Corbett pushing for changes in grading school administrators

Gov. Tom Corbett says Pennsylvania’s school teachers aren’t the only ones whose grading scale should change. The governor Monday also singled out administrator evaluations as something he wants to see pass the Legislature before the end of the year.

The governor said he is still intent on his vision for school reform, complete with a revamped approach to the scoring system for teachers and school administrators. He said the same grade inflation showing more than 99.4 percent of teachers to be satisfactory is being used to judge school administrators.

“Oh, by the way, administrators are 99.1 percent satisfactory. That can’t be the case. I don’t believe it. I don’t think any of you believe that that’s the case,” said Corbett. “So we need to evaluate better to help improve.”

A new grading method isn’t included in the vouchers bill that passed in the state Senate. The state House Education Committee, however, has approved a measure to overhaul evaluations for school teachers, principals, and certified employees such as guidance counselors and speech therapists.

The proposal would have 50 percent of a principal’s grade based on student performance, and the other half based on observable skills.

Only 20 percent of a counselor’s score would be based on student performance.