By Caroline Pacl New Legislation to Make Schools 'Stellar' WASHINGTON -- A bipartison group of U.S.

Senators have introduced a new educatio nal reform bill, that would make teacher evaluation systems based on their effec tiveness in public schools. Senators Scott Brown, Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) introduced the Securing Teacher Effectiveness, Leaders, Learning, and Results Act, or the S TELLAR Student Act, on Tuesday. By improving the quality of teachers and their methods, the senators believe edu cation throughout the country can improve. Sen. Brown reading to a class at Hanscom Field The STELLAR Student Act seeks to improve how teachers, as well as principals, ar e evaluated and would include a measurement of real student academic growth. The bill would require that pay and retention decisions be made using these evaluat ions. Teacher evaluations would put greater importance on classroom performance, in ad dition to student academic growth. Principal evaluations would be based on their effectiveness in improving stu dent academic growth and graduation rates, as well as their leadership, developm ent, and success in hiring new teachers, evaluating, and retaining them.

For America to remain the world s superpower in the 21st century, we must ensure t at our students are receiving a first-class education from the best teachers," S en. Brown said in a press release on his website on Tuesday. The STELLAR Student Act would also welcome input from the teachers and principal s in the development and improvement of evaluations to ensure that they are fair . "By encouraging states to thoroughly evaluate teachers job performance, our bip artisan legislation gives schools the tools and flexibility necessary to keep ou r education system strong during these difficult economic times," Sen. Brown sai d. Low performing teachers would be assisted under the legislation, "by setting up comprehensive remediation and improvement plans," according to the legislative p ress release. "This bill will create an environment where teachers are focused on being th e best teachers they can be, which will translate into a better education for ou r students, Brown said. Apr 14, 2011 1:48:00 AM Books, Current Affairs, Weblogs