Evaluating Teachers More Strategically: Using Performance Results to Streamline Evaluation Systems

According to a new issue brief by Taylor White of the Carnegie Foundation, many states and districts have begun to alter their original, one-size-fits-all evaluation processes to bring greater quality and efficiency to their evaluation systems. Evaluating Teachers More Strategically: Using Performance Results to Streamline Evaluation Systems explores differentiation strategies in nine districts, two charter management organizations, and three states, Tennessee, Delaware, and Ohio.

More states across the country have begun using formal teacher evaluations over the last 5 to 10 years, and many of those which already did have increased their rigor. We discussed this in a recent blog post: https://www.coreeducationllc.com/blog2/teacher-evaluation-policies-becoming-increasingly-rigorous/

But was all of that extra time and money well spent? Many interviewed for Evaluating Teachers More Strategically felt that it was not because either there was too much work to be done by too few evaluators, or the time that they did spent was not spend efficiently.

This is where being strategic helps. White sums up the findings of the new report as follows: “Interviews with system leaders and analyses of teacher evaluation policies reveal that these systems now vary the format or frequency of formal evaluation cycles, the format or frequency of classroom observations, or the type of observer conducting classroom observations, based on what is known about teachers’ needs, strengths, and goals.”

By using data from previous years, states and districts are attempting to target evaluations to areas of need rather than simply canvassing all teachers.

For more information, please visit: http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/spotlight/evaluating-teachers-more-strategically