LM April 2024

School Leader New Evaluation Plan GROWING LEARNING LEADERS LEADING LEARNING ORGANIZATIONS

By Jason Nevel IASA Director of Communications

The School Leader Evaluation Plan has been selected as the state’s new default principal and assistant principal evaluation plan beginning July 1, 2024. To answer all your questions, IASA recorded a podcast with the Illinois Principals Association and a superintendent who piloted the plan in her district. This story is a condensed and edited version of the conversation on the podcast.

Dr. Kay Dugan Retired Assistant Superintendent IPA Trainer

Dr. Jason Leahy IPA Executive Director

Dr. Jill Griffin Superintendent of Bethalto CUSD #8

to do that. You need people in those leadership positions to carry that forward and make things happen. Otherwise, good school improvement doesn’t occur. We think that the evaluation plan can help us focus on the turnover and retention piece. Q: Let’s dive into that more. What are the key reasons for how the new Evaluation Plan can reduce the turnover rate and help retain principals? KD: The buzz that’s been around for many years is that the existing plan just doesn’t give school leaders the impact they want to truly support principals. Superintendents are searching for something that has more impact and is more research based. Developing this model was a big lift, but it was needed. To me, evaluation of our teachers or principals can be the best

Q: Let’s start with the issue at hand. What does the data say about principal turnover and retention? JL: Well, it’s not good. I have talked with superinten dents throughout the state and they’re having difficulty finding principals. They either have no candidates or a small pool of candidates. And some of the people are not quite up to the standard of individuals they’re seeking. There’s just a lot of data out there that supports this issue both nationally and here in the state of Illinois. I think the statistic that I like to share the most is, if you were to hire four new school leaders today into new positions, whether they’re rookies or veterans, only one of those individuals is still going to be in that seat in five years. When you think about change research, and what it takes to improve a school, the research tells us it’s five to 10 years

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LM April 2024