SEPTEMBER 2015

IN THIS ISSUE | Teacher Evaluation Systems | Quality Rating & Improvement Systems | Minority Teachers | Public Opinion on Ed Policy

Teacher Evaluation Systems

It has been three years since Race to the Top grant-winning states piloted new teacher evaluation systems and many of them have made considerable progress, yet according to media coverage and a Government Accountability Office report published in April 2015, struggles remain and most grantees have asked to extend the timetables for completing this work. Given the enormous importance and complexity of these reforms--and the fact that states vary widely in the timing, approach, and success of their implementation work--this is an excellent opportunity to assess the progress that has been made and identify where challenges persist. It is imperative that states learn from one another during this implementation stage, and this brief and working paper, both from Patrick McGuinn (Drew University), serve to facilitate the discussion by highlighting what is and is not working in the Race to the Top states.



Presentation
Making quality systems great and taking them to scale requires different strategies over time. Evaluation, stakeholder input, evidence-based inquiry, public sector engagement, review, revision, re-creation are all part of the evolutionary process. In this presentation, CPRE senior researcher Phil Sirinides, Tracy Campanini (Office of Child Development & Early Learning, PA), and Terr Tolan (Office of Early Childhood, KY) discuss challenges and opportunities facing Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) users.

In the News
A new report from the Albert Shanker Institute released findings this month that the number of black teachers in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, New Orleans, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. dropped from 2002 to 2012. CPRE's Richard Ingersoll sees the problem as one of retention rather than recruitment.
CPRE's Jonathan Supovitz weighs in on the disparity between PDK/Gallup and Education Next's polls on Americans' opinions about standardized testing, the opt-out movement, and the Common Core.