In the past three years, 36 U.S. states and the District of Columbia have changed their teacher evaluation policies, mainly to qualify for federal Race to the Top funds or No Child Left Behind waivers. States are drafting, implementing, and using new systems that incorporate measures of student achievement, levels of performance, classroom observations, and performance-based tenure decisions. All these elements must come together to produce results relevant to the improvement of teaching and the development of teachers themselves.
Is your state (and school) going through these changes? ASCD has been working with a coalition of organizations on a set of recommendations for federal policymakers on this issue. Use these recommendations as a checklist to ensure your teacher-evaluation system is on track for continued growth and learning for both teachers and students.
Do the teacher evaluations—either currently in place or being implemented—at your school
- Include student achievement measures that are directly attributabl