LANSING – State Representative Adam Zemke (D-Ann Arbor) has been selected by the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) to receive the Presidential Service Award for his work on educator evaluation reform in Michigan. He was honored at the Association’s annual conference on Monday in Traverse City.
“I am deeply honored to have received the Presidential Service Award,” said Zemke. “The teacher and administrator evaluation bills are a huge step toward making evaluations fair, constructive tools to help our educators grow and become even better, and I sincerely thank MASSP for recognizing the progress we have made.”
Zemke sponsored a bill in a two bill bipartisan package that passed the House earlier this spring. Together, Zemke’s House Bill 5224 and HB 5223 would put in place a nation-leading, research-based educator evaluation system that would include high-quality training for evaluators and supports for struggling educators to help them improve.
Zemke spent eight months developing the bills collaboratively with colleagues, educators, statewide education associations, teacher unions, reform advocates, school attorneys and other stakeholders. Nine listening sessions were held across the state to hear from principals, teachers, superintendents, and other educators who will be affected by the proposed system. The result was a bill package that has the support of most education advocates in Michigan.
House Bills 5223 and 5224 would create a system of teacher and administrator evaluations made up of a combination of research-based professional practice measures, multiple measures of student growth, and other factors as determined by local districts. The system would provide schools with a flexible framework for developing locally responsive evaluation system while still ensuring a minimum level of quality across the state and providing teachers, principals, and other educators with the training, support, and guidance necessary to ensure fairness and accuracy.
The MASSP Presidential Service Award is given annually to individuals and/or organizations whose acts or achievements extend beyond expectations and reflect the highest standards of quality, excellence and innovation.