First Rate

Teacher evaluation has been a controversial topic in education in the twenty-first century, with both a rise in high-stakes evaluation, including implementation of formal rubrics, and subsequent pushback to such reforms. This fictional case explores the human side of this controversy, exploring the limitations of current tools and policies in capturing everything teachers do in the classroom. 

Kelly Danvers has been made principal at Worthington South Elementary due in no small part to her commitment to instructional excellence and her skill as an evaluator. When she first visits the classroom of Dan Sanderson, beloved fourth-grade teacher, she expects her observation to be just a formality. So she’s surprised to see Dan struggle with his literacy lesson. Two subsequent observations show similar difficulties. 

Strictly following the district’s evaluation rubric, Kelly would be forced to rate Dan as Developing, a highly-unusual rating for a veteran teacher. Dan’s strengths as an educator make this rating feel unfair—particularly as it would trigger an automatic Improvement Plan at the district office. At the same time, rating Dan as Proficient doesn’t seem right, given his struggles with the instructional core. Additionally, Kelly knows that whichever rating she provides will impact her relationship not only with Dan but also with the rest of her school community—and potentially with the superintendent as well. 

Kelly’s dilemma highlights key questions surrounding teacher evaluation: What measures should be considered when rating teachers’ performance? How can district leaders prepare evaluators for their task, particularly when those leaders are new to their schools? What role should student testing data play in teacher evaluation? And at the end of the day, what are we trying to achieve when we evaluate teachers? 

• In this case, characters wrestle with how a teacher’s performance should be measured. The article “Human Teacher Evaluation” (redirect) argues that instead of assessing teachers by their students’ performance, the system should evaluate teachers on other metrics to improve school culture.
• Does it matter how teacher evaluation data is collected? The Harvard Best Foot Forward Project (redirect) supports using teacher-collected videos for evaluation: teachers provide videos of their teaching to show mastery instead of solely relying on a supervisor's observation. The project promotes this approach to enable a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of a teacher’s skills.
• Take a moment to research your country, state, or local teacher evaluation model. Start with the website of your state department of education; you might also check your district website or ask your supervisor to point you to existing rubrics for your school.
• The Shanker Institute explores changes to teacher evaluation in their overview “Rise and Fall of the Teacher Evaluation Reform Empire (redirect),” which highlights the challenges in creating, implementing, and accepting teacher evaluations.
• How can we foster discussions about the merits and challenges of rubrics and choosing what to measure? Explore “Getting Teacher Evaluation Rubrics Right” (PDF) to learn the different questions educators can unpack together.