A new piece from The Education Trust argues that improvements to traditional teacher evaluations are only fair— to everyone. Using student input, ensuring that observations provide rich feedback, and making use of value-added to strengthen the accuracy of an evaluation tool can help all teachers improve their practice and make sure that strong teachers receive the recognition they have long deserved.

Like the teachers cited in Ed Trust's report, those we've spoken to also give their evaluation systems a failing grade. Too many L.A, Miami, and Springfield teachers told us in our district studies that their evaluations are neither rigorous nor fair. And too many more say that their evaluations do little to improve their teaching skills.


Priya Varghese