EVANSVILLE — If Tony Bennett gets his way, students may not be the only ones going home with letter grades.
The Indiana superintendent of public instruction and his staffers from the Department of Education offered some details on their proposed reforms to the state education system in presentations at Helfrich Park STEM Academy and Reitz High School on Tuesday evening.
While Bennett and his team are pushing a broad array of changes, the presentations made Tuesday were mainly about how schools and teachers are assessed.
New systems of analysis for elementary, middle and high schools were proposed. Metrics from multiple years of data would be pulled, and emphasis would be given to both outright performance and growth, ultimately culminating in a letter grade for the school based on a four-point grade point average.
The details of the systems are still being adjusted, but Jeffery Zaring, state board of education administrator and Bennett's primary policy adviser, said he expected substantial differences between the formulas used to assess high schools and middle and elementary schools.
Bennett also empathized with teachers that multiple years of outcomes should be used in teacher assessments.
Bennett said the quality of his teaching was affected after his wife gave birth to triplets in 1986.
"If you took a snapshot of my performance then, I struggled," he said. "It is more than what happens that one year."
On Tuesday he also corrected confusion related to collective bargaining agreements.
"There is no legislation we have written that repeals collective bargaining," he said.
Bennett said he felt changes should be made, especially concerning seniority clauses.
Ultimately, Bennett argued that changing times requires changes to education.
"If you think the school system that got you a job at the Ford plant or the steel mill will work today, you are cheating your kids," he said.
Bennett's proposal will continue to be vetted across the state ahead of the upcoming session of the Legislature to solicit feedback.
Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. Superintendent Vincent Bertram said the most important thing local educators can do right now is continue to provide input and seek the changes that will best serve students.
Although Bennett said he expects the changes to be uncomfortable or even difficult for some people, he expects the payoff to be worthwhile.
"I think you will see folks talk nationally about what we are doing in Indiana and use it as a model," he said.
"I think our ability to constantly challenge what we do will pay dividends in the future."