I thought I’d heard everything after reading "In Tennessee, Following the Rules for Evaluations Off a Cliff," by the New York Times' Micheal Winerip. But then I read "Florida's Teachers Get Ready to Get Graded" by Laura Isensee and Sarah Butrymowicz of the Miami Herald. Winerip describes how the Tennessee teacher evaluation system was rushed into place due to Race to the Top. Tennessee teachers in nontested grades can chose a schoolwide test and have 50% of their evaluation determined by the test score growth produced by colleagues?!?! Isensee and Butrymowicz report that one half of a Florida calculus teacher’s evaluation will be determined by his school’s test score growth in reading. The state’s director of research, evaluation and educator performance explained the purpose of the law, "What you’re trying to do is isolate the impact of the teacher on the student’s learning." Assessment expert Douglass Harris says Florida’s logic is "backwards." I could think of a few more choice words for the policy. These examples show just how disconnected teacher evaluation is getting from what teachers do. -- JT (@drjohnthompson)Image via.
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