FARMINGTON — An RSU 9 committee is developing a pilot teacher evaluation system to meet the state’s requirement for school districts to have one in place by the beginning of the 2014-15 school year.

Doug Hodum, 43, a biology teacher at Mt. Blue High School and head of the Science Department, began working on policy changes in education when he was chosen as a 2013 Hope Street Group National Teacher Fellow.

As a teacher fellow, he said in January 2013 that he intended to make sure teachers are sitting at the table for discussions and any policy changes on teacher evaluation.

Hodum of Farmington has been profiled in Hope Street Group’s new report “Engaging Teachers in Policy Development.”

He said he has been very fortunate to have had administrators involved since the beginning, including former RSU 9 Superintendent Mike Cormier, Assistant Superintendent Leanne Condon and now Superintendent Tom Ward.

Condon and Hodum co-facilitate the committee developing the pilot evaluation system. The committee members volunteer their time.

There has been “absolute collaboration” between representatives of administration, teachers and community, Hodum said.

When Hodum returned last year from the teacher fellow training in Washington, D.C., he had a conversation with Cormier and Condon about teacher evaluation. They were on board from the first conversation, he said.

Though Hodum’s fellowship ended in December, he continues the work he started.

The evaluation system will be piloted in the new school year to see how it works and to make changes as needed, he said.

Teachers who serve on the committee have volunteered to be evaluated. Administrators are looking for a couple of other teacher volunteers to be evaluated, he said.

There are about 20 people on the committee, including one community member.

Three public meetings were held in May 2013 prior to the committee officially starting its regular meetings, which began in the fall.

The group will be using an evaluation system that will include student growth and the Marzano model of teacher evaluation, he said. The Marzano model measures teacher growth and provides a tool to develop teacher effectiveness, according to the Marzano Research Laboratory website.

“The process has been transparent. I think even if the state backs off and changes deadlines, I think this is a good thing for our students as well for the teachers in the district,” Hodum said. “I think it should be a model for other districts.”

Hodum has meetings set up May 8 in Washington, D.C., with U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud’s office and Sen. Angus King’s office, both from Maine, to discuss the project and fellowship. Hodum and other Hope Street fellows also have a meeting with the U.S. Department of Education.

“I think the power of the fellowship and the project is in teacher voice,” Hodum said. “I think for me the experience has reinforced how vital teacher voice is in education policy. That has really been the take-home message that it is so critical that teachers be involved with decisions that affect our profession and our students.”

The district’s teacher evaluation committee is not done and has a lot of work ahead of it, he said.

“I’m very proud of the process we have gone through,” Hodum said.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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