopt new evaluations for teachers and principals that take into account student academic growth, and to apply those evaluations in issues such as salaries, tenure and dismissal.

Under the policy, the department must roll out the new evaluations statewide in the 2013-14 school year, and must use the evaluations and "associated feedback" in personnel decisions by July 1, 2014.

The policy changes are part of a push to show the state can deliver on education reforms promised under its Race to the Top grant, and come as the Legislature is also looking at requiring the implementation of a performance management system for teachers and principals under state law.

BOE Chairman Don Horner said the new system is aimed at providing timely, usable feedback to improve teacher practice and, ultimately, student achievement. "The purpose of the evaluation is all about the employee. It’s not punitive," he said at the full board meeting Tuesday.

Board members unanimously supported the policy changes, despite criticism and concerns from teachers. Scores of teachers submitted a form letter as testimony, which asked the board to defer making a decision until after the 45-day consult-and-confer process with unions is completed.

Others said they are worried about how the new evaluations will work.

Special-education teacher Lori Nelson said the observations in the new evaluations, which are being piloted in 18 schools statewide this school year, aren’t designed to fit in special-education classrooms. "We do not fit the mold," Nelson testified to the board. "This discussion is not ready to be over."

Altogether, more than 150 teachers submitted testimony, all in opposition.

The policy changes come a little more than a month after teachers rejected a proposed contract that would have moved them to performance-based evaluations tied to tenure and annual raises.

The state pledged to shift teachers and principals to a performance management system as part of a host of ambitious reforms under its $75 million Race to the Top grant. To get the grant, Hawaii also promised to turn around low-performing schools and boost the achievement of all students.

The BOE’s policy changes come amid big concerns about the future of Hawaii’s Race grant, which the U.S. Department of Education has warned will be lost if more progress isn’t made.

Tammi Chun, the governor’s adviser on education, said the BOE’s policy changes are "really making the statement that student performance matters."