By 2016, 44 states had passed legislation mandating major teacher evaluation reforms— but have new evaluation systems had a net positive or negative effect on our nation’s schools? In a recent blog post, Matthew Kraft lists some of the initiatives’ positive consequences, including a growing national recognition of the importance of teacher quality, the widespread adoption of rigorous observational rubrics, and increased attention to the inequitable access to highly effective teachers across racial and socioeconomic lines. Negative consequences, however, include the erosion of trust between many teachers and administrators, as well as the costs associated with teacher turnover, especially in hard-to-staff schools. To learn more about teacher evaluation reforms under the Obama administration, read Chad Aldeman’s “The Teacher Evaluation Revamp, In Hindsight” from our Spring 2017 issue.
—Education Next
