Guest Post: Seeking Common Ground on Teacher Evaluations
EWA asked some of the education reporters who joined us at our 66th National Seminar (held at Stanford University in May) to contribute blog posts from the sessions. Today's guest blogger is Debbie Cafazzo of the Tacoma News-Tribune. Stream sessions from National Seminar in your browser, or subscribe via RSS or iTunes. For more on teacher evaluations, visit EWA's Story Starters online resource. We also recently held a seminar for journalists on this issue at the University of Chicago, and we'll be sharing content from the event in the coming weeks.
Linda Darling-Hammond, a professor of education at Stanford University, has been on a quest for the quintessential teacher evaluation system for decades. She started researching the subject in the mid-80s. Back then, she said, it was like “searching for a needle in a haystack.”
Two factors caused the movement to take off in recent years: the federal government’s “Race to the Top” grant competition and its efforts to allow states waivers from provisions of the No Child Left Behind act.
Both federal initiatives rewarded states that tried to strengthen evaluation systems. She said there was consensus among educators that a fleeting classroom visit, a look at how the teacher is dressed and a scan of classroom bulletin boards isn’t the best way to sort out who’s doing an exemplary job.
Roadblocks to getting it right include principals with too many teachers to evaluate,
Two factors caused the movement to take off in recent years: the federal government’s “Race to the Top” grant competition and its efforts to allow states waivers from provisions of the No Child Left Behind act.
Both federal initiatives rewarded states that tried to strengthen evaluation systems. She said there was consensus among educators that a fleeting classroom visit, a look at how the teacher is dressed and a scan of classroom bulletin boards isn’t the best way to sort out who’s doing an exemplary job.
Roadblocks to getting it right include principals with too many teachers to evaluate,