In a new proposal that would apply to select federal grant applications, the U.S. Department of Education has again attempted to define “effective” and “highly effective” principals. The definitions, similar to those the department has previously offered, would require student achievement growth to be a measured “in significant part” along with other supplemental measures to evaluate a principal’s efficacy.

The proposal defines an effective principal as “a school principal whose students, overall and for each subgroup, achieve acceptable rates (e.g., at least one grade level in an academic year) of student growth.” A highly effective principal is defined as “a principal whose students, overall and for each subgroup, achieve high rates (e.g., one and one-half grade levels in an academic year) of student growth.”

NAESP is concerned that the definitions for effective and highly effective principals rely too heavily on student assessment scores. Instead, NAESP supports states and local school districts determining the percentage that student achievement contributes—in addition to other measures—to fairly and accurately evaluate principals and teachers. Additionally, the narrow definitions for student growth set an unrealistic trajectory for annual school improvement. Under the proposed definitions, more principals might be identified as not effective, giving their districts cause to take action against principals who are showing moderate growth and a supportive school culture.

Do you support a federal definition that would be used to inform local evaluations of your progress? Should student achievement be measured as a “significant” portion of your evaluation? Does “at least one grade level” per academic year accurately measure student progress?

The Department of Education seeks your feedback—make sure your voice is heard by submitting your comments by Tuesday, Sept. 7.