The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality (TQ Center), established in 2005 as a joint venture between the American Institutes for Research and its partners, ETS, Vanderbilt University, and the US Department of Education provide a central “collection point” for teacher quality content and resources.
Of particular interest among their resources are the State Database of Teacher Evaluation Policies, and the Teacher Evaluation Models in Practice. Both of these tools are highly interactive and provide a comprehensive, comparative view of teacher evaluation practices and policies across the country. The State Database, which can be accessed at http://resource.tqsource.org/stateevaldb/, collects information about state-level evaluation policies and organizes the information under the “eight key components of a comprehensive teacher evaluation system.” The eight components include: 1) Evaluation system goals; 2) Stakeholder investment and communication plan; 3) Selecting measures; 4) System structure; 5) Evaluators; 6) Data integrity; 7) Using results; and 8) System Evaluation.
Users can compare up to three states across all eight components, compare multiple states on a single topic area, or view the policies of a single state across all eight components. Each component is divided into topics and guiding questions. For example, under the component “Evaluators,” the topics and questions are:
A. Personnel
1. Does the state provide the trained personnel who will use the rubrics or other sources of documentation?
a. If yes, to whom and what kind of training does the state provide for using data? (interpreting value-added scores, tracking progress, monitoring data)
2. Does the state select evaluators, and if yes, what are the eligibility criteria?
B. Training and Guidelines
1. Does the state provide oversight to ensure that evaluators use the instrument with fidelity?
2. Has the state created mechanisms to retrain evaluators who are not implementing the system with fidelity?
3. Does the state provide examples and guidance in determining levels of proficiency and approval?
4. Does the state provide guidance or resources in maintaining a steady pool of trained evaluators?
The second resource, Teacher Evaluation Models in Practice (http://resource.tqsource.org/evalmodel/), also uses the eight key components for organizing and evaluating the design, implementation, and delivery of teacher evaluation models. This resource does not include information for every district and state, but rather recruited four willing districts to participate in a review by national experts in measurement and instruction. Participating districts include the Austin Independent School District (Texas), Chicago Public Schools (Illinois), St. Francis Independent School District (Minnesota), and Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland). The expert reviewers for this project provided feedback on each district program’s strengths and weaknesses, which will hopefully help other districts as they begin to formulate their own or revamp their existing teacher evaluation practices.
For additional information and resources, please visit http://www.tqsource.org/
