St. Ignatius trustees adopt new method of teacher evaluation
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ST. IGNATIUS — St. Ignatius School Board members approved implementing a new way to evaluate and assess teachers in the elementary, middle and high schools. Evaluations will now be based on a four-rubric method within the areas of planning and preparation, classroom environment, professional responsibility and instruction. Charlotte Danielson, an educational consultant based in Princeton, New Jersey popularized the method. Danielson has taught kindergarten to college and has worked as an administrator, curriculum director and staff developer.
St. Ignatius schools’ newly approved evaluation method will be used to formally and informally assess teachers’ job performance throughout the year.
“We really value teachers,” Superintendant Bob Lewandowski said. “This rubric is an indicator of good and bad teaching and records accordingly so instead of being based on opinion or the training of the administrator.”
He said the old method of walk through evaluations used an instrument that recorded the data, which was then downloaded, and sent to the teacher. The cost for this type of evaluation was $1,500 per building. With the new method, the school saves $2,000 by linking with the school’s PD 360 program, an on-demand library of professional teacher development resources.
School board chair Maxine Whitson said that the teacher’s union has requested better evaluations and this rubric will replace the standard walk through methods.
“We might be ahead of the game because I’ve heard that the state of Montana may develop this as their guideline (for evaluating teachers),” Elementary Principal Cherie Stogie said. She described the evaluation as a “snapshot” of what you see in the classroom and explained the information gathered will be emailed instantly to the teachers.
“This is nicer than the walk through,” High School Principal Jason Sargent said. “I’m going to be in every teacher’s classroom at least once a week. They will instantly see what I saw instead of waiting.”
The school board also voted to approve student handbooks for the elementary, middle and high schools, as well as the activities handbook for grade 6-12. The handbooks are the same as last year’s with a few exceptions. The extracurricular fee increased to $40 to help cover increased mileage for sports officials and drug testing. High school math and English labs are now half a credit instead of one credit. Language was also added to prohibit parents and siblings from riding school buses to or from a school activity. The issue was brought to the board’s attention during the last school year when some parents wanted to ride on buses to away games.
In other news, Superintendant Lewandowski reported he still has not received notice as to whether or not the school district will receive Title VII funding.
“How many Indian students are affected by this gap,” Indian Education Committee member Lana Page, asked. “Are we making any cuts or taking away from other programs?”
Lewandowski said the school plans to cover the unmet need with funding from grants. He has also set up a July 26 public meeting at 6 p.m. in the district board room to go over estimates for playground equipment.
“This project is a community and school undertaking. Like most small communities, the school playgrounds have been utilized by the community of Mission year around,” Lewandowski wrote on his blog. “It is time to update our playground equipment to provide children a safe and accessible opportunity to play.”
The school is also tackling their rodent and pest problem with the help of the Department of Commerce’s $10,000 emergency grant.
“This has been a real dance,” Lewandowski said.
The school district initially sought help from a Missoula pest control company that subsequently went out of business. The district has now hired a company based out of Kalispell to control the problem and take further preventative measures.
Lewandowski said he and ICEM Engineering Inc. in Bozeman have started on the Quality School Planning Grant, a new program that provides more than $11 million in funding for 30 schools with infrastructure projects.
One of the last things on the board’s agenda was service contracts, which are stipends for roles that go beyond current job descriptions.
Lewandowski said that in the past service contracts have been a concern because there are no descriptions for what exactly those extra duties entail. He explained that service contracts have been removed as certain programs have been eliminated.
“We don’t doubt the legitimacy,” Lewandowski said. “My concern was making an immediate change without knowing the parameters.”
Following discussion and review of eight service contracts, Whitson and school board member Marilyn Murchie voted to approve the contracts. Mike Esslinger voted against approving the contracts, but the motion passed.
The budget meeting has been scheduled to coincide with the next monthly school board meeting on Aug. 16.
