A System of Support and Advancement through Teacher Evaluation

2/17/2015

I have never felt more alone than when I was a teacher. Sure, there were tons of people around, but when I closed my classroom door, it was as if I was on an island with my students, attempting to lead them to academic success without help or support from anyone else. Meanwhile, on both sides of my classroom, and all throughout the school building, other teachers were on their side-by-side islands. Sinking or swimming. Alone.

Teacher evaluation in its most authentic form connects these islands in school buildings so that teachers can share their successes and challenges, reflect on their practice, and support each other’s instruction. But for the most part, teacher evaluation has had no significance on teachers’ practice. That was until President Obama’s Race to the Top (RTT) grant competition and waivers to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provided an opportunity for states and districts to develop strategies to move past outdated systems of teacher evaluation.

In the anticipated reauthorization of ESEA, the movement made on teacher evaluation systems in states and districts throughout this country may be in jeopardy. And some education experts like Andy Smarick aren’t all that bothered by it because, as Andy argues, technocrats have no business in matters of teacher practice. But that argument is off base because the federal government did not prescribe a teacher evaluation system for every state through RTT and waivers. Instead, RTT and waivers gave states and districts a “helpful nudge” to think through how to create systems of teacher evaluation that differentiate teachers’ performance.

In addition, the waiver process helped break down barriers between the U.S. Department of Education, states, districts, and individual schools. This created a more collaborative environment in education and opened up lines of communication around every school system’s greatest and most precious asset for moving student achievement: teachers. As I’ve written previously, ESEA waivers were integral in moving states from being mere compliance monitors to taking a more active role in district reform implementation. Some states provided guidelines for district teacher evaluation systems, and others gave districts the opportunity to develop parts or all of their systems without their initial input, following up at the end of the year with a check-in system. Importantly, many states moved into the 21st century by developing electronic data systems for approving and monitoring district teacher evaluation systems.

This work is not easy and it’s certainly going better in some states and districts than in others, but through the waiver process, states have proven that they can act as a support system to districts. Without waivers, states would not have been inclined to do this work. And without teacher evaluation in a reauthorized ESEA, states will no longer have the political cover to continue the work.

Teacher evaluation systems in this country are far from perfect. In many places, teacher evaluation has not yet differentiated teacher performance. And the multiple measures in some places are not yet reflecting the work of teachers in a fair fashion, particularly for teachers in non-tested grades and subjects. But teachers need policymakers to get this right because teacher evaluation is central to changing the teaching profession. Great teacher evaluation systems give districts and school leaders differentiated teacher performance data so that they can support struggling teachers and provide expert teachers with opportunities for advancement. This impacts the education system’s ability to attract, retain, and leverage a high-performing teaching force. But this work takes time and there has not been enough of it. The termination of teacher evaluation in a reauthorized ESEA will cause the good, hard work taking place in states and districts to backslide before it ever had a chance to impact students.

Kaitlin Pennington, guest blogger, is vice president of communications and outreach for YEP-DC and an education policy analyst at a think tank. Reach her via email or Twitter.

1 Comment

Tina

2/18/2015 01:34:27 am

No one disagrees that data on teacher performance is necessary - including myself, as a licensed educator. However, unless you work in a school or have children in school, you don't really understand the effect teacher evaluation has on students (I invite any interested policy parties to take a look at the testing calendars at any school - they are horrific).

One (MAIN) reason we have testing is to evaluate teachers. However, in order to get the best measure of performance, we need to do benchmarking. That takes place several times a year. Students then need to be prepared to take the benchmarks. So the material that is taught corresponds largely with a test - mind you, that is developed out of context and without teacher input (hello, middle school tests with too-difficult lexile levels).

These evaluation systems do not encourage teachers to be more innovative or develop 21st century skills in our students. If anything, the tests make us slaves to the standardized testing industrial complex. They encourage the best teachers to teach the best and brightest students; especially when their evaluation results are published online. So the lowest performing students end up with fewer resources.

And this is why folks on both sides of the aisle are reticent to discuss or include this in the reauthorization. Because teacher evaluations are not only ineffective, but they negatively impact students.

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MONICA GRAY is co-founder & president of DreamWakers, an edtech nonprofit. She writes on education innovation and poverty.

LYDIA HALL is a legislative aide in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she works on education, civil rights, and other issues. Lydia is interested in helping to bridge the gap between Capitol Hill and the classroom.

MOSES PALACIOS is an advocate for student rights and works as a Research Manager for the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS) - a coalition of urban school districts across the nation. He writes on issues regarding the children of immigrants and students learning English as a second language. His views are his own and not representative of CGCS.

PATRICIA RUANE is a
research associate at an education nonprofit. She is an editor of Recess.

LESLIE WELSH is a high school social studies teacher in DC. She is an editor of Recess.