New report finds that the current teacher evaluation system is lacking—and recommends “value-added” scores be used as part of teacher evaluations
Alexandria, Va. (March 31, 2011) – The Center for Public Education today released an analysis of efforts to accurately evaluate teacher performance, particularly those that tie teacher evaluations to students test scores and other assessments.
The report, “Building a Better Evaluation System,” finds that the current teacher evaluation system is lacking—and that most evaluation systems now fail to identify truly effective and ineffective teachers.
“Current evaluation systems identify less than 1 percent of teachers as unsatisfactory even though by all accounts there are many more teachers that fall into this category,” said Jim Hull, the Center’s senior research analyst and author of the report. “This also means that our very effective teachers are lumped in with average and below average teachers and not recognized for their exceptional performance.”
The report finds that value-added systems, while not perfect, are the best tool available. Value-added systems take into account each student’s prior achievement and background to create a statistical analysis of a teacher’s performance.
Given that research clearly shows effective teachers have dramatic impacts on student achievement, many states are looking for ways to tie teacher performance to their pay and to use teacher evaluations as a factor in determining layoffs. And the number of states that are linking teacher evaluations to student performance data is growing: in 2005, 13 states were able to do so; last year, 35 states were able to do so and the number is expected to grow.
“The push to change teacher evaluation systems, and especially to include statistical measures of teachers’ effect on student learning, is here,” Hull said. “Clearly, this is a fast-moving train that will likely affect many, if not most, school districts eventually.”
The report is available for download on the Center’s website at: www.centerforpubliceducation.org.
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The Center for Public Education (www.centerforpubliceducation.org) is a national resource for credible and practical information about public education and its importance to the well-being of our nation. The Center provides up-to-date research, data, and analysis on current education issues and explores ways to improve student achievement and engage public support for public schools. The Center is an initiative of the National School Boards Association.
Founded in 1940, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) is a not-for-profit organization representing state associations of school boards and their more than 90,000 local school board members throughout the U.S. Working with and through our state associations, NSBA advocates for equity and excellence in public education through school board leadership. www.nsba.org
report link:
http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Staffingstudents/Building-A-Better-Evaluation-System/default.aspx