Houston ISD superintendent Mike Miles put 120 principals, who represent 40% of campus leaders, on notice, warning them to improve their performance. The decision came after their mid-year proficiency screenings.
Principals also have to take a second assessment in spring and perform better to retain their position as an HISD principal next year. These principals comprise both veterans and those appointed by Miles this year. They currently lead the district’s highest and lowest-performing schools.
“One hundred and twenty HISD principals learned that they are making good progress and that if they continue to work hard, focus on strong instructional leadership, and demonstrate their ability to support student success they will achieve the level of proficiency necessary to return in the next school year,” read an HISD press release on the mid-year performance ratings.
Another 125 principals were rated proficient or higher.
“Team HISD has a lot to be proud of. One hundred and twenty-five principals found out today they have already demonstrated the quality of instructional leadership necessary to retain their position for the 2024-2025 school year,” district officials said in a statement.”
“I can’t speak for all the other schools but our principal is amazing, she tries so hard for all of us students and HISD has been her career for years,” said a student on social media, voicing their concern. “However, she and many of the faculty have been trying to protect us from the district changes. This whole district takeover thing has been awful for the mental health of the students. We are constantly stressed out and feel completely powerless.”
Fifty-eight principals at HISD have already resigned or were terminated since the TEA takeover.
“Your results demonstrate that you are working to be a proficient instructional leader and need to continue making progress toward that goal,” Miles’ email to the principals said. “I want to make sure you clearly understand the next steps in the process to evaluate your performance and determine your eligibility for a principal position next year.”
These next steps include ensuring “high-quality instruction” on the principals’ campuses with six “rigorous” spot checks every week, participating in a second round of proficiency screenings, and ensuring student achievements in exams like the end-of-year NWEA MAP Testing, AP and STAAR exams.
Apart from the 28 NES (New Education System) and 57 NES-aligned schools, 45 new schools will join Miles’ NES overhaul in the 2024-2025 academic year.
The principal evaluation system
Last October, the board of managers at HISD approved a framework for the evaluation of principals, which included four areas of assessment:
- Student achievement outcomes on assessments such as the STAAR, DIBELS, NWEA, and AP exams,
- Principal performance, including assessments on the quality of instruction in the school by an independent review of the instruction in a school and the principal’s score on the Executive Leadership Rubric and on the School Systems Review (not applicable in the 2023-2024 school year),
- School climate and culture survey twice a year, and
- School action plan
Miles had said in July that “people should be compensated… for the value that they bring.”
While HISD calls the evaluation system’s target distribution of ratings “an elegant solution to this problem of ensuring equal rigor across the system,” it also means that 10% of the principals with an “unsatisfactory rating will not have their contracts renewed. Moreover, 22% of principals will be placed on the second-last rung and may retain their role at the discretion of their feeder pattern’s executive director or their division superintendent. These principals account for 32% of principals who will not be considered proficient in their job.
“Some of these principals don’t have a leg to stand on because only 40% are ‘proficient 1’ and only 8% of the principals are allowed to be exemplary,” explained Michelle Williams, president of the Houston Education Association. Williams was removed from her position as a teacher at an HISD elementary school and was instructed to work at a bus depot, and now faces a possible termination over her online activity.
The principals who did not get the “proficient I” rating or higher must take a second screening and will be assessed by district evaluators. They will conduct the observations on instruction in April. Based on these, principals will either still have their jobs or be removed from HISD, the results of which will be announced on May 1.
Since the TEA took over HISD, teachers of the district have also grappled with being asked to accept a state-approved teacher evaluation system. It led to a lawsuit from the Houston Federation of Teachers as it would be used to determine teachers’ employment in the district and salaries.
Last week, Miles presented the district’s expectation to have 70 campus leaders be new to HISD or graduates of HISD the next school year.
