National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) Report on States’ Teacher Evaluation Systemshing
The controversial National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) — created by the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute, funded (in part) by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and “part of a coalition for ‘a better orchestrated agenda’ for accountability, choice, and using test scores to drive the evaluation of teachers (see here; see also other instances of controversy here and here) — recently issued a 106 page document report titled: “State of the States 2015: Evaluating Teaching, Leading and Learning.” In this report, they present “the most comprehensive and up-to-date policy trends on how states [plus DC] are evaluating teachers” (p. i). The report also provides similar information about how principals are also being evaluated across states, but given the focus of this blog, I focus only on the information they offer regarding states’ teacher evaluation systems.
I want to underscore that this is, indeed, the most comprehensive and up-to-date report capturing what states are currently doing in terms of their teacher evaluation policies and systems; however, I would not claim all of the data included within are entirely accurate, although this is understandable given how very difficult it is to be comprehensive and remain up-to-date on this topic, especially across all 50 states (plus DC). Therefore, do consume the factual data included within this report as potentially incorrect, and certainly imperfect.
I also want to bring attention to the many figures included within this report. Many should find these of interest and use, again, given likely/understandable errors and inconsistencies. The language around these figures, as well as much of the other text littered throughout this document, however, should be more critically consumed, in context, and primarily given the original source of the report (i.e., the NCTQ — see above). In other words, while the figures may prove to be useful, the polemics around them are likely of less value…unless, of course, you want to read/analyze a good National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) Report on States’ Teacher Evaluation Systemshing | VAMboozled!: