During the Effingham Unit #40 Board of Education Monday night, Superintendent Mark Doan discussed district enrollment. The district currently has 2580 students. According to Doan, that number is down from the previous year, but not as much as in years past.
Doan hopes to see that number rise in the future, but said that it all depends on incoming and outgoing class sizes and what happens in between when students first enter as kindergartners and graduate as seniors.
The Board also heard a presentation from Central Grade School Principle Amy Niebrugge on Staff evaluation. The process is part of a statewide initiative to improve teacher instruction. According to Superintendent Doan, the process of implementing the new evaluation system has been ongoing for several.
The evaluation process is a combination of informal and formal observations of staff based on four domain, planning and preparation, classroom management, instruction, and professional development. Teachers play an active role in by selecting leaning goals for their students and part of the evaluation is based on if students have demonstrably met those goals. Superintendent Doan said that the implementation of the new evaluation system is required by state law.
He said that he was pleased with the district’s efforts to get the new system implemented.