UPDATE: RIDE Forum at Rogers High School Canceled Due to Weather

Update (3:22 p.m.): Superintendent John Ambrogi reports that RIDE has canceled this forum due to weather conditions between Providence and Newport.

The Rhode Island Department of Education will hold a public forum this afternoon at to obtain community input on the new teacher and administration evaluation system. The proposed system will be gradually integrated into the school system starting this year.

According to the Rhode Island Board of Regents, educators will be evaluated on three levels: professional teaching practice based on a rubric designed by Rhode Island educators, professional responsibility based on a similar rubric, and student learning based on how well educators meet the specific and measurable goals targeted toward students.

The new system will be based on “specific, measurable student learning objectives" that are designed for each grade and subject at the beginning of the school year. Goals are standards-based and tailored to meet the specific needs of Newport's students.

“Nothing is more important to educators than helping students learn. Analyzing student academic progress will be an important part of the new system, but it is just one of several components,” Deborah Gist, Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, said in a public letter. “We’ll consider the results of classroom observations and other measures to be able to paint the most complete picture possible of each educator’s performance and provide tailored feedback for improvement.”

Key months in the evaluation process are September to mid-October, January to February and May to June. The windows provide time to set, develop and give feedback on student learning objectives.

School principals and assistant principals will remain the core group of evaluators when analyzing educator performance. During the first year of the new evaluation system, the process will use ratings for developmental purposes.

The forum will be from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Rogers auditorium. Another forum will take place at North Kingstown High School on Jan. 24 from 4 to 6 p.m.