Columbia, S.C. – State Superintendent of Education Molly M. Spearman announced proposed changes to South Carolina educator evaluations as a result of the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act.

“The recent passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act offers great opportunities for South Carolina and its students,” said Spearman. “In particular, ESSA addresses our state’s authority and flexibility to develop an educator evaluation system that best fits South Carolina.

“As State Superintendent, I am proposing that we move to a more commonsense system that does not rely on high stakes tests and gives the best feedback and support for our teachers,” concluded Spearman.

Under ESSA, states no longer have to tie educator evaluation to student growth as formerly required under No Child Left Behind (NCLB). South Carolina has already begun to implement an educator evaluation system, ADEPT for teachers and PADEPP for principals, that is partially tied to student learning objectives (SLOs). Student growth will continue to play a role in educator evaluation but it will not be tied to the results of high stakes testing.

As part of Superintendent Spearman’s proposal, the South Carolina Department of Education will be conducting focus groups to determine additional details surrounding educator evaluation and a thoughtful implementation timeline. Changes must be approved by the State Board of Education (SBE). Spearman plans to bring her proposal, highlighted below, to the SBE for approval in January.

• Request an extension of two years from the State Board of Education (SBE) to train educators and implement SLOs, effective when the ESEA Flexibility Waiver expires in August 2016.
• Ask the SBE to amend the Expanded ADEPT and PADEPP guidelines effective for School Year 2016-17 to remove the provision that ESEA-required test scores must be part of “student growth” measures.
• Authorize the implementation of focus groups with educators across the state to gain feedback related to SLOs and other components of Expanded ADEPT/PADEPP systems.
• Emphasize the use of formative assessments and local measures in the SLO process to drive instructional decisions regarding student growth.
• Embed student growth measures as part of teacher evaluation instead of a stand-alone measure.  

Until August 1, 2016, South Carolina will continue to use current evaluation systems in a manner that complies with the current ESEA Flexibility Waiver.

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