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Teacher and Leader Support and Development

The Division of Teacher and Leader Support and Development impacts student achievement by providing programs and resources to enhance teacher and leader effectiveness that include the following: Title II, Part A grant awards; teacher and leader effectiveness systems; and professional learning.

The goal of the division is to promote and support teacher and leader effectiveness to improve student learning in every classroom in the state.

Manages effective use of Title II, Part A funds at the state and local level.
Promotes effective use of professional development funds and activities to support school improvement.
Maintains current data to Ensure Equitable Access to Effective Educators.
Supports the Teacher Keys Effectiveness System and Leader Keys Effectiveness System – Georgia’s teacher and leader evaluation and professional development processes.

TKES and LKES Platform Updates

August 2019 Platform Updates

P 20 Regional Collaboratives

Establishing and sustaining powerful partnerships that are focused on continuous school improvement and student growth and learning through the preparation of candidates and professional development of P-20 educators.

What are P-20 Collaboratives?

The Georgia Department of Education, the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, and the University System of Georgia have joined together to establish P-20 Collaboratives: Systems of support to provide a seamless transition for pre-service candidates as they seek to become professional educators, as well as to provide continued professional learning for practicing educators and leaders.

The state has been divided into nine regions, each region clustered around a group of institutions or agencies that prepares teachers. Each collaborative convenes twice during an academic year. Topics of interest include recruitment and training for future teachers, induction for in-service teachers, support for educational leaders, and professional learning for all. Each regional collaborative has a strategic planning team that plans the collaborative agendas based on needs of the region.

Teacher Keys Effectiveness System (TKES)

The Teacher Keys Effectiveness System (TKES) is a common evaluation system designed for building teacher effectiveness and ensuring consistency and comparability throughout the state. The Teacher Keys Effectiveness System (TKES) consists of three components which provide multiple sources of data. Beginning in school year 2016-2017, the three components are Teacher Assessment on Performance Standards (TAPS), Professional Growth and Student Growth. The overarching goal of TKES is to support continuous growth and development of each teacher.

For additional information and resources related to TKES, please visit the TKES webpage.

Leader Keys Effectiveness System (LKES)

The Leader Keys Effectiveness System (LKES) is a common evaluation system designed for building leader effectiveness and ensuring consistency and comparability throughout the state. The goal of Georgia’s Leader Keys Effectiveness System is to provide leaders with meaningful feedback and to support the continuous growth and development of each leader by monitoring, analyzing, and applying pertinent data from multiple sources toward attainment of established performance goals. Beginning in school year 2016-2017, the four components are Leader Assessment on Performance Standards (LAPS), Student Growth, School Climate Survey, and Combination of Additional Data. LKES offers clear and precise indicators and resources to leaders throughout the process.

For additional information and resources related to LKES, please visit the LKES webpage.

Georgia’s Systems of Continuous Improvement

The Georgia Department of Education’s strategic plan emphasizes transforming the agency into one that provides meaningful support to schools and districts. The agency has developed a common, continuous improvement framework to ensure that these efforts are aligned across all agency divisions, departments, and programs. The Georgia’s Systems of Continuous Improvement framework focuses on the systems and structures (the “what”) that must be in place for sustained improvement in student outcomes. It also utilizes a problem-solving model (the “how”) to provide a clear process for identifying improvement needs, planning for improvement, and implementing, monitoring, and evaluating the improvement efforts.

Opportunities for Title II, Part A support are woven throughout Georgia’s Systems of Continuous Improvement. A Coherent Instructional System can be supported by Title II, Part A to provide ALL teachers and school leaders with opportunities to broaden and deepen their understanding and practice of effective instructional strategies. Title II, Part A also provides the means for schools and LEAs to develop their Professional Capacity through attracting, placing, and supporting effective educators. Research indicates Effective Leadership is critical to the success of our schools and Title II, Part A can provide the necessary support for the development of effective leaders through professional learning and mentorship. These opportunities go toward supporting and developing the whole child and providing the access for low income students and families to effective teachers and leaders.

The TKES and LKES standards for teachers and Leaders are an integral part of the Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CNA) which is the starting point of Georgia’s Systems of Continuous Improvement. In responding to each system in the CNA, LEAs and schools use data collected from TKES and LKES observations to identify their strengths and needs. TKES and LKES standards are included in the CNA process for all systems – Coherent Instructional System; Professional Capacity; Supportive Learning Environment; Family and Community Engagement; and Effective Leadership. The CNA TKES and LKES standards’ data helps LEAs identify targeted support interventions for their District Improvement Plan and helps LEAs to monitor the implementation of those support interventions over time.