Journal Article

A seat at the table: K-12 and higher ed collaboration to align evaluation instruments for school librarians and teachers

Helfrich, Jennifer, Deissler, Christa Harrelson, Grigsby, Susan K.S

2015

Overview

This article describes how school librarians in Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) in Georgia addressed a concern regarding the performance evaluation tool that stemmed from the passing of House Bill (HB) 244, which was passed in response to the state's Race to the Top (RT3) application requirements. The bill became law on July 1, 2014, and the resulting evaluation instrument was called the Teacher Keys Effectiveness System (TKES). Twenty-six school systems in Georgia were part of the original RT3 application; these systems educate about 40 percent of the state's public school students. In preparation for the passage of HB 244, those twenty-six systems used the first five months of 2012 to implement the TKES and Leader Keys Evaluation System (LKES) as a pilot program. GCPS, the largest system in Georgia with 134 schools and more than 170,000 students, participated in the program. With the teacher evaluation system about to begin a pilot in Gwinnett, school librarians across the county were concerned and unclear about how their performance would be measured in the upcoming years. In response to this concern, the Media Services and Technology Training team at GCPS began work on an evaluation instrument for school librarians. Program coordinators at the university level, library coordinators at the system level, active members of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL)-affiliated state-level organization, and building-level practicing school librarians worked together to develop a process that has assured district leaders that the preparation programs around the state are aligned in philosophy and mission, and are producing young professionals for the field who will help lead their schools in the development of 21st-century learning environments. Throughout the process, all of the consortium members consulted with colleagues in other areas of education, and the tool became an advocacy piece that started conversations that might never have happened otherwise.

• Publisher: American Library Association,American Association of School Librarians
• Subject: Alignment (Education) / Benchmarking / Case studies / College School Cooperation / Consortia / Educational aspects / Educational Legislation / Elementary Secondary Education / Evaluation / Evaluation Methods / Federal Aid / Federal Legislation / Federal Programs / Georgia / Instructional materials centers / Job Performance / Librarian Teacher Cooperation / Librarians / Management / Race to the Top / School librarians / School Libraries / State Legislation / State Standards / Teacher Effectiveness / Teacher Evaluation