Evaluation explained

Any time you change the way job performance is measured it’s sure to cause anxiety.
But Jay Schools administrators told school board members Monday they’re doing their best to address those concerns by taking a methodical, transparent approach over the next year.
“Evaluation has to be about improvement, not ‘gotcha,’” said superintendent Tim Long.
Jay Schools is among 77 percent of Indiana school corporations to have adopted RISE, a new teacher evaluation system that meets the requirements of Indiana Public Law 90.
That law calls for teachers to be evaluated annually using objective data, multiple measures, feedback, and professional development.
Of the school corporations that have adopted RISE, 50 percent are implementing the system now, said Jeremy Gulley, who is coordinating RISE implementation at Jay County High School. Trent Paxson is RISE coordinator for middle schools and elementary schools.
Jay Schools will implement RISE in the fall of 2013 and will use the current school year to train and explain the new system.
“It’s a year-long process,” said Gulley. “We’re not just training teachers. We’re training principals and observers. The bottom line is to improve student results.”
Under the RISE system, teachers will ultimately be ranked into four categories: Highly effective, effective, improvement needed, and ineffective.
While classroom observations have long been used to evaluate teachers, RISE will increase the amount of classroom observation and incorporate measures of student learning when measuring teacher performance. “Observations, there will be more of them than ever before,” said Gulley.
Another factor in teachers’ evaluation will be the letter grade each school receives from the Indiana Department of Education for its overall student performance.
“We’ve already implemented RISE for the administrators,” said Long.
RISE training sessions are also planned for school board members so they can better understand what’s involved.
“Any time you have change, it’s tough on people,” said board president Greg Wellman.
Long’s evaluation by the board had been one of the subjects of an executive session prior to Monday’s meeting. Because that evaluation has not yet been completed, the board will meet in executive session at 5 p.m. on Oct. 22 prior to its next regularly-scheduled board meeting.
It will then conduct its regular meeting at 6 p.m., then reconvene in executive session at 7:45 p.m. to discuss collective bargaining.
Business manager Brad DeRome alerted the board Monday that changes at the state level have him concerned about ending the calendar year in the black.
New state law requires that school corporations and local governments make their payments to the Public Employees Retirement Fund electronically with their last December payroll rather than making the payment in January as they have in the past. That change, coupled with an August with unusually high medical insurance claims, prompted DeRome’s concern.
“Our goal is to still be in the black on Dec. 31,” said Long.
At DeRome’s recommendation, the board approved on a 6-0 vote a $74,277 contract with Honeywell for maintenance and service of temperature and utility controls in all of the school corporation’s buildings.
In other business, the board:
•Heard Long report that work on the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system at West Jay Middle School is on track. “I’d say we’re well ahead of schedule,” he said.
•Approved a memorandum of understanding with John Jay Center for Learning for services and rent totaling $35,340 a year.
•Granted permission for DeRome to advertise for an auction of surplus school equipment on Friday, Oct. 19, at the bus garage at East Jay Middle School.
•Approved a series of policy changes presented by assistant superintendent Wood Barwick and reviewed by school board attorney Phil Frantz to reflect changes in state and federal laws.
•Hired Tammy Huntsman as an instructional assistant at General Shanks Elementary School, Donna Richards as a part-time bus driver, Richard Jones as a bus driver, Judith Massie as a part-time bus aide, Dennis Dwiggins as a driver education teacher, and Kyle Frazee as a mechanic at the bus garage.
•Was invited to attend the C3 — College, Career, Connect — event at John Jay Center for Learning Wednesday from 4 to 8 p.m. Twenty-four colleges and vocational schools and eight financial institutions will be on hand to meet with students and parents.
•Approved leaves of absence for Bloomfield Elementary School fifth grade teacher Carrie Byrum, Westlawn Elementary School instructional assistant Susan Brown, and Westlawn fourth grade teacher Holly Farr.
•Accepted the extracurricular assignment resignations of Larry Wilson as boys’ basketball coach at Pennville Elementary School, Jenny DeHoff as cheer coach at Bloomfield, Tom Ferguson as junior varsity baseball coach at JCHS, Cindy Grile as boys’ basketball coach at General Shanks, and Michelle Alley as girls’ basketball coach at General Shanks.
•Approved extracurricular assignments for Joey Coons as boys’ basketball coach at Westlawn, Jennifer Harris as PVE Club sponsor at JCHS, Joseph Missicano as volunteer assistant softball coach at JCHS, Aaron Daniels as freshman boys’ basketball coach at JCHS, Josh Shatto as assistant baseball coach at JCHS, Brian Jobe as boys’ basketball coach at Pennville, Daniel Johnson as volunteer boys’ tennis coach at JCHS, Ryan VanSkyock as assistant boys’ basketball coach at JCHS, Jennifer DeHoff as Just Say No sponsor at Bloomfield, Cindy Hudson as cheer sponsor at General Shanks, Mitch Corwin as boys’ basketball coach at General Shanks, Joni Robbins as cheer coach at Bloomfield, Denny Rowell as Earth Watch Club sponsor at JCHS, Tiffany Mathias as assistant girls’ swim coach at JCHS, Sherri McIntire as eighth grade girls’ basketball coach at East Jay Middle School, Katie Broering as Honor Society sponsor at East Jay, Cassi Alberson as academic coordinator and sixth grade volleyball coach at East Jay, Lisa Wellman as assistant softball coach at JCHS, Amanda Rion as girls’ basketball coach at Bloomfield, Kyliann Kelso as cheer coach at Redkey Elementary School, Cathy Franks as yearbook and student council sponsor at Redkey, Bill Bice as volunteer ag department wildlife coach, and Donald Gillespie as boys’ basketball coach at Judge Haynes Elementary School.
•Approved field trips by the Marching Patriot Band to the Thanksgiving Day parade in Philadelphia and third grade students to the Shrine Circus in January.[[In-content Ad]]