Monday, October 22, 2018

TKES Evaluation, teaching out-of-field areas

FYI: (I checked with the PAGE legal team)
The TKES evaluation system CAN be used for your evaluation - even if you are being (completely) evaluated in an out-of-field area.  So, if you're a chorus teacher and you have to teach drama, but don't have the ELA certificate yet, your annual TKES evaluation can be in your drama class; they don't have to visit your chorus classes at all.  Same if you're a band director teaching a writing class.  Essentially, GA law requires that teachers be evaluated through TKES no matter what they're teaching, even if they're required, and don't have a choice, to teach out of field.

Immediately I think about Standard 1: Professional Knowledge.  That could be a real problem if mishandled by an administrator.  I had an assistant principal say once about TKES, "You could bludgeon someone with this thing if you wanted to..."  I agree more now than I did then.