Education Week - February 25, 2015 - Special Report - S14

S14
EDUCATION WEEK LEADERS TO LEARN FROM
February 25, 2015 n
edweek.org/leaders
By Lauren Camera
Vickie Reed
Students' Views
On Teachers,
Policy Hold Sway
In Georgia District
E
ducators in Georgia are
judged in part on how their
students rate them in the
state's recently revamped
teacher-evaluation system.
But weaving student feedback
into teacher evaluations has
been the practice for nearly a decade in the
state's 7,700-student Murray County school
district, where Superintendent Vickie Reed
pushed for using student-perception surveys.
As part of Murray County's surveys, students
rate their teachers on a number of variables,
including their style of teaching and use
of technology. Teachers take the same survey,
but assess themselves according to how they
think their students rated them.
The goal is to identify any glaring gaps between
those two points of view and shrink
them-if they exist-every year until they're
gone.
"It's important," said Ms. Reed."If students
don't think the teachers like them, they're not
going to learn from them."
And she would know. Ms. Reed, 56, grew up
in the high-poverty district tucked into the
northwestern corner of Georgia, where the per
-capita income is $16,500 and nearly a quarter
of the 40,000 residents live below the poverty
level. She's spent her entire career as an educator
there, and since becoming superintendent
a decade ago, Ms. Reed has put an emphasis
on integrating student voices that has
drawn praise and replication in other districts.
"We make lots of efforts to speak with parents
and get parents' input through pta and
parent surveys," explained Ms. Reed. "But the
piece that was missing, I found, or I came to
believe several years ago, is who I'm not hearing
from is students."
Taking Students Seriously
Ms. Reed was born in Atlanta and moved
with her family to Murray County in 6th
grade. After high school, she worked for a
decade in the local carpet factory as a claims
manager and customer-service representative
while earning her bachelor's degree, her teaching
degree, and her master's and doctoral degrees
in curriculum by taking night classes at
a local college.
She taught 4th grade at Chatsworth Elementary
School for 12 years, followed by a
three-year stint as the principal of Gladden
Middle School. She then became the curriculum
director for the school system before landing
the superintendent's job.
POSITION: Superintendent
DISTRICT: Murray County Schools, Chatsworth, Ga.
EXPERTISE: Student Voice
"I've never seen myself as an administrator
and definitely never the superintendent of a
school system," Ms. Reed said. "I guess that's
because I'm still a teacher at heart."
When Ms. Reed took the reins of the school
system in 2005 after earning her doctorate,
Dustin Chambers for Education Week
http://www.edweek.org/leaders
Education Week - February 25, 2015 - Special Report

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