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Evaluation of instructional personnel is standard procedure in our Pre-K-12 public schools, and its purpose is to document educator effectiveness. With Race to the Top and No Child Left Behind waivers, states are required to implement performance-based evaluations that demonstrate student academic progress. This three-year study describes the implementation of performance-based evaluations for school librarians in Virginia. Participants completed an online survey at the end of the 2011-2012, 2012-2013, and 2013-2014 school years. Findings indicate that the majority of participants were evaluated using teacher-performance standards and that the majority write teaching goals as opposed to program goals. Further research should be conducted to describe the implementation process in other states, to compare performance-based evaluation of school librarians from state to state, and to explore the use of student performance data that is collected to demonstrate academic progress to also provide local evidence of the school librarian's impact on student learning.

Teacher observation and teacher evaluation are a given in American schools, and Charlotte Danielson's work in teacher effectiveness and professional practice has guided evaluation efforts for many years. There is a new, big kid in town, however. As Race to the Top requires documentation of student growth, and research shows that teacher effectiveness is a key factor in student learning, people see full implementation of performance-based teacher-evaluation systems in states and school districts across the nation. The goal of performance-based teacher evaluation is actually two-fold: first, to document teacher effectiveness and, second, to guide professional growth. Educators must not lose sight of the second goal, professional growth, in their focus on the first; in fact, teacher effectiveness is a logical outcome of quality professional growth. Well-prepared teachers fully involved in professional learning are more effective teachers. States are at various stages in the development and implementation of performance-based teacher evaluation for school librarians. As connected educators, school librarians have rich and deep personal learning networks that can be used strategically for professional growth, and data from summative evaluations should be used to drive this growth.

Being a solo librarian today is certainly challenging; however, because of technological interconnectedness, today's solo librarian is definitely not alone. Technology allows a school librarian to immediately and constantly connect and interact with other school librarians. This article discusses online resources and websites that will allow a school librarian to remain connected.