AWSP Blog

Did you know that TPEP funds—state-allocated dollars specifically set aside for professional development—must be used by the end of the year, or they go back to the state? If your district has unused TPEP funding, now is the perfect time to allocate it toward registration and travel for the annual Summer Conference.

As we move from winter winds down and we can see spring just around the corner, we just want to remind principals and assistant principals that your own evaluation must be wrapped up on or before June 1 of each school year. This includes them having a summative conference, scoring, final eval, etc. This is the first year this date has been REQUIRED, per the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 392–191A–190(8) (see the WAC text below).

AWSP and WASA are excited to share the latest opportunity for our two associations to partner in support of Washington’s education leaders and the students we serve. We want to hear your thoughts and suggestions about TPEP! AWSP and WASA are privileged to hold seats on the OSPI TPEP Steering Committee. To ensure we accurately articulate the desires of our members relating to evaluating teachers, principals, and assistant principals, both associations are launching the Thought Exchange prompt to gather ideas and suggestions from you:

Back in June, we gathered a small cadre of principals, superintendents, and staff members from AWSP and WASA to begin to identify short-term and long-term solutions to the leadership crisis in our state. We must do something to reverse the course of high turnover rates, small candidate pools, and decreased job satisfaction. While the focus of this committee is starting with easing the pressure on principals, it is much larger in scale. It’s about the entire leadership pipeline in our K12 educational system. If we want great future superintendents, we must cultivate and support future and current school leaders.

OSPI is proposing to establish a timeline and defined process for professional performance evaluations of certificated principals and assistant principals. The proposal would require evaluations and summative conferences be conducted by the evaluator prior to June 1 of the school year of which the evaluation is made. The proposed timeline would apply to both focused and comprehensive evaluations for principals and assistant principals. The proposal is intended to ensure that principals and assistant principals receive timely feedback as well as indications of their employment status.