Lawmakers across the country are considering measures to up teacher accountability, but when students have disabilities measuring the success of their teachers can be tricky.

Just last month, a major push to link teacher pay to student performance was derailed in Florida over concerns about the impact such change would have on special education teachers. Now educators and lawmakers alike are scratching their heads, looking for ways to measure the success of teachers whose students don’t always meet traditional benchmarks.

Despite the failure of the proposed Florida law, at least one area of the state will push forward with a teacher evaluation system heavily based on student performance as a condition of a prestigious education grant. Beginning next fall, test scores will factor into the grades teachers receive in Hillsborough county, which includes Tampa.

But because district administrators remain uncertain how to best gauge the progress of special education students, teachers in that program will be exempt from the new evaluation method for at least the first year.

In the meantime, special educators are largely in limbo, reports the Tampa Tribune. To read more click here.

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