The Latest on Teacher Evaluations -- Deja Vu All Over Again

Last week Education Sector, a Washington DC think tank released this thoughtful report on teacher evaluation. The report, entitled 'Rush to Judgment: Teacher Evaluation in Public Education' and reviewed extensively by colleagues with our Teacher Leaders Network, raises serious questions about the sole use of standardized test scores to judge teachers. Tom Toch and Robert Rothman, the authors of the report, offer a balanced view on the merits and the pitfalls of using (even 'value-added') test scores to evaluate teachers and pay them more or less as a result.

However, Messrs. Toch and Rothman miss the boat when it comes to National Board Certification as a powerful (but clearly not perfect) tool for teacher evaluation. They claim that the National Board’s mixed “report card” (on whether or not students of NBCTs demonstrate higher standardized test scores) leads them to “question the value of investing” in the process. They also raise questions about “the small percentages of teachers who get low marks” on the NBC process — with the fact that “some 37 percent of National Board candidates are successful the first time they apply for national certification.” But didn’t they just raise all kinds of questions about what standardized tests can or cannot say about teacher effectiveness? Didn’t they raise questions about why virtually all teachers pass muster on current teacher evaluation systems? And the elements of their recommended "hybrid model" evaluation system — including measures of instruction and student achievement, multiple evaluations by trained peers, and the use of teacher portfolios in the evaluation process — strikes a strong resemblance to the NBC process.   

Nevertheless, the authors raise very important questions — and unfortunately most of all them a recapitulation of the 1984 report on teacher evaluation, penned by Art Wise and Linda Darling-Hammond. In other words, these recommendations have been in place for nearly 25 years, but we still see ineffective teacher evaluation practices as the norm in the nation's classrooms. Perhaps if our nation’s best teachers — like those in CTQ's Teacher Leaders Network — had a larger hand in their own profession, we might see some substantial progress on teacher evaluation.

Comments

[Bob]

Thanks for the thoughtful review. You offer a useful summary of this persistent issue. I still wonder, though, why teachers should receive credit for processes we use and credentials we hold, unless the intent is for teachering processes to have priority in compensation over student learning rates, however measured.

[Trail Blaze Me IN]

Phi Delta Kappa may provide further evidence of support and findings concerning their audits on school systems viewing teacher evaluations.See Wake County in NC.(GC 115C-333) support and instructional feedback.Also view state board policies,BEGINNING TEACHER SUPPORT PROGRAMS.IS IT ACTUALLY IN REALITY BEING FOLLOWED? HAVE SERIOUS DOUBTS VIEWING TEACHER RETENTION and viewing first three years in teaching.Support teams needed to help in these areas!!

[Trail Blaze Me IN]

Calling all retired and experienced principals to mentor and support with teacher evaluations and especially the probationary teachers!Double dip it on in the door!State designs evaluation teams to evaluate and support new teachers.Team name,IN UNITY WE STAND? We'd never leave a teacher behind!