Georgia State Board of Education Member Chosen to Serve on National Task Force

The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) recently announced that Mary Sue Murray, a member of the Georgia State Board of Education, has been selected to serve on a year-long NASBE study group — Preparation, Evaluation, Continuation & Compensation: A State Policy Agenda to Enhance the Teaching Profession — to examine educator preparation and professional development, their job performance evaluations, and the impact of the Common Core Standards on teaching.

The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) conducts annual study groups to provide professional development to members of State Boards of Education, set organizational direction and priorities, and inform the state education policymaking process on key issues. As a member of the 2011 national task force, Murray will meet with other state board members, researchers, and policy analysts to examine a series of issues at the core of teaching and learning.

Task force members will examine:

The preparation of new teachers—including the new model core standards for teachers by the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium—and ongoing support and recertification for experienced teachers in order to assure a new level of capacity for addressing the academic needs of contemporary students;
The methodology and implementation of comprehensive teacher evaluations in order to improve the performance of individuals and ensure the quality of the workforce;
Teacher compensation, including the linkages between teachers’ performance, knowledge, experience, and responsibilities and what they earn.

The study group will issue a comprehensive report in October 2011 at the NASBE Annual Conference in Atlanta, GA. The group’s policy recommendations will be disseminated to relevant stakeholders including members of Congress, federal officials, governors, chief state school officers, and local education policymakers.