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Student test scores will not be factored into teacher evaluations during the next school year, as DCPS transitions from D.C’s state assessment to a new Common Core exam.

“We firmly believe that student learning is a key indicator of teacher performance – and value-added is one of the best ways to measure that. But we also know that new assessments always bring delays and unexpected complications,” Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson said in a release. “Our teachers want and deserve clarity about when they will receive their final evaluations. So we decided to hold on value-added for one year as we work out any potential wrinkles.”

Hundreds of teachers have been fired since former Chancellor Michelle Rhee instituted the “value-added” evaluation, which DCPS says “helps us estimate the teacher’s impact on student learning,” in 2009.

While DCPS transitions to the PARCC assessment, the 35 percent of a teacher’s evaluation usually tied to DC CAS “will be replaced by classroom observation data.”