Comprehensive evaluation tool for COE underway

A comprehensive evaluation tool is now being crafted to measure and assess the overall performance of Education Commissioner Rita A. Sablan, according to Board of Education chair Marylou S. Ada yesterday

An ad hoc committee that is tasked to complete the evaluation mechanism has already solicited a proposal from the Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, or McREL, to help craft the evaluation tool.

Ada formed the ad hoc committee in May to come up with a complete evaluation tool for the education commissioner. From its initial deadline of July, the committee now has until Dec. 31 to submit its recommendation.

Yesterday, ad hoc committee chair Galvin Deleon Guerrero disclosed that McREL is expected to turn in the proposal in January 2012.

“McREL is now drafting the evaluation [tool] that will stand in time. It should be workable, very comprehensive, and encompasses everything. We want the [evaluation] form to be practical and not just the regular standard performance and inclusive of everything. We need something that will stand the test of time and will be used for many years,” Ada told Saipan Tribune after yesterday’s board meeting.

Sablan’s contract is up for renewal in August 2012. It is the board’s goal to use this new comprehensive evaluation tool to assess her effectiveness on the job. Sablan’s contract is for four years, with an annual salary of $80,000. The commissioner is the board’s sole employee.

Once the evaluation tool is finalized, Ada said the evaluation itself will be conducted by the board prior to any action on Sablan’s contract.

According to Deleon Guerrero, the ad hoc committee decided to approach McREL to make sure that the instrument and process that will be used for the COE evaluation is aligned with the evaluation tools and process developed for the entire system.

During the board discussion, Sablan expressed her willingness to be subjected to the new comprehensive evaluation process.

Sablan has been serving the school system for more than 25 years, starting as a teacher in 1982. In August 2008, Sablan became the commissioner, replacing David Borja.

Besides the COE, all teachers and administrators of will also be evaluated using a new performance evaluation system beginning this school year 2011-2012.

The performance evaluation shall be conducted on a yearly basis on the teacher’s and administrator’s anniversary date. Administrators are composed of principals and vice principals.