Dave Volrath, head of the Maryland State Department of Education’s efforts to strengthen educator effectiveness, has been tapped to chair the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium Project Work Team on School Leaders and Principals.

The new CCSSO panel will help develop national standards for educators who supervise and evaluate principals, as states look to strengthen school leadership across the board.  As part of the process, the committee will gather input from stakeholders.

The committee holds its first meeting tomorrow in Washington, DC, with work to be completed in the fall of 2014.  CCSSO has said that educators have a collective responsibility to shape a coherent and aligned system of education leadership standards with implementation and support tools that will develop and support future leadership practice in our states, districts, and schools.  

“Leadership matters greatly in the overall success of our schools. Principals are the instructional leaders with whom great teachers want to work and learn,” said Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Lillian M. Lowery.  “Our schools cannot improve without better principals and leaders, and the CCSSO effort will benefit states as they construct and strengthen their evaluation plans.  Dave Volrath has lead Maryland’s program to strengthen educator effectiveness.  We weren’t surprised when CCSSO asked him to chair this national committee.”

Volrath remains the head of Maryland’s Teacher/Principal Evaluation Planning and Development office.  He joined MSDE in 2011 after a long career in the Harford County Public Schools, where he served as teacher, principal and Executive Director.

Maryland schools this year are implementing new evaluation systems for both teachers and leaders, designed to improve instruction and boost student performance.