Agnon Teacher Dina Rock Presents Educational Policy Report in D.C.

Agnon teacher Dina Rock, recently attended a National Press Club event in Washington, D.C. to introduce policy recommendations for improving teacher evaluation systems in the Kindergarten -12^th grade education sector. Representing the Hope Street Group – a bipartisan coalition of business, civic and policy leaders – Rock and four other team leaders also visited several offices on Capitol Hill and at the Department of Education to discuss this topic.In a report entitled “Policy 2.0: Using Open Innovation to Reform Teacher Evaluation Systems,” Rock, along with 31 educators and other professionals from 17 states, worked together for three months to rethink teacher evaluations and develop policy recommendations. They divided into four groups, and Rock – the only representative from Ohio – was chosen as a team leader. Leaders and their group participants shared information and communicated with each other using innovative online collaboration tools to build a policy proposal entirely on the Internet.

Their work resulted in a groundbreaking report that challenges our country’s current teacher evaluation systems. Working from the premise that teacher evaluations are a meaningful part of ensuring that all students have access to a high-quality education, Hope Street Group’s policy team developed a series of recommendations and principles for teacher evaluations. (Visit www.hopestreetgroup.org, for information on Policy 2.0.)

It is important to know what effective teaching is and how it can be measured,” said Rock. “Hope Street Group’s recommendations for improving teacher evaluations will help transform our education system and ensure that a great teacher is at the front of the classroom helping all students excel academically.”

Hope Street Group and its contributors plan to work with school districts across the country to pilot these recommendations in at least ten different education systems. They also want to build a national network of teachers dedicated to policy development.

Working as an educator for the past 22 years in both the public and private sectors, Rock currently teaches 5^th and 6^th grade at The Agnon School and resides in Solon with her husband and two children.

More coverage:

Dina Rocks in the classroom, by Arlene Fine, The Cleveland Jewish News, 12/11/2009

“’Dina Rock goes to Washington’” aptly describes this Agnon School teacher’s foray into the nation’s capital last month. Representing Hope Street Group, a bipartisan coalition of business, civic and policy leaders, Rock and four other select educators made presentations at the Department of Education on Capitol Hill. According to Rock, they delivered groundbreaking recommendations for improving teacher evaluations “to ensure that a great teacher is at the front of the classroom helping all students excel.”

Read the rest of the story at the Cleveland Jewish News –>>

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Agnon Teacher Dina Rock Presents Educational Policy Report in D.C.