Westborough Teachers, Administrators, Superintendent to be Evaluated in New Way

This year, Westborough teachers, administrators and Superintendent Marianne O'Connor likely will be among the first in Massachusetts being supervised and graded in a new way.

The Boston Globe reported Tuesday that "all but a few Massachusetts districts will probably miss" the state's Sept. 1 deadline for implementing the new model, a requirement for federal Race to the Top education funding.

O'Connor says the Westborough public schools adopted the new model earlier than other Massachusetts districts because the district elected to participate in Race to the Top.

O'Connor says the new system will become mandatory in Massachusetts in 2013.

"We had probably 18 meetings between the union and a committee that we formed, so that we could come up with an agreement that is aligned with what the state is asking us to do," says O'Connor, adding that the agreement was ratified in the spring.

Principal John Smith says that "the idea of the new model is greater accountability for all teachers -- and administrators -- to improve teaching and learning."

"Teachers have always had goals. Administrators have always created goals in the past. But now the state and our own model is making sure that these goals are much more specific, and that they're measurable," Smith explains.

"So, instead of a teacher saying, 'I'd really like to increase my use of technology in the classroom, and I'm going to be trying a bunch of different things,' it's got to be much more specific. We've got to know what you're thinking of using, how often you're thinking of using it, what might be some benchmarks you'll use to determine how successful you are. And then, at the end of the year, an assessment on, basically, how you think you did."

Smith says the evaluations are now on a two-year cycle. The previous cycle was four years, he says.

"We'll implement it Day One," Smith says.

"We probably won't get in there to see teachers that first couple of days. But, early that next week, we'll hit the ground running."

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