The Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now, or ConnCAN, recently published a new report on teacher effectiveness and evaluation that looks at key components of 10 teacher evaluation models. Measuring Teacher Effectiveness: A Look “Under the Hood” of Teacher Evaluation in 10 Sites, was conducted in partnership with Public Impact.
The study was conducted in several different types of test sites: state-wide evaluation efforts (Delaware, Rhode Island, Tennessee), five large school districts (Hillsborough County, FL, Houston, TX, New Haven, CT, Pittsburgh, PA, and Washington, DC), one charter management organization (Achievement First), and the Relay Graduate School of Education. The report pays particular attention to the design and implementation challenges many states and districts face, including:
- Student achievement measures
- Classroom observations
- Other non-academic measures
- Accuracy, validity and reliability
- Reporting and using evaluation results
The report admits that none of the model systems are perfect, but they do show possible ways forward. Each system studied continually refines and improves its evaluation system, and “offers proof that we can—and must—move forward with smart, balanced, and fair evaluations” of teachers’ impacts on student performance and growth.
To read the report, please visit http://www.conncan.org/learn/research/teachers/measuring-teacher-effectiveness
