Maryland Superintendent of Schools Lillian Lowery announced her desire to delay changes in teacher evaluations. While testifying on several bills addressing the implemetation of the Common Core curriculum guidelines, she voiced her support for the delay.
From coverage on MarylandReporter.com:
Maryland’s superintendent of schools told lawmakers Wednesday that she supports legislation that would delay evaluating teachers on new Common Core student assessments for two years until the 2016-2017 school year.
Maryland was supposed to have fully implemented the curriculum based on Common Core standards this school year. Part of the new curriculum requires annual teacher evaluations to be based on standardized student test scores.
But teachers, parents and legislators argue that schools haven’t had adequate time to adjust to the program, which is still underway. Legislation introduced by Sen. Nancy King, D-Montgomery, a former school board member, would give teachers a reprieve until 2016.
“We realize this is a heavy lift,” said State Superintendent of Schools Lillian Lowery. “That’s why we agree with the tennets [sic] of slowing this down. Our teachers need at least two more years to address [Common Core] standards and get their resources together, before we start talking about accountability.”
