CSD has posted the full article, featured in yesterday’s print edition of the AJC, detailing Decatur’s relatively new teacher evaluation methods that may soon become the standard for the entire state.

City Schools of Decatur, a 3,250-student district, is among the first Georgia systems taking a different approach to rating teachers, one that recognizes some teachers are better than others and scores them accordingly. Similar changes are headed to school districts across Georgia in the coming years.

The goal is to build a better teaching workforce by getting help to those who need it, learning from those who don’t and firing those who are beyond repair.

“It’s in the middle of everything we do, rather than a necessary evil,” said Decatur Associate Superintendent Thomas Van Soelen, who oversees the evaluation process.