Resources and Perspectives on State Initiatives for Teacher Evaluation
As education departments begin to design new evaluation models for their school districts’ teachers, the issue of responsible and respectful evaluation of non-tested subject areas has come to the forefront of many discussions. States, and often individual school districts, have many choices to make in determining student achievement growth and appropriate measurement in these non-tested areas (i.e., music). The states listed below share their plans for evaluation of music teachers, as well as helpful guides and documents relating to the overall evaluation of all teachers.
IN The RISE Evaluation and Development System - Indiana’s RISE looks at a teacher’s professional practice as well as evidence of student learning to paint a fair, accurate, and comprehensive picture of an educator’s performance. By using multiple sources of information, RISE identifies strengths and areas for improvement, which can help teachers grow year after year.
TN Teacher Evaluation Update (Dec. 2011)
MI SMTE Position Statement – Teacher Eval
NY Professional Performance Review Handbook
WI Educator Effectiveness Powerpoint
Race to The Top Summary Report – A key focus of the Obama administration’s Race to the Top (RTT) initiative in public education is to support states that implement plans for “recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most.” Race to the Top asked states to adopt more vigorous teacher- education accountability mechanisms and to establish or expand programs “that are successful at producing effective teachers.” This report discusses new information about the specifics each of the twelve RTT states’ goals, activities, and challenges as part of our profiles of the commitments made by these states to improve teacher education and to strengthen public disclosure and accountability of program performance. A full version of the report can be found at: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/01/pdf/teacher_preparation.pdf
Data for Action Update – This report outlines how data is currently being used by states in teacher evaluation. Data for Action is a powerful tool to inform efforts in education to better use data in decision-making. It is a series of analyses that highlight state progress and key priorities to promote the effective use of longitudinal data to improve student achievement. For more information, and to view Data for Action 2011: DQC’s State Analysis, please visit www.DataQualityCampaign.org/stateanalysis/about.
