RECONSIDER TESTING & EVALUATION POLICIES — Professional educators support thoughtful student assessment and fair and comprehensive performance evaluations. State leaders should review Georgia’s high stakes testing program and its impact on teacher performance evaluation. Policymakers should adjust the implementation of Georgia’s statewide teacher and leader evaluation system to ensure the success of the program. The program does not measure the progress of Georgia students against a national standard and makes a poor criterion for a Pay for Performance system. Additionally, Georgia’s controversial student testing program takes too much time away from student learning and does not provide teachers with timely information allowing them to adjust how and what they teach. High stakes student tests are a source of excessive stress and should account for no more than 20 percent of educator performance evaluations. REVIEW THE IMPACT OF ONGOING SCHOOL BUDGET CUTS ON ERC RECOMMENDATIONS – The Governor’s Education Reform Commission has recommended an ambitious slate of proposals. Successful implementation of the recommendations is in jeopardy if recession-era austerity cuts remain in place. Georgia’s public schools serve more than one million low income students. Funding should be targeted to student demographics and should be at levels sufficient to allow impoverished students to succeed academically. Enrollment in Georgia’s teacher preparation programs is down 16 percent. How will Georgia recruit and retain effective educators to meet student needs and implement new teacher compensation programs when a quarter billion dollars of austerity cuts remain in place? REVERSE CLASS SIZE INCREASES & RESTORE A FULL SCHOOL YEAR— State leaders should provide resources to reverse the trend of rising class sizes and reduction of a full school year. Smaller class sizes are particularly important in classes comprised of struggling students, in the early grades, and in math and science courses. Policymakers should provide funding so that all Georgia’s public school students can receive instruction for at least 180 days. Georgia must also stabilize its curriculum and ensure teachers are supported with 10 days of meaningful professional learning and class preparation. | 