In her report Inside IMPACT, Reporter Susan Headden takes a close look at D.C.’s teacher evaluation system. IMPACT was developed by former Chancellor Michelle Rhee to address the gulf between the high rate of “satisfactory” teacher evaluations and student NAEP scores that were among the lowest in the nation. IMPACT was developed with an eye Read more about Inside IMPACT: D.C.’s Model Teacher Evaluation System[…]
Last month, the Tennessee State Board of Education adopted a state-recommended, state-wide teacher evaluation model currently being used in South Carolina. The Board also adopted three alternate models for districts to choose from, and the state will monitor each district closely in the coming year to make sure that teachers are being judged fairly regardless Read more about Tennessee Approves New Teacher Evaluation Model[…]
In a recent EducationNext report, researchers examine the Teacher Evaluation System (TES) of Cincinnati to test if it is as effective as has been touted and whether it could address the “Widget Effect” cited by The New Teacher Project (2009). Cincinnati’s TES uses classroom observations performed by trained evaluators external to the school who are Read more about Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness: The Cincinnati Model[…]
In its latest report, The New Teacher Project (TNTP) addresses eligible applicants of Round 3 of the Race to the Top (taking place this fall), and other states seeking to most effectively invest their time and resources in implementing revised teacher development and evaluation tools. Their investment suggestions fall into five categories: 1. Tools and Read more about Smart Spending for Better Teacher Evaluations[…]
As the reauthorization of ESEA draws nearer, Education Sector’s Policy Director Kevin Carey and Robert Manwaring, a fiscal and policy consultant, argue in a newly released report, Growth Models and Accountability: A Recipe for Remaking ESEA, that Congress should combine a measure of student growth with achievement into a single accountability measure in the design Read more about Growth Models and Accountability: A Recipe for Remaking ESEA?[…]
National Education Association officials announced that they would put a “policy statement” before the union’s governing body for approval that, among other changes, would open the door to the use of “valid, reliable, high-quality standardized tests,” in combination with multiple other measures, for evaluating teachers. The statement, passed by the NEA’s board of directors, wouldn’t Read more about NEA Proposed Policy on Teacher Evaluation & Accountability[…]
Although much of the impetus for new approaches to teacher evaluation comes from policymakers at the state and national levels, the design of any particular teacher evaluation system falls to the roughly 16,000 school districts and 5,000 independent public charter schools in the country. A new report from the Brookings Institution, Passing Muster: Evaluating Teacher Read more about Evaluating Teacher Evaluation Systems[…]
The Illinois Senate passed SB7 unanimously in April, 57 to 0. Last Thursday, the bill also passed House nearly unanimously (112 for, 1 abstaining and 1 against). The Bill now goes to Governor Quinn’s desk for signature. SB 7 was developed during months of discussions involving a wide variety of education stakeholders including the Illinois Read more about Illinois Senate Bill 7[…]
The prospect of designing and implementing teacher and leader evaluations and the data systems necessary to link teachers with the achievement of their students is a daunting task. States and districts are only now confronting technical and logistical hurdles to creating new evaluations, writes Stephen Sawchuck in Education Week. In the coming months, states — Read more about Hurdles to Creating Teacher and Leader Evaluations[…]
Concerns over current and future emerging changes in the U.S. education enterprise have led one of the nation’s premier educational psychologists, Professor Edmund W. Gordon (photographed here) of Teachers College at Columbia University, to lead a two-year study group – the Gordon Commission on the Future of Assessment in K-12 Education. The commission will consider Read more about New Commission on the Future of Assessment in K-12 Education[…]
A new report from the Aspen Institute looks at the teacher evaluation systems of the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and the Achievement First (AF) charter network as a means to help education leaders develop their own teacher evaluation and performance management systems. According to the report, the challenge facing education leaders is to Read more about Teacher Evaluation and Performance Management: Best Practices[…]
At Hope Street Group, educators work together to develop recommendations for policymakers that will be used to improve teacher evaluation systems. Hope Street has partnered with leaders at state Departments of Education across the country and connected them with teachers in their states to develop evaluation measures and determine feasible and fair accountability standards. As Read more about Teachers get a Voice in Evaluation System Design[…]
A Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ) white paper links national assessment reform and the need to advance teaching as a results-oriented profession. The paper raises cautions about the use of value-added models (VAMs) as “the preferred method” to estimate the effects of individual teachers on student achievement. Even highly accomplished teachers who embrace accountability, the Read more about New Student Assessments and Advancing Teaching as a Results-Oriented Profession[…]
At the International Summit on the Teaching Profession last week, Stanford University announced that it will collaborate with Pearson for delivery of the Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA)-a nationally available, performance-based assessment for measuring the effectiveness of teacher candidates. The TPA was developed by a team of Stanford researchers led by Drs. Linda Darling-Hammond and Read more about Stanford University and Pearson Collaborate to Deliver the Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA)[…]
The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality is pleased to introduce three new research & policy resources to assist districts and states in designing and implementing teacher professional development activities and evaluation systems. They are: Measuring Teacher Contributions to Student Learning Growth for Nontested Grades and Subjects was developed to help states consider options for Read more about New Resources from Teacher Quality Center[…]
A new policy brief from the Alliance for Excellent Education calls for a practical set of standards and assessments to measure the quality of teacher performance. “Transforming High Schools: Performance Systems for Powerful Teaching” recommends providing teachers with the quality education and ongoing training needed to greatly improve student outcomes. The brief proposes changes to Read more about Transforming High Schools: Performance Systems for Powerful Teaching[…]