There’s a new way to evaluate Louisiana teachers. It is called LEADS, Louisiana’s Educator Advancement and Development System. Louisiana’s Department of Education (LDOE) Deputy Superintendent Dr. Jenna Chiasson says the old system lacked a comprehensive rubric, or ongoing support. So education leaders developed LEADS. “And this really is a system that focuses more on growing and developing educators, evaluation not just being this one-time event.”
As the Louisiana Radio Network (LRN) reports, under LEADS, newer less experienced teachers are observed more than established teachers. Those educators with at least three years of experience, who score highly on their first observation, can opt out of remaining observations for that school year. “This doesn’t mean that great teachers will be any less supported. It means that we want great teachers to have an opportunity to really shine and be rewarded.” Chiasson says struggling teachers will receive immediate instructional support.
LEADS is in line with the Let Teachers Teach (LTT) initiative. As Dr. Chiasson explains, that program is aimed at limiting distractions in the classroom for teachers and students alike. It does so by putting evaluations in the hands of educators. She says LEADS not only reforms the outdated system with input from educators, “but [makes it] something that really honors what our educators are doing well, but then also helps to bring some focus on what could be improved.”
LEADS will start the second part of its pilot in the 2024-25 school year, then be used statewide in the 2025-26 school year.
