Opinion: Disrespecting Teachers and TeachingFor the Department of Education, evaluating teachers is apparently neither science nor art
"Everyone knows who the best teachers are."
It's a common refrain. After all, we knew we wanted our kids in Ms. Brown's second grade class, and tried to steer them clear of Mrs. Foster in the fourth grade.
But sorting teachers in a way that is consistent, credible, fair, and reliable -- particularly when critical decisions like tenure, retention, or dismissal are on the line -- turns out to be devilishly complex.
Apparently, the New Jersey Department of Education does not agree. On June 16 it announced a pilot teacher evaluation program that trivializes the complexity of the problem and puts participants on the equivalent of a forced march.
In brief, the department invites districts to submit applications by July 28 to try to solve instructional and evaluation issues that have evaded "fair" and "reliable" solutions for decades. Not only will the winning districts receive inadequate funding for the scale of the project, but also they must be ready to roll by September -- and get everything done in one school year.
In terms of where we are with the science and art of evaluating classroom teachers, this is akin to
