Frequency of Evaluations : Georgia

Analysis of Georgia's policies

Commendably, Georgia's newly implemented evaluation system, CLASS Keys, requires annual evaluation for all teachers. Further, the state requires two informal observations (5-15 minutes each) and one formal observation (30-50 minutes each) prior to the Annual Evaluation Conference. 

It does not appear that Georgia articulates when these observations should take place for new teachers. 

Citation

Georgia Code 20-2-210 CLASS Keys Process Guide http://www.gadoe.org/tss_teacher.aspx

Recommendations for Georgia

Ensure that new teachers are observed and receive feedback early in the school year.
It is critical that schools and districts closely monitor the performance of new teachers. Georgia should ensure that its new teachers get the support they need and that supervisors know early on which new teachers may be struggling or at risk for unacceptable levels of performance.

State response to our analysis

Georgia asserted that all CLASS Keys evaluators are given a "suggested timeline" to conduct observations for all personnel including veteran and new teachers. The state submitted this suggested timeline, which lists the timeframe for the formal observation as October-January. 

Georgia also pointed out that in addition to CLASS Keys, the Georgia Teacher Evaluation Program (GTEP) is a tool for evaluating teachers. Under GTEP, teachers with fewer than three years of teacher experience are evaluated using the Standard Evaluation Process, which requires a minimum of three unannounced classroom observations.  

"Regardless of which evaluation is used, the state and local districts expect these new teachers to be observed early in the school year and feedback is required within five days of each observation. The districts also have the flexibility to increase the amount of observations for new teachers should more assistance and development be needed."

Last word

Although the state's submitted timeline indicates that formal observations should occur in the first half of the year, this is a "suggested" timeline. NCTQ encourages Georgia to make this a requirement in order to guarantee that new teachers will be observed and receive valuable feedback early in the year.