Assumption Parish Teachers Undergo Evaluator Training as Part of District’s “Grow Our Own” Initiative 🌱
Twenty-five teachers from across Assumption Parish recently participated in a three-day NIET Evaluator Training as part of the district’s “Grow Our Own” initiative to gain the knowledge and skills needed to become certified evaluators on their campuses. Those teachers who worked together on a group project, include (pictured from front right to left, then to the back) Dawn LeBlanc of Napoleonville Middle School; Jessica Clause of Labadieville Primary; Sloan Pierce of Labadieville Primary; Taylor Gauthreaux of Bayou L'Ourse Primary; Sandi Falcon of Bayou L’Ourse Primary; and Jennifer Aysen of Napoleonville Primary.
Twenty-five Assumption Parish teachers recently participated in a three-day NIET Evaluator Training to gain the knowledge and skills needed to qualify to become certified evaluators for the school district.
These teachers, upon passing the certification exam, will have the mentor endorsement added to their teaching certificates. They will be eligible to serve as mentor teachers who can assist their colleagues in better utilizing evaluation tools, evaluation practices and data analyses to gain greater academic results throughout the school year.
“This training is part of our ‘Grow Our Own’ initiative that we have begun in our district,” Superintendent Dr. John Barthelemy said. “We have encouraged some of our district’s top teachers to take-on this leadership role to strengthen and improve learning at their respective campuses and across their respective grade levels.”
NIET, the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching, is a national educational consulting firm that works with states and individual school districts to develop professional resources and implement best practices for advancing learning in K-12 schools. The Assumption Parish School System has partnered with NIET to train and develop the district’s Instructional Leadership Teams, to strengthen grade-level and subject-based analyses of assessments and student work, and to create greater understanding of required state testing standards.
Curriculum and Instruction Director Kathi Aucoin said the district’s newly certified evaluator teachers will work with fellow educators to improve classroom management, dig deeper into the curriculum, and more effectively use assessment data to impact student learning.
“The ‘Grow Our Own’ initiative recognizes that we have a significant number of strong teachers in our district who can be empowered to help move our district forward,” Aucoin said. “By growing their capacity to teach and mentor their peers, these mentor teachers will be able to enlarge the capacity of quality instruction on their campuses.”
Dr. Barthelemy said the “Grow Our Own” initiative, which is being implemented this school year, is a district-wide push. He said the effort impacts every campus, across every grade level.
NIET facilitators managed the three-day professional development training and will assist the participants in preparing for the online certification exam.