Malcolm Gorrill
Northern News Services
Inuvik (Jun 08/01) - Beaufort Delta Education Council members have decided to create a new assistant director position, whose duties will focus on evaluating principals and teachers.
The move followed a request from the Tuktoyaktuk District Education Authority for the council to provide an additional, more objective evaluation than those being done.
Currently principals evaluate teachers, and an assistant director within BDEC evaluates the principals.
BDEC director James Anderson pointed out these evaluations will remain unchanged by the creation of this new position.
This person will evaluate principals, as well as teachers on probation.
Anderson explained that a teacher new to the NWT is hired for a two-year probationary period, and that within that time a teacher can be released, with no reason given, at the end of a school year, upon 60 days written notice.
Anderson said that with the high turnover rate among teachers within the region, as many as 60-70 teachers (of the 117 for the upcoming school year) are on probation at any one time.
Anderson said evaluating so many teachers, as well as principals (who are hired on a one-to-five year contract) necessitated the creation of the assistant director position.
The new position is for a two-year term, and will be reviewed by the council near the end of that time.
