How Do New Teacher Evaluation and Pay Models Affect Students?
The Fordham Institute is a Washington education policy think tank that supports market-driven reforms. It has published a paper lauding the teacher pay system in Harrison District 2, which is one of the most unusual in the country: The Colorado Springs district has abolished seniority and education-based raises entirely, and now pays teachers exclusively according to how much they advance student achievement, as measured through state tests, district tests, student performance tasks, and classroom observations.
The problem is that the paper was written by Harrison's superintendent, Mike Miles, the man who crafted this system and has traveled the country promoting it. So although Fordham also published some interesting critiques of the Harrison plan by education professor Allan Odden, the entire endeavor fails to grapple fully with the discontents of the district's reform agenda.
In November 2010, while reporting a cover story in The American Prospect, I spent four days visiting Harrision
The problem is that the paper was written by Harrison's superintendent, Mike Miles, the man who crafted this system and has traveled the country promoting it. So although Fordham also published some interesting critiques of the Harrison plan by education professor Allan Odden, the entire endeavor fails to grapple fully with the discontents of the district's reform agenda.
In November 2010, while reporting a cover story in The American Prospect, I spent four days visiting Harrision
