Say it isn’t so on IMPACT, Mayor Gray
By Valerie Strauss
Here’s why I was so disappointed to read my colleague Bill Turque’s report on a plan by D.C. schools officials to have the flawed IMPACT teacher evaluation system reviewed by a Harvard think tank:
1) I was optimistic that new Mayor Vincent Gray was serious about fixing the problem when he said at a recent public forum that the evaluation system --instituted under former Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee -- was unfair to teachers. In his own words:
"I guess I would say at this stage... it’s a step in the right direction, but it’s got a long way to go to be a fair evaluation of our teachers. And frankly any system that isn’t sensitive to the differences in challenges of the kids in the schools only encourages teachers to teach in one