Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain told the Kent Board of Education that a forum will be held Jan. 16 at 6 p.m. at Housatonic Valley Regional High School and the discussion will focus on the newly implemented “Common Core Standards” for curriculum and the state model for teacher evaluations.
All 45 board members in Region 1 will be invited. Jonathan Costa of Education Connection will attend, as well as Sarah Barzee of the State Department of Education.
Board member Rob Ober expresses his reservations about the new teacher evaluation system that will involve 45 percent of the evaluation based on student test scores. Administrators will have to observe teachers at least six times in a school year, with three formal and three informal observations. Region 1 is creating a hybrid approach that it hopes to have approved by the state, rather than implementing the state model, Chamberlain said.