Gov. Steve Beshear this week signed House Bill 180 which requires the Kentucky Board of Education to establish a statewide effectiveness system for all certified personnel starting in the 2014-15 school year. Photo by Amy Wallot, April 15 , 2013

Gov. Steve Beshear this week signed House Bill 180 which requires the Kentucky Board of Education to establish a statewide effectiveness system for all certified personnel starting in the 2014-15 school year. Photo by Amy Wallot, April 15 , 2013

Advocating that all Kentucky children deserve to be taught by an effective teacher at a school led by an effective principal, Gov. Steve Beshear once again indicated his support for a statewide system promoting educator growth and effectiveness in Kentucky. Gov. Beshear put his signature on House Bill 180 during a private ceremonial bill signing in his office on Monday.

House Bill 180 clears the way for a new statewide evaluation system to be used for all certified personnel starting in the 2014-15 school year. The system is being designed to promote the continuous professional growth and development of skills needed to be a highly effective teacher or a highly effective administrator in a school or district. The legislation calls for multiple measures of effectiveness including student growth data and meets one of the main requirements for Kentucky’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) waiver.

“Current evaluation systems in Kentucky do not provide our educators the information they need to support their professional growth and effectiveness and in turn, to support increases in student achievement,” Education Commissioner Terry Holliday said. “This bill is the basis for a system that provides teachers, administrators and districts the data and tools needed to improve.”

The bill’s sponsor, state Representative and House Education Committee Chairman Carl Rollins, Commissioner Holliday, and key partners were on hand for today’s signing.

For several years, two steering committees comprised of teachers and principals from across the state have worked with the Kentucky Department of Education and other educational partners to put an educator effectiveness framework in place to serve as the foundation for a new system.

The resulting Professional Growth and Effectiveness System (PGES) is a comprehensive statewide system to help teachers understand and implement the framework and make changes necessary for all students in Kentucky to become college- and career-ready. PGES is designed to move educators from simply being qualified to becoming highly effective.

The system, which is being field-tested in 54 school districts this school year, will be piloted statewide in the 2013-14 school year.

As part of its continued development and per House Bill 180, the Kentucky Board of Education will create regulations governing PGES.