l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 Study: Most states link student learning to teacher reviews
WASHINGTON (AP) — Most states now require that teachers be evaluated, at
least in part, on student test scores — a move that's drawn fierce
criticism from teachers' unions.
A comprehensive state-by-state analysis by the National Council on Teacher
Quality shows 42 states and the District of Columbia require student growth
and achievement be considered in teacher evaluations. That's up sharply from
six years ago when only 15 states linked scores and teacher reviews. The
report was released Wednesday.
The Washington-based think tank has been tracking teacher policy for a
decade. Over that time, the report said, "no policy has seen such a dramatic
transformation as teacher evaluation."
A majority of states adopted performance-based teacher evaluations as part
of the Obama administration's Race to the Top initiative, which has awarded
$4 billion in grant money to states that promised reforms such as linking
test scores to teacher reviews and adopting higher academic standards such
as Common Core.
Other states have been pushed to adopt reforms in exchange for waivers the
administration has been approving, giving states a pass on some of the
requirements of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind education law. More than
40 states have received waivers since 2012.
"The bottom line of teaching is whether or not students are learning," said
Sandi Jacobs, the council's senior vice president of state and district
policy. "If you stand up in front of a classroom every day and deliver great
lesson after great lesson but no one in the class is gaining anything, then
something is off."
For 18 states, including Colorado and Connecticut, student growth is the
overriding factor in teacher evaluations.
But Jacobs says no state considers student achievement as the sole criteria
for judging teachers. Other measures are at play, such as classroom
observations, peer evaluations and student surveys. Still, 28 states say
teachers with "ineffective ratings are eligible for dismissal," according to
the report.
States bucking the national trend on linking student performance to teacher
reviews were California, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska and Vermont. The report
said those states have no formal state policy requiring teacher evaluations
consider student achievement.
Alabama, New Hampshire and Texas have policies that exist on paper, in the
form of waivers granted by the Education Department. But Jacobs says the
council's research turned up little evidence those states are implementing
teacher ratings linked to student achievement.
Chris Minnich, executive director of the Council of Chief State School
Officers, says most states recognize that how students are doing in the
classroom is a critical part of the teacher's role.
"There were many factors that led to this shift — federal policy, state
policy, however, the most basic reason for this shift was to make sure
students are at the center of these conversations with teachers," said
Minnich.
But it's a contentious issue for teachers' unions, which worry there's too
much of an emphasis on test scores.
"Student outcomes should be determined in a far more robust way than mainly
using test scores, such as through student grades, projects, other student
work and regular observations," Randi Weingarten, president of the American
Federation of Teachers, said after the report was released. "Rather than
test-and-punish systems, we need teacher evaluations that will help support
and improve teaching and learning."
According to the report, principals also are getting grades on student
performance. The report said 18 states and Washington, D.C. use student
growth as the key measure of how well their school chiefs are doing.
In three states, Georgia, New Jersey and Ohio, the weight of student growth
in principal evaluations is usually larger than in teacher evaluations, said
the report. In New Jersey, for example, the weight of student growth counts
for 50 percent of principal ratings. For teachers, the range is 30-50
percent.
For its report, the council sent research summaries to all 50 states and
Washington D.C. for review. Only Montana, Nevada and North Dakota did not
respond to the council.
____
The report can be found at: http://www.nctq.org/dmsStage/StateofStates2015
Source URL: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/study-most-states-link-student-learning-teacher-reviews | s*********e
发帖数: 1814 | |
|
